For the holiday Monday, here are photo galleries as updates of recent projects. All photos in this article are my own.
Included are:
- Track replacement south from the Broadview/Danforth intersection
- The still incomplete project on The Queensway west of Roncesvalles
- The just-ended 501 Queen car diversion on McCaul Street
Broadview and Danforth
This continues from previous articles, most recently Broadview Construction Part II.
In mid-August, work on the Broadview Avenue reconstruction shifted north to the intersection at Danforth. This was timed to occur just after Taste of the Danforth’s weekend street closure and before the Labour Day weekend.
In the first stage, track was excavated and replaced from just south of Broadview Station Loop to the middle of the Danforth intersection leaving one lane open for eastbound traffic. The old track was laid on wooden ties and so the work included building a new track foundation including steel ties.
Just north of the intersection there is an underground bridge providing support for the streetcar track where it crosses above the Line 2 subway structure. Broadview Station extends under the road and its roof is very close to the surface here.
In the second stage of the work, the northern lanes of Danforth reopened, and the excavation worked to the south. The existing track here is built on steel ties and only the top layer of pavement had to be exposed. The mounting points on the ties for Pandrol clips are visible here. This allows for very fast track installation.
A few days later, the new track was in place, and all lanes of Danforth were open for east-west traffic for the Labour Day weekend.
Work will continue south a few blocks to meet up with the new track at Montcrest. On Monday, September 11, excavation will begin for the replacement of all track in Broadview Station Loop. Broadview will be closed from Danforth to Erindale (which gave its name to Erindale Loop, the pre-subway terminus of the King car), and Erindale will be closed from Broadview to the station’s north entrance.
The Queensway
Work on The Queensway, the one major piece of the now-and-forever “KQQR” project (the acronym for the four streets at the Queen/Roncesvalles junction) has not exactly sped forward since the photos I posted early in 2023: KQQR Update: January 16, 2023.
Various problems including the discovery of utility conflicts have slowed this work, and streetcar service, planned for a return on September 3 is now deferred with no set date for resumption.
The photos below show the state of construction at Glendale (St. Joseph’s Hospital stop) in late April. Track was installed to the west side of the intersection, but there was a gap where the streetcar right-of-way was regraded to eliminate a sharp dip coming down the hill from Parkside Drive.
By late May there was little progress at Glendale, but streetcars were running again on Roncesvalles. Sidewalk widening provides easy access to streetcars at the stops north of Queen Street.
By mid-August, the regraded right-of-way and new track were in place.
Streetcars should have returned west of Sunnyside Loop on September 3, but on the day before it is clear this will not happen. Overhead ends just west of Sunnyside, and power feeder cables are not yet connected. The platforms at Glendale exist, but without shelters or guardrails. The new signals at Sunnyside are not yet activated.
McCaul Street Diversion
Until September 2, the 501 Queen streetcars diverted around Ontario Line construction via McCaul, Dundas and Broadview. Effective September 3, streetcars turn back at McCaul Loop. (The east end of Queen is now served by a mixture of bus and streetcar services due to Metrolinx work on the rail corridor east of Broadview.)
Frequent streetcar service north of McCaul Loop is rare.
Steve Munro 
I don’t remember how long ago this was, though somewhere between 2005 and 2010 that McCaul diversion was required for a time and I recall those turns at Dundas would have the pole come off the wire almost every time. So grateful for the pantos.
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West of Glendale Avenue on The Queensway, the “dip” is because it used to be a bay off Lake Ontario. Erosion from the Scarborough Bluffs deposited silt and sand to form sandbars across the bay, and other bays that separated the former bays creating the ponds of High Park. To eliminate the “dip”, more landfill was dumped, which needs to be compacted.
Steve: Thanks for the history. Considering that there is now a track slab in place, I suspect that the compaction is complete.
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Any idea on when we will get an updated completion date for KQQR and resumed service until Long Branch loop?
Steve: No. It is simply “deferred” which usually means there is some as yet unresolved problem.
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I had never seen that building (you all know the one I mean and not the CN Tower). Hadn’t actually heard of OCAD U either. Pretty neat, if a little … precarious looking. 🙂
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Thank you Steve this is so wonderful and clearly described.
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Was recently at Broadview station and saw something different with the track foundations. It looks like they buried some beams in the foundations that are parallel, and possibly directly beneath the tracks. The poke up just above the foundation concrete exposed by construction. I’ve never seen this before when I’ve observed track construction and wondered if there’s a story behind this seemingly unique technique?
Steve: These appear when the street is rebuilt. This is the second time I have seen them in my rather lengthy time living near the station. They are beams to carry the streetcar tracks across the subway structure which is quite close to the surface there.
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The subway, of course! Makes sense why I haven’t seen any of these before now. Thanks Steve!
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