The City of Toronto has issued an update for the project at the intersection of King, Queen, Roncesvalles and The Queensway.

This is a complex piece of work with many components that will stretch into 2022 including:

• Reconstruction of the bridge over Parkside Drive on The Queensway
• Extension of the streetcar right-of-way east from its current end east of Parkside to Roncesvalles together with provision for left turns across the right-of-way at Glendale and at Sunnyside
• Reconfiguration of the KQQR intersection (see my article from April 2020 for diagrams of the planned changes)
• Replacement of old water main and sewer infrastructure
• Replacement of TTC overhead (this will make the wiring in this area pantograph compliant)
• Reconstruction of streetcar track
• Reconfiguration of Roncesvalles Avenue from Queen to Harvard (just north of the North Gate to the carhouse) with cycling lanes and transit platforms matching the section done several years ago from Harvard to Dundas
• Revision to the existing loading islands on Roncesvalles for compatibility with the boarding ramps on the news streetcars

The construction will begin on September 8, 2020 on the underside of the Parkside Drive bridge. This will only have a minor effect on transit service, and the only change to the 501 Queen service is that it will not stop at Parkside during September and October.

2021 will see the main construction work on Queen and The Queensway beginning in February and extending to into 2022 as shown in the staging map below.

Stage 1 from February to July 2021 will affect the curb lanes of The Queensway as well as water main, track and overhead work extending east to Triller Ave.

Stage 2 from July 2021 to April 2022 will affect the middle lanes of The Queensway and King Street south of the intersection.

Stage 3 from April to August 2022 will affect Roncesvalles Avenue.

See the construction notice linked above for details.

There is no word yet on the TTC’s arrangements for service or what the interim configurations of routes will look like. Continued access to Roncesvalles Carhouse via the North Gate will remain available until the planned work in 2022 at which point all access will have to shift to the south gate during construction between Queen and Harvard.

However, there will be periods where the KQQR intersection is impassible in both directions while it is reconfigured and rebuilt. This will require Queen and King services to turn back somewhere further east TBA with bus replacements.

It is not clear whether there will be a period in fall-winter 2021-22 when streetcar service can be restored west of the carhouse. I will pursue details of the project staging with the City and TTC.

The City plans to have a project website available, but it is not up as I write this article on the evening of September 4.