While full streetcar service resumed Sunday on a stretch of St. Clair Avenue, transit riders in Regent Park will have to alter their plans to get to work in the morning.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, track work will begin on Dundas Street, east of Parliament Street, disrupting service for the 505 Dundas streetcar.

"During the construction streetcars will divert in both directions via Gerrard Street and Parliament Street," says the TTC in a news release.

Waiting for the Dundas streetcar is a near daily event for Regent Park resident Justin Goldenthal. So he told CTV Toronto that he was shocked when he discovered that there would be no replacement buses for up to seven months as the city completes its track work.

Further, "there's been very, very little signage for the community it's affecting the most," said Goldenthal. "There are bunch of signs up at Dundas station and Broadview station, but ... there's very little signage in the community it's affecting."

Goldenthal said if the TTC won't run regular buses along Dundas between Parliament and Broadview for the duration of the construction, which is slated to end in November, 2007, they should consider community buses.

"There's one in the Junction (West Toronto), one up on Lawrence West, that run through communities, through various small neighourhoods that don't have larger route access," he said.

TTC Vice-Chair Joe Mihevic says they are looking into that possibility, but doesn't see it happening.

"The best advice that I can give is, don't count on the community bus. If that comes, that's gravy. But work on finding alternative means on getting where you have to go," Mihevic told CTV Toronto.

Another fear that transit riders who live along Dundas have is that such a big project will run behind schedule. But Mihevic says the TTC is good at keeping repairs on track, citing the St Clair dedicated streetcar line that took two and a half years to complete, and ended up only one month behind schedule.

Mihevic added that the wait on Dundas will be worth it.

"Because the rails are covered in a kind of rubberized material, it allows for a very, very smooth ride. It's quick, it's efficient and it's a very pleasant experience," he said.

The same technology is being used on Dundas. But that's small consolation for Goldenthal and others who, as of Monday morning, will be walking up to an extra kilometre a day to catch the bus or another streetcar.

Goldenthal said he's planning on organizing people in area around Regent Park so into a more cohesive group to push for some kind of alternative, such as community buses.

St. Clair streetcar

Meanwhile, temporary streetcar service for the St. Clair 512 car resumed on Sunday for the first time in 19 months. 

The cars will now operate the entire 6.7-kilometre route from Yonge Street to Gunns Loop, west of Keele, after an interruption caused by a right-of-way construction. Service resumed between Keele and Bathurst in early January.

The TTC said cars along the route will run at three- to 15-minute intervals, until the weather thaws enough to allow for construction to resume.

But by early summer, the streetcars will be replaced by buses as construction continues.

The right-of-way constructinon was the source of some heated debate, as store owners along St. Clair argued a dedicated streetcar lane would reduce parking availability and hurt business.

But Mayor David Miller said the right-of-way route will clear up congestion and speed up transit time for both TTC riders and commuters, as it has done on Spadina Avenue.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Roger Petersen