Residents in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood are reacting to a nearly two-month closure of the busy King Street West and Dufferin Street intersection as work to renew streetcar tracks gets underway.
Construction to fix the aging streetcar tracks began over the weekend and is expected to last until mid-November, according to the TTC.
As a result of the construction several streetcar and bus routes will now be diverted around the intersection, including the 503, 504 and 508 streetcars, as well as the 29 and 929 Express buses.
A replacement bus service will replace the 503 and operate from King Street West at Joe Shuster Way.
Local resident and Toronto Metropolitan University student Nazif Sherzai tells Now Toronto that he regularly takes the 29 bus route north to Dundas from King and Dufferin, however the diversion will now make commuting on the route a “disturbance.”
“The 29 now has to loop around and instead of going straight down Dufferin, it has to take another route, so that’s like the main disturbance,” he said.
Sherzai says the construction was an unexpected surprise as he feels very little notice was given, and says he was even more shocked to find out that it would be ongoing until mid-November
“I had no idea, and that’s very shocking and a little concerning… they should really be publicizing this stuff, when I came down the street, I thought maybe it’s for a day or two, but that long, it’s quite jarring,” he said.
Another local resident named Sherwin tells Now Toronto that he was also surprised by the construction.
“It just started without any prior notice or anything like that. I think it’s pretty hard for people to get around, and the cars are just turning around without people knowing,” he said.
Sherwin says he usually takes the streetcar to get to work and around the city, but the sudden change severely impacted his commute.
“Yesterday I had to walk all the way home because I didn’t know the road was closed and the bus stop was closed,” he said.
Another resident named Alfred tells Now Toronto that he’s not too concerned about the construction, as long as it completes on time.
“If it’s snowing and it’s not done, I mean, it’s just gonna delay more, and then it’s just an inconvenience to walk to work in the cold,” he said.
Local resident Hadi says he’s used to the construction in the area, and says he understands that it’s for the best, despite the inconvenience.
“If they’re gonna make it better, they could take three months, if they want… Please be quick,” he said.
According to the TTC, excavation and removal of old streetcar tracks will take place throughout various times of the day.
Milling and breaking activity will begin as early as 7:00 a.m. and go until as late as 11:00 p.m. However, crews will work 24/7 during the rail installation work phase.
For more details about the service changes, click here.
