Update — Monday, October 1, 4:16 p.m.: The TTC has postponed the Thanksgiving weekend closure of Line 2 Bloor - Danforth between Broadview and St George Stations. All rapid transit lines are open October 7, 8 and 9.

All day Saturday, August 26, the TTC is closing the 2 Bloor - Danforth line between Broadview and St George stations, as its crews maintain and repair the tracks on this section of the line and City of Toronto contractors continue upgrading the Prince Edward Viaduct. All Line 2 trains operate between Kennedy and Broadview stations and between Kipling and St George stations that day.

The TTC’s replacing subway service with shuttle buses between the two stations. The shuttle buses start and end their trips in the bus terminals at Broadview and St George Stations, then operate along Danforth Avenue, the Prince Edward Viaduct and Bloor Streets East and West. They drop off or pick up passengers at the intersections nearest to subway stations:

• at Castle Frank Road, Sherbourne, Yonge and Bay Streets.

Bay Station will be closed. All other stations remain open so you can buy fares or connect with buses and streetcars.

If you need accessible transportation, Wheel-Trans buses also operate between Broadview and St George stations. You can ask for the Wheel-Trans bus by speaking with a supervisor at these stations.

To improve shuttle service, the TTC is using several larger, articulated buses to supplement service. These buses don’t enter Broadview Station. After dropping off passengers in front of the station, the buses loop east on Erindale and Hurndale Avenues, and then south on Playter Boulevard, before continuing west on Danforth Avenue. TTC staff chose this route because it offers wider streets and a signalized intersection at Danforth and Playter for safer and more controlled turns onto Danforth.

(Transit Toronto has also noticed that, during previous occasions when the TTC has used buses between Broadview and St George, it has routed some buses to drop off or pick up passengers on St George Street at the main station entrance, instead of in the station terminal.)

The City of Toronto is temporarily restricting parking on Erindale Avenue between Broadview Avenue and Ellerbeck Street and on Playter Boulevard between Hurndale Danforth Aveunes from 3:30 a.m. Saturday until midnight Sunday.

Shuttle-bus alternatives

One way that you can reduce the impact of the closure is by planning ahead, leaving earlier than usually and giving yourself more time to get to where you’re going.

Although shuttle buses replacing subway service will be frequent, they may also be crowded.

Regular TTC buses and streetcars provide less frequent, less direct, but, perhaps, less stressful, alternatives. Consider boarding buses or streetcars east or west of the closure to by-pass the crowds, if you’re traveling to and from downtown.

• Ride streetcars operating along the 504 King route from Dundas West or Broadview stations. Connect with the 1 Yonge - University line at St Andrew or King stations.
• Ride streetcars operating along the 505 Dundas route from Dundas West or Broadview stations. Connect with the 1 Yonge - University line at St Patrick or Dundas stations.
• Ride streetcars operating along the 506 Carlton route from Main Street Station. Connect with the 1 Yonge - University line at Queen’s Park or College stations.
• Ride buses operating along the 94 Wellesley route at Ossington Station. Connect with the 1 Yonge - University line at Wellesley Station.

The TTC has already closed this section of the subway four times this year:

• Saturday, May 13;
• Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28;
• Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11; and
• Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23.

(Updated — Monday, October 1, 4:16 p.m.) This is the last closure of Line 2 that the TTC has planned this year.

It plans to close this section of the subway line just once more this year:

• Saturday, October 7 and Sunday, October 8 and Thanksgiving, Monday, October 9 - City work on Prince Edward Viaduct and TTC maintenance.

According to the TTC, “Maintaining subway infrastructure in a state-of-good-repair is critical to ensuring a safe, reliable transit system. While the TTC does much of its maintenance work on the subway at the conclusion of service each night, it will continue to require weekend closures to complete improvements to infrastructure and signals, such as automatic train control. One weekend of work during a subway closure equals about five weeks of nightly work.”

In this video, the TTC