Downtown Toronto motorists and transit riders will be seeing red lights for the next two weeks while a major intersection stays closed during streetcar track repairs.
The city shut the Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue intersection Monday morning as TTC crews work to replace streetcar tracks, switches and overhead wires.
The closure of the intersection -- one of the city’s busiest -- is expected to last until July 23.
TTC CEO Andy Byford told CTV Toronto that while the repairs may be a nuisance, they are necessary.
“We’ve got to keep the track in good condition,” said Byford. “It gets a bit of a bashing with all the streetcars going over and the impact of the weather, so periodically we have to renew the track beds. Keep it reliable and keep it safe.”
The track work is part of a major reconstruction along the Spadina streetcar line ahead of the arrival of 204 new low-floor streetcars. The new streetcars are heavier than the current ones and will be rolled out in 2014.
The right-of-way line was closed on June 18 as the city and TTC upgrade shelters and passenger platforms and modernize the overhead power system.
Streetcars are not currently running along Spadina and have been replaced by buses, which will run along side streets between Adelaide Street and Dundas Avenue during the construction.
Queen Street buses will also be diverted along sidestreets in the Spadina area.
Traffic will also be redirected away from the intersection until repairs are completed.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson
