3 TTC streetcars to be diverted for construction all summer. What you need to know

A major downtown Toronto intersection is now shut down for the remainder of the summer, leading to the diversion of three TTC streetcars.

The City of Toronto is replacing the watermains at King and Church streets as of May 11, and the TTC will also be replacing the tracks and updating critical infrastructure simultaneously.

As a result, the 503 Kingston, the 504 King and the 508 Lakeshore streetcar routes will be diverted in both directions.

There will be no streetcar service on King Street between River Street and Spadina Avenue, and those travelling on King Street can transfer to a 504/304 King replacement bus, which will operate between Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East to Bathurst Street, as well as in the Distillery District.

Meanwhile, the 503/303 Kingston Rd, 504/304 King and 508 Lake Shore will operate on Queen, via Church Street, Richmond Street, Adelaide Street and York Street, and return to King on Spadina Avenue.

The 503 Kingston Road will be extended and operate between Dufferin Gate and Bingham Loop.

The diversions are expected to affect 100,000 daily streetcar users, with travel times estimated to be between five and 10 minutes longer, depending on the destination.

“For our customers, it will mean inconvenience. We can’t sugar coat that,” said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green. “The good news is the City of Toronto has been working very closely with us, so they have given parking restrictions on Queen during some of the busiest times. Traffic wardens [will be] in place to help direct traffic and keep traffic moving.”

Advocates warn added streetcar traffic could overwhelm the system

However, some transit advocates can already predict the chaos. Cameron MacLeod with CodeRedTO said transit on Queen is already being diverted at Bay Street for Ontario Line construction, and the influx of streetcars will be challenging.

“There are times when there are 20 or 30 streetcars travelling on Queen Street,” said MacLeod.

“And then there could be another 20 to 30 streetcars added from all of these other routes… The big challenge is that normally the streetcars are spread out across the actual route, but when there’s a slowdown, when there’s congestion, they start to bunch up.”

The TTC says it will monitor the situation very closely and make adjustments as they go. These diversions are slated to last until early September.