From May to September, the TTC and the City of Toronto will rebuild the streetcar tracks along Church Street between Carlton Street and Wellington Street East.
To get ready for this project, the TTC has started to weld and store portions of rail along Front Street East and Church Street.
Last week, from March 23 to March 28, TTC work crews relocated long strings of rail that the crews had previously welded. The crews moved the rail strings from Lake Shore Boulevard to Church Street during the night shift when traffic volumes were less.
The TTC is now storing longer strings of rail in the northbound curb lane on Church Street between King Street and Adelaide Streets East. It’s also storing shorter strings in the north-side curb lane on Front Street East, just west of Church Street. After April 25, the TTC will move these shorter strings westward along the north curb lane of Front Street and store them between Yonge and Scott Streets.
From April 20 to April 25, a rail welding crew will occupy the north-side curb lane on Front Street East between Yonge and Church Streets to weld standard lengths of rail into longer strings. This preliminary work allows workers to install tracks faster, reducing disruption to local communities. The work crews will weld rails between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The TTC crews will temporarily keep the newly welded strings in the curb lane on Front Street and then move them to the two storage locations. The crews will relocate the welded rail after 7 p.m. The strings of rail will stay at these locations until contractors have replaced the rails during this track project.
The TTC will park its crew trailers nearby and will remove them when its crews have finished welding the rails.
The welding work should not disrupt regular TTC services, although passengers should expect some detours after May when the rebuilding work starts.