After an entire summer of diversions, the TTC says major downtown streetcar routes will return to normal as renovations come to an end in early September.
Earlier this year, the TTC announced significant route changes for the 503, 504 King and 508 Lake Shore streetcars to accommodate a series of infrastructure upgrades.
With fall just around the corner, kids returning to school and with more workers across the province being mandated to go back to the office, the TTC now says riders can expect streetcar service to return to normal next month.
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The agency says construction in the King and Church intersection is now complete, and that the TTC is in the process of testing the new streetcar tracks, expecting to resume service by early September.
A TTC spokesperson also tells Now Toronto that the overhead structure upgrades along King, Sumach and Cherry streets are also set to wrap up by that time, as the agency plans to completely resume its regular service.
The route diversions were a result of streetcar track renewals at the intersection between King St. E. and Church St., as well as overhead streetcar structure upgrades along King St. E., Sumach and Cherry streets, which TTC Chair Jamaal Myers said were necessary for safety.
“Replacing streetcar tracks is about safety, reliability and building a more resilient city,” he said in an announcement at the time. “These upgrades are designed to meet growing demand, ensuring our infrastructure can support future development and expansion.”
Back in May, 504C and 504D King replacement buses took over the streetcar service along King St. between River St. and Spadina Ave., while the westbound streetcars were diverted to Queen St. through Church and Richmond streets and eastbound streetcars were diverted to Adelaide and York streets, with the 503 returning to King St. only at Spadina Ave., and 504 returning to King via Shaw St.
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With the diversions, the City of Toronto also planned to replace its 142-year-old watermains at the King and Church intersection. However, in June, the city announced that “due to unexpected underground utility conflicts” in the area, a portion of the watermain meant to be replaced was simply relined to extend its working life.
Since June, the replacement buses had to divert their routes around King and Church streets to accommodate construction, but have just resumed service at the intersection as of Aug. 18. With track testing underway, the 503 and 504 King streetcars are currently still diverting the area until the anticipated completion date in early September.
