Updated May 11: The schedule for completion of the final phase of the work at KQQR has slipped to fall 2022 according to the project website:
Previous delays, combined with some periods of adverse fall/winter weather, COVID-19 related labour shortages and supply chain issues have deferred completion of Stage 2 work (KQQR intersection, The Queensway and King Street West) to September 3, 2022.
Work on Stage 3 (the final stage) will start on Roncesvalles Avenue from the KQQR intersection to Harvard Avenue on September 4, 2022, and will be completed by the end of December 2022.
Work on the King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles project continues with installation of new overhead at the intersection, completion of some new lane layouts, and utility work along the Queensway. Track construction is moving, albeit slowly, west from Sunnyside Loop toward the end of the existing right-of-way east of Parkside Drive.
At Dundas West Station, the road has just been closed north of Bloor except for a single northbound lane, and on Edna from Dundas to the west end of the loop for special work replacement. (As of May 9/22)
Traffic in the area is quite snarled because there are also minor track repairs underway on Dundas south of Bloor, and reconstruction of Bloor Street continues westward in the area to which much traffic has diverted.
Bus diversions are not the same as originally advertised.
- 40 Junction operates eastbound to Dufferin Station via Dupont and Dufferin returning westbound via Bloor, Lansdowne and Dupont.
- 168 Symington eastbound turns east rather than west on Bloor to Dufferin, returning westbound via Dufferin, Dupont, Lansdowne and Bloor.
- 504C King is supposed to be diverting southbound via Parkside Drive and Howard Park to Roncesvalles, but was running via Bloor and Dundas.
King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles
May 9, 2022
Eastbound road traffic is now using the streetcar lane, but the new lane arrangement and the curb separating the streetcar lane are now in place. The King Street leg of the intersection is complete, but not yet open.
On The Queensway west from Sunnyside, road rebuilding and track installation proceeds in bite-sized segments. It has now reached the point of blocking eastbound access from The Queensway to St. Joseph’s Hospital’s main driveway, and there is still a “slalom” where traffic shifts from the regular curb lanes to the streetcar lanes for a short distance.
Along the south side of The Queensway, utility work is still underway.
Dundas West Station
May 9, 2022
At Dundas West Station, the rebuilt track for the 504 King platform and the exit to Edna Avenue are in place, and excavation for the new 505 Dundas track is underway.
Dundas Street is blocked off except for one northbound lane, and Edna Avenue is closed in anticipation of track replacement for the north and east sides of the loop.
Steve Munro 
Though I am sure there will be additional delays, is there any finish date(s) for these two projects – which (with the never-ending work on Broadview) have really disrupted the 504 for many months. (I assume the current work on Broadview will end eventually but note on ToInView that Broadview is to get new tracks in 2023, from Gerrard to Danforth).
Steve: I believe that we may see normal service on King and Queen to Ronces for the mid-June schedules, or at worst July. They have to make this switch to open the south entrance of the carhouse so that the north gate special work can be replaced. Dundas West construction is supposed to run to late June, but then they will take their time (for some mysterious reason) restringing the overhead so the 505 will stay at High Park Loop.
Broadview is basically ready to roll now, and the water people are just doing final cleanups and paving. I suspect this will re-open mid-June.
Next year could involve expansion of Broadview Station Loop to allow for two Flexitys on both platforms at once, although I have not seen any plans yet.
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Is it my imagination, or did TTC once know how to maintain streetcar service while doing track (except for switches and rail intersections)? Andy B.
Steve: Yes they did, but this resulted in bad welds and poor foundations. It was an approach that worked ok when paving stones were used, but with all concrete, it needs to be built and set properly. Also, of course, KQQR has been beset by problems with utilities being in unexpected places relative to the new track and lane arrangements.
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Wonder if they’ll leave one or two of the portable washrooms behind? There use to be a public washroom next door to the Sunnyside railway station, before it was deemed too expensive and supplied little in revenue from the dimes used to use the toilets. 🚽
Ah, memories.
