Another busy TTC streetcar line will remain closed for four months: The transport company has announced that it will replace the 509 Harbourfront streetcar line with buses in the long term. It is scheduled to begin operating in September of this year.
The TTC announces a modernization project to upgrade the streetcar network on Queens Quay and Fleet Street. As part of this, streetcar service will be suspended from September 3 to January and buses will run instead.
The project, which will be implemented in phases, involves replacing and reconfiguring overhead power lines and upgrading underground power systems on a three-kilometre section from the Harbourfront tram tunnel to Strachan Avenue.
While the closure coincides with Taylor Swift's highly anticipated Toronto tour scheduled for November, the TTC has promised a temporary restoration of operations during the pop megastar's visit to the city.
In fact, the TTC will be expanding service on several routes to accommodate the crowds expected to flock to the downtown area during this major event.
Once construction on Route 509 is completed next year, the line will be equipped with an upgraded overhead pantograph system designed to improve the reliability of traffic along the harborfront.
The project is the third complete closure of a major streetcar line due to overhead line upgrades. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said: “As a city, we are investing over $200 million to expand the TTC's fleet of fully accessible low-floor streetcars.”
“The work along Queens Quay and Fleet Street is critical to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to operate these streetcars and to continue providing safe and reliable TTC service for many years to come.”
The upcoming work at Queens Quay will take place in parallel with a related overhead line upgrade project that caused absolute traffic chaos on Spadina Avenue this summer.
Toronto just agreed on a solution to the Spadina traffic nightmarehttps://t.co/mmceGgRbVd
— blogTO (@blogTO) July 26, 2024
While TTC Chairman Jamaal Myers acknowledged that there will be “some short-term adjustments for passengers using the Queens Quay streetcar,” he also said that “the upgrades are essential to ensuring more reliable and efficient service.”
But this won't be nearly as painful as the Spadina streetcar project, according to outgoing TTC CEO Rick Leary. While the replacement buses in Spadina won't be able to use that street's right-of-way reserved for streetcars and will have to blend in with traffic, the replacement buses on Route 509 won't suffer the same restrictions.
“The configuration of the Queens Quay streetcar lane boundary allows replacement buses to run eastbound on part of the route, keeping travel times more consistent,” Leary said.
The phased construction phase will begin on a section that includes the Harbourfront Tunnel to Spadina Avenue and will last from September 3 to early October. Harbourfront replacement buses will operate the route from Union Station to Exhibition Place.
A second phase will begin in October and focus on the section between Spadina and Bathurst. During this phase, route 509 streetcar service will be partially restored from Union Station to Spadina, while a modified route 510 replacement bus will cover stops west of Spadina.
The third phase of construction, extending west of Bathurst along Fleet Street, will begin in November and be completed in 2025. During this phase, streetcar route 509 will operate between Union and Spadina.