On May 11, 2025, the diversion arrangements downtown became more complex as the 504 King, 503 Kingston Road and 508 Lake Shore (peak only) streetcar services shifted onto the same Richmond/Adelaide diversion route as 501 Queen. This arrangement will be in place until early September for water main and track repairs at King and Church, as well as for streetcar overhead upgrades on King Street.
As initially implemented, the three routes operated eastbound from King and Spadina, north to Queen, east to York, south to Adelaide, east to Church and north back to Queen. The westbound diversion was similar using Richmond from Church to York.
Immediately after this change, it was obvious that streetcars were snarled in traffic, particularly eastbound on Adelaide. Generally across the diversion, there was a problem with the number of streetcar turns exceeding the intersection capacity in peak periods. There is also construction interference at a few locations along the way.
I wrote about capacity issues and other related matters:
- May 5: King-Church Construction and Traffic Effects
- May 12: King/Church Diversion Observations May 12, 2025
- May 16: 504 King Diversion Revised
On May 16, the TTC changed the 504 King diversion so that it used Shaw Street between Queen and King to reduce the number of turns at Spadina. Only the 503 Kingston Road cars, and a few peak period 508 Lake Shore cars remained, as well as the 511 Bathurst cars looping via Spadina, Adelaide and Charlotte. (The 511 diversion will end on June 22 when streetcar service returns to Exhibition Loop.)
However, this change only addressed the west end of the diversion at Spadina, but further east the full volume of routes 501, 503, 504 and 508 continued to use the diversion between York and Church contributing a high number of streetcars/hour where the service turned. The frequency of service on 501, 503 and 504 is roughly the same through the day. It is the volume of road traffic that changes, not the number of streetcars.
| Period | 501 Queen | 503 Kingston Rd | 504 King | 508 Lake Shore | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM Peak | 10′ (6) | 8′ (7.5) | 8′ (7.5) | 20′ (3) | 2’30″(24) |
| Midday | 9’30” (6.3) | 10′ (6) | 10′ (6) | 3’17” (18.3) | |
| PM Peak | 9′ (6.7) | 8′ (7.5) | 8′ (7.5) | 20′ (3) | 2’26” (24.7) |
| Early Evening | 10′ (6) | 10′ (6) | 10′ (6) | 3’20″(18) | |
| Late Evening | 10′ (6) | 10′ (6) | 10′ (6) | 3’20” (18) |
Charts in the following section show travel times between University and Jarvis both ways, and how these rose when the volume of 503-504-508 service was added along the diversion.
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Steve Munro 