Toronto council approves road-closure plan for 7-year Ontario Line construction

Toronto city council approved a plan Thursday that could lead to seven years of road closures in the downtown core, to make way for the Ontario Line subway construction.

The plan includes a complete shutdown of Queen Street between Bay and Victoria streets for four years beginning in 2023.

The subway line, first proposed by the Ford government in 2019, will have 15 stations and trains will run between the Ontario Science Centre and Exhibition Place. The construction is expected to take place between 2022 and 2029.

Six of the new stations will be located downtown and officials said that means lane, sidewalk, and bike lane closures will be needed at several major intersections, including Bathurst Street and King Street West, Spadina Avenue and Queen Street and Parliament and King Street East.

A report put forward to council found the closures on Queen Street will displace about 1,000 cars per hour during the weekday morning and afternoon rush hours. Meanwhile, during peak construction times on Richmond street, cars were estimated to be travelling about 3.9 km/h on average.

Transit users will also be feeling the impacts of construction downtown. City staff said approximately 15,000 TTC customers will face diversions on the 501 Queen streetcar every day.

In an effort to maintain streetcar service, officials said tracks will be installed on York Street between Queen Street West and Adelaide Street West to divert around the construction.

The City of Toronto will seek reimbursement from Metrolinx for costs associated with the transit diversion efforts.

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With files from Tammie Sutherland of CityNews