Updated July 31, 2023 at 11:20 am: Photos from the 2001 reconstruction of Broadview have been added for comparison.

Early in July, construction began to replace the track on Broadview from Gerrard to Broadview Station Loop. Phase one runs south from Sparkhall to just north of Gerrard, and phase two will run north to Danforth.

The City has announced that the Broadview/Danforth intersection will be closed from August 14 to September 4.

The work on phase one is in various states of completion and provides a mix of views of how the new track will be installed. Excavation for phase two has just started.

At the beginning of the project, strings of tangent (straight) track were welded and stockpiled just north of Gerrard. This section will be rebuilt late in the overall work once the pile of track has been depleted.

There are many curves on this section of Broadview beside Riverdale Park, and the curved rails were pre-bent at the TTC’s track shop before delivery to the worksite.

This track was one of the earliest sections built with the now standard method using steel ties and Pandrol clips, with three separate layers of concrete: foundation, around the ties, and around the track. As much as possible, only the top layer is excavated exposing the existing ties. This greatly simplifies track replacement, but it has taken three decades for most of the system to reach the point where full excavation is no longer needed. (This tactic was not implemented for intersections until several years later, and so most special work replacements still involve full excavation and pouring of a new foundation.)

All track is installed with a rubber sleeve both for vibration isolation and to reduce water penetration around the rails.

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