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This doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t this be … returning westbound via Dufferin to Dupont Symington, Davenport to Old Weston Rd, and Rogers Rd to Avon Loop?
Steve: No. The normal route is to come south on Symington, which is west of Lansdowne, then go west to Dundas West Station. The revised route uses a large on street loop via Bloor, Dufferin, Dupont and Lansdowne so that it serves Symington from Bloor northward.
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If you take a drive down from long branch to Sunnyside it’s pathetic how poor the concrete is in some sections considering there has only been streetcar service for something like 2 years of the past 7 or 8.
Steve: Specifics?
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It’s been a while since I’ve been to Dundas West, so I’m curious how they’re going to fit 2 Flexity’s for both the 504 and 505. I’ve been to Broadview more recently and have no clue how the second platform will be redone to fit a 2nd Flexity. Will both platforms be curved? Sorry if this is a silly question but I tried searching but couldn’t find anything on the TTC website.
Steve: The TTC has not published drawings of either new design.
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I guess the TTC found out about the speed bumps on Wade Ave.
> 40 Junction operates eastbound to Dufferin Station via Dupont and Dufferin returning westbound via Bloor, Lansdowne and Dupont.
I’m curious as to why the TTC choose this diversion for the 40 instead of, say, via Dundas, Howard Park, Roncesvalles, Dundas and back to regular route. Seems unnecessary to make a whole stretch of Dundas West (Bloor to Dupont) lose service.
Steve: I assume you mean via Keele/Parkside, Howard Park and Roncesvalles. The diversion route keeps the Junction and Symington buses completely out of the Dundas/Bloor intersection while construction to the north is underway. Even with one northbound lane, and it avoids a messy on-street transfer to the subway through the construction zone.
At the same time they’re happy with the 168 doing a full loop around Wallace-Emerson so that Symington south of Dupont does not lose service.
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King is done and the Queensway at the intersection is done. Even the new signals are up. The contractor is having a laugh if they say it’ll take them until September to fully reopen the intersection. Replace the current slalom in eastbound Queensway with another one to get to the new Queensway eastbound lanes and it’s all ready.
And does this mean no Queen streetcar service to Sunnyside until September?
What the updated schedule also doesn’t address: platform modifications on Roncesvalles. At this rate, that’s going to get started in summer 2023.
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Does this new delay mean the 504 streetcar won’t go east of Cherry street until September? It’s ridiculous how long this has dragged on.
Steve: The delay in the west end is independent of the east end. Work on Broadview is almost complete and I hope we will see streetcars again with the June schedule change. Mind you, the TTC does seem able to stretch things out longer than necessary. We should know definitively soon.
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There is a photo in the TTC 100 exhibit at the City of Toronto Archives of the KQQR intersection being rebuilt in the 1930s, with a claim that it was completed in 9 days!
Steve: But with no utility work, no concrete foundation, all wood ties and assembled in place special work. And of course no qualms about closing the whole things *and* still operating cars through partly completed track. Slightly different conditions from today.
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Yeah, much as I’m not impressed with the work progress now, in 1930s they didn’t have tracks and roadway pounded by 18 wheelers delivering to the McDonald’s
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Grass along the right-of-way? Forbidden for the TTC.
Sedum tracks? Forbidden for the TTC.
Artificial turf? Forbidden for the TTC.
Concrete? Go for it.
Steve: Because autos, buses and trucks drive on the tracks. There is an argument for green track on rights-of-way but not on lanes/loops shared with other vehicles.
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The TTC did and continues to pour concrete also on rights-of-way that can’t be used by buses or any other vehicles. Most of our dedicated rights-of-way don’t accommodate buses, but since the rebuild of the Queensway, all of them have a concrete top surface (except for Spadina which has… drumroll… paving stones). I understand your need concrete for the foundation, but I recall you mentioning several times for the rebuilds that the foundation layer is expressly designed to be separate from the top.
Steve: As I said there is an argument for green track on rights-of-way that will not be shared. Just look at Line 5 on Eglinton East. The TTC, however, paves all the way to the surface.
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