City approves reopening small portion of King St. to vehicular traffic
Posted June 26, 2025 2:40 pm.
Last Updated June 26, 2025 4:41 pm.
City council has voted to reopen a small portion of King Street to vehicular traffic to help ease some of the congestion in the downtown core. However, two councillors who were pushing for the motion ultimately voted against it.
King Street has been a transit priority corridor for several years, but there has been no streetcar traffic on the route for the last several weeks due to a major construction project at the intersection of King and Church streets.
Since June 2, the intersection has been closed for the replacement of a 142-year-old watermain and the replacement of TTC streetcar tracks. The resulting closure has forced traffic to divert to parallel arteries, increasing congestion on those routes.
According to the city, 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.
Coun. Brad Bradford put forth a motion, calling for the temporary suspension of rules along the transit corridor between Church Street and Spadina Avenue for at least the next two months. However, transportation staff said it would take more than two weeks to reprogram traffic signals along the route, leaving just a few weeks of relief before the King-Church intersection is reopened, sometime in mid-August.
Council ultimately voted 16-5 in favour of reopening a portion of King Street to vehicular traffic for the duration of the intersection closure, “where streetcars and buses are not currently in service.”
Coun. Stephen Holyday, who supported Bradford’s original motion, blamed Mayor Olivia Chow for effectively killing it, saying she wanted to protect King Street for buses.
“She curtailed it basically to the piece that’s east of Yonge Street, and that is very short – between Yonge Street and Church… just a handful of metres, maybe a block,” he said following the vote.
“I found it really disappointing because the first reaction of council on an idea to reduce congestion should be, ‘Yes, how can we help?’ And instead, people bent themselves into a pretzel to explain why they didn’t think it would work.”
Holyday says the vote sends the wrong message to anyone considering venturing into the city, that city council is not taking congestion seriously.
“If you’re sitting in a car stuck in traffic, every little bit helps. If it requires the city to put some plastic bags over signs and to reprogram some computers at four intersections, let’s just get it done.”
As part of the mayor’s motion, there will be paid duty officers stationed at intersections along King Street to help keep traffic moving, at a cost of $350,000.
Alan Carter contributed to this story
