It’s a tricky
business to disrupt an entire streetcar line for more than half a
year, but it looks like the 506 Carlton streetcar is about to return
to normal. Instead of repairing smaller sections of worn out track
all across the streetcar network, in recent years the TTC has
focused on rebuilding one route at a time. The hope is that in
return for enduring one long season of dusty, noisy construction,
commuters and shopkeepers could enjoy a construction free period of
at least two decades. That’s how long engineers project the new
roadways to last -- perhaps even longer.
The 506 Carlton
car is one of the busiest in the city and in recent years its
passengers have experienced a bumpy, sometimes very slow ride along
College Ave., Carlton St. and Gerrard St. The 506 has been missing
from some or all of its route since work started this spring. Riders
have had to take buses along parallel streets, walk more, or just
not travel to destinations near the line.
Merchants in
shopping areas like Little Italy welcomed customers over large
wooden planks as not only were the sidewalks replaced, but at times
the entire street disappeared. As on King Street in 2003, this year
businesses along the 506 line enjoyed a single traffic lane for many
long weeks. The summer shopping and patio scene was further dampened
by disruptions in the GTA’s construction industry, which delayed the
installation of new track and pavement. Road workers and then
haulers of gravel and aggregate both stopped work for several weeks
this season.
The stoppages
put the whole 506 project behind about three weeks, according to TTC
supervisor of track construction Scott Duggan. On Wednesday he told
In Transit, “We are looking to put service back on on our entire
route on the 29th of November.” adding, “The trackwork itself is
completed in all areas except for a small piece just east of Jarvis
on Carlton.” That track should be done by the end of the week or
early the next, he says.
Although the
City of Toronto is responsible for rebuilding the road pavement and
sidewalks, Duggan expects that 95% of that work should be done when
the streetcar line reopens at month’s end. As long as the weather is
fairly dry and daytime temperatures stay above minus five degrees
Celsius for a few more weeks, TTC and city crews should have few
problems pouring concrete.
The 506 cars
have a habit of running in packs, and while better track won’t
improve that problem much, the days of restricted speed limits
because of broken rails are gone. Was it worth it? If you use the
506 Carlton route, or simply live near a streetcar line, would you
prefer the TTC reconstruct track the old way? For me, a series of
smaller disruptions across the city may be less painful, but it can
also lend a sense of unpredictability to transit travel. Scattered
or one-line-at-a-time -- email me at transit@eddrass.com.
Next year will
be a bit like the old days, as two sections of Queen St. are overdue
for replacement. Also on the schedule is two major parts of the
Bathurst 511 line. Because these routes use streets that are mostly
four lanes wide, they will continue to run in mixed traffic. Over
the next two years, the TTC and the city will undertake the larger
-- and controversial -- project of rebuilding the 512 St. Clair
route. St. Clair Avenue is six lanes for much of its length, and
city council has approved a plan to turn the two centre lanes into a
streetcar right-of-way.