Update — May 24: Regular Transit Toronto contributor Richard White alerted us to further detours resulting from track repairs on Victoria Park Avenue north of Kingston Road.
Update — May 20: Regular Transit Toronto contributor Peter Coulman reports that buses are now detouring along the Meadow and Blantyre Avenues loop. The buses continued to serve Bingham Loop last week and did not start detouring until earlier this week.
The TTC is getting ready for major repairs at Bingham Loop — the east end of the 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd tripper streetcar routes. Buses operating along the 12 Kingston Rd and 22A Coxwell via Kingston Rd routes also stop in the loop.
Although TTC crews won’t start working on the project until the end of May, the TTC will prepare passengers for the project by replacing the streetcar routes with buses and detouring buses operating along the 22A Coxwell via Kingston Rd route, starting Monday, May 10. It will detour buses operating along the 12 Kingston Rd route when construction starts.
22A Coxwell via Kingston Rd
After 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, starting Monday, May 10, west- and northbound buses start their trips on Blantyre Road at Meadow Avenue, then proceed:
westward along Kingston Road to Bingham Avenue,
resuming their regular route westward along Kingston.West- and northbound buses skip their regular stops at Bingham Loop and on Bingham Avenue at Kingston Road.
East- and northbound buses operate along their regular route to Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue, then detour:
northward along Victoria Park Avenue;
eastward along Meadow Avenue; and then
southward along Blantyre Road to Kingston,
ending their trips.East- and northbound buses skip their regular stop in Bingham Loop.
Construction at Coxwell Station terminal also affects service along this route, starting Sunday, May 9.
502 Downtowner
Buses replace streetcars along the route Mondays to Fridays before 7 p.m., starting Monday, May 10. Since the TTC is also repairing the McCaul Loop, at the west end of the route, buses operate along a slightly different route than the streetcars usually do.
Westbound buses start their trips on Blantyre Road at Kingston Road, then proceed:
westward along Kingston Road and Queen Streets East and West;
southward along Simcoe Street;
westward along Richmond Street West; and then
northward along Duncan Street to Queen Street West,
ending their trips.Westbound buses skip regular 502 Downtowner streetcar stops in Bingham Loop, on Bingham Avenue at Kingston Road, on Queen Street West west of Simcoe Street and at McCaul Street, on McCaul opposite Stephanie Street and in McCaul Loop.
Eastbound buses start their trips on Duncan Street at Queen Street West, then proceed:
eastward along Queen Streets West and East and Kingston Road;
northward along Victoria Park Avenue;
eastward along Meadow Avenue; and then
southward along Blantyre Road to Kingston,
ending their trips.Eastbound buses skip their regular stops in McCaul Loop, on McCaul Street at Stephanie Street and Queen Street West and in Bingham Loop.
12 Kingston Rd
Seven days a week, once construction starts in Bingham Loop, westbound buses operate along their regular route to Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue, then detour:
northward along Victoria Park to a point opposite the exit from Bingham Loop,
resuming their regular route.Westbound buses skip their regular stop in Bingham Loop.
Eastbound buses continue to operate along their regular route during the construction.
Further north along the route, the TTC has been detouring buses at the Victoria Park Station bus terminal since Sunday, February 15, 2009.
503 Kingston Rd tripper
Buses replace streetcars along the route Mondays to Fridays during rush hours, starting Monday, May 10.
Westbound buses start their trips on Blantyre Road at Kingston Road, then proceed:
westward along Kingston Road to Bingham Avenue,
resuming the regular 503 Kingston Rd tripper streetcar route westward along Kingston.Westbound buses skip regular 503 Kingston Rd tripper streetcar stops in Bingham Loop and on Bingham Avenue at Kingston Road.
Eastbound buses operate along the regular streetcar route to Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue, then proceed:
northward along Victoria Park Avenue;
eastward along Meadow Avenue; and then
southward along Blantyre Road to Kingston,
ending their trips.Eastbound buses skip their regular stop in Bingham Loop.
From the Transit Toronto archives, read:
- a history of streetcar service along Kingston Road by James Bow here.
- a history of the Bingham Loop by James Bow here.
- a history of the McCaul Loop here.
Last year, the TTC announced that it would rebuild Bingham Loop, starting Tuesday, August 4. Although it replaced the streetcars with buses until Tuesday, September 8, it did not start work on the project.
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