At long last, the new curve for a 501 Queen eastbound diversion via York Street south to Adelaide is being installed. Of course the entire diversion should have been operational before Metrolinx shut down Queen Street for the Ontario Line, but such careful planning is not what we expect from the agencies involved.

Indeed, the City took over the trackwork on Adelaide Street as part of other works in progress because Metrolinx was dragging its feet. Why they didn’t take the full project up to Queen & York is a mystery. With luck, the west and east ends of 501 Queen will be reunited before year-end 2024, but I am not making any bets.

Road and utility works for this project are contracted by the City and Metrolinx. Track installation is by the TTC.

Three weeks ago, on Sunday, July 7, the new switch was sitting at Queen and University ready for installation, but work on excavation and a new track foundation took some days afterward to begin.

Here is the state of installation as of Sunday, July 28.