Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee will consider a report at its May 2, 2024 meeting which updates Council on the status of the King Street corridor.

A notable shortcoming in the report is the absence of a map showing locations of proposed or completed works, and how King Street relates to other nearby sites where roads have limited capacity or are completely blocked.

As previously reported, the City implemented new measures late in 2023 to resolve traffic gridlock at several intersections along the corridor between Bathurst and Jarvis streets. Many overlapping construction projects reduced road capacity and caused severe backlogs on King Street rendering transit service, especially eastbound, almost worthless. Charts later in this article update my previous reports on the situation and how travel times on King have returned to preconstruction levels.

Recently, new traffic signals have been installed at the King/Yonge and King/Church intersections where through movements by most traffic is prohibited. A constant red signal with green arrows for permitted turns is intended to make through movements a “red light running” offense, although the arrangement and signage confuse motorists. The intent is that the arrangement, together with red light traffic cameras, will deter motorists from driving straight through, although it remains to be seen how well this will work.

A complication is that “authorized vehicles” (i.e. licensed taxis) are allowed through between 10pm and 5am, but to the casual observer a car is a car is a car, especially when it is operating for a service like Uber as opposed to a branded taxi with company colours. When traffic agents are present to manage the intersections, motorists go where they are told, but at other times the signals are often ignored. Driving through a full red signal is not a behaviour that should be encouraged, especially out of frustration.

Travel times across the priority corridor dropped substantially after traffic agents prevented motorists from blocking intersections, and a further improvement is expected when work is complete on parallel streets related mainly to the 501 Queen diversion tracks for Ontario Line construction. Some eastbound traffic now attempting to use King will shift north to Adelaide.

The date for the 501 Queen shift to Richmond/Adelaide is not yet certain. However, track repairs are planned at King & Church in August, and it would make sense to have an alternate streetcar route across the core available by then. Whether it will be is quite another matter.

The effectiveness of these improvements is being monitored and, if successful, Transportation Services is proposing to implement similar changes at other locations along the King Street corridor. It is anticipated that these measures, if successful, may also mitigate the need for Traffic Agents at two or more locations.

Update Report at p. 4

In the short term, there is a budgetary issue because Toronto Police are providing direction and enforcement at some locations. This provides an incentive for technological solutions.

The City intends to purse automated enforcement, but current legislation only allows this for red light running, but not for entering and blocking an intersection because there is no space clear on the far side. “Blocking the box” cannot currently be charged against a vehicle owner, only against a driver. This must change to match red light enforcement where the owner is charged regardless of who is actually driving.

Also under consideration (and subject to the same legislative requirements) are offenses such as blocking bicycle and reserved transit lanes. (Note that there are no reserved transit lanes on King.)

What is painfully clear since the priority corridor was installed is that motorists will do whatever they damn well like unless there is enforcement. Toronto’s laissez-faire attitude undermines whatever bylaws Council might enact.

Since their installation, the curb lane pedestrian areas at stops have deteriorated. After a mid-2023 inspection, 180 missing or badly damaged yellow tactile mats and five bollards were replaced. Other needed work includes basic street cleaning, graffiti removal on barriers, pothole repair and repainting of pavement markings. These are to be addressed in 2024. Another annoyance not mentioned in the report is the relocation of stops without concurrent shifts in transit shelters and benches. The gradual decline of the pedestrian facilities on King tells its own story about the City’s real priorities.

A trial raised platform for passengers was installed at Peter Street and at Portland Street in 2019, although the latter was removed for adjacent construction activity. That platform will be “redeployed” elsewhere. Of the 20 stops along the corridor, some can accommodate platforms without any utility conflicts. Five-to-seven will be installed in fall 2024 (locations not yet named). The remaining stops require co-ordination with utilities for the effect of a platform on their access with the intent of installing these in 2025.

Some mid-block curb extensions for public realm improvements will be designed in 2024 and built in 2025. However, major work to reconfigure King Street is not planned until after 2030, presumably when the Ontario Line is open (or at least substantially complete) and its construction disruptions end. In the meantime, improvements will be made where possible in co-ordination with other construction in the area.

The bylaw governing the corridor will be amended to include the Billy Bishop Airport Shuttle as a service that is permitted to use King Street as a transit vehicle.

Updated February 11, 2023 at 1:45 pm: In response to a reader comment, I have added illustrations from the City’s presentation deck showing the technologies used for traffic monitoring and analysis at the end of this article.

This article continues a series of reviews of operations on the King Street Transit Priority Lane of which the most recent is King Street Travel Times: May-December 2023.

On February 9, 2024, Mayor Chow held a press conference to announce various changes coming to King Street and the success of the Traffic Agent program in taming congestion downtown, particularly on King.

Regular readers will know the graphs below showing day by day travel times eastbound from Bathurst to Jarvis by hour from 3pm to 9pm. These charts have been updated with January 2024 data. (Note: Gaps in the charts in mid October and early December correspond to diversions via Church and Queen for water main repairs east of Jarvis. No streetcars covered the full Bathurst-Jarvis segment during these periods.)

The graphs illustrate the change in congestion levels peaking in the 5-6pm hour, but still quite evident in 6-7pm and to a small extent in 7-8pm. The build-up through the fall was caused by construction on Adelaide coupled with a complete lack of enforcement of the transit corridor and of “box blocking” at major intersections where cars enter but cannot cross in the allotted green time. With the introduction of Traffic Agents to enforce the rules on November 27, 2023, the street ran much more smoothly and the peak in congestion vanished.

This article is an update to King Street Travel Times: May-November 2023 incorporating data for December 2023. The charts here show the variation on a day-to-day basis for selected hours of service including the morning peak 8-9am, midday 1-2pm, and hourly from 3pm to 11pm.

Items of note:

• The problems in late 2023 were predominantly eastbound caused by a combination of auto traffic entering the King Street corridor and filling all available capacity, and by delays eastbound at Church for TTC vehicles making left turns on diversion routes.
• There are early signs of this problem in the hour from 1 to 2pm, but it worsens dramatically from 3pm onward and travel times do not settle down to normal values until after 7pm.
  • This shows the need for traffic management over an extended period, not just for a short “peak within the peak” interval.
  • The problem receded somewhat in December with the implementation of traffic wardens, but various construction projects, some unplanned, also affected the street.
• The day-to-day variation in travel times, and by extension in the amount of competing traffic, generally peaks on Wednesday.
  • This was already evident in Spring and Summer data indicating a problem brewing for later in the year as construction affected parallel roads.
  • The peaking within the week, and the different behaviour by time-of-day and direction show the folly of citing “average” values. By extension, the quality of service varied substantially depending on the level of congestion, and this affected entire routes, not just the downtown portion.
• There is a regular increase in travel times in the evening, notably on Fridays, corresponding to the busy day in the Entertainment District. This is not as severe as the peak period delay eastbound, but it is a quite regular occurrence.

When the January data are available, I will update these charts to show how consistently the December improvements have survived past the holidays and without major construction works on Adelaide Street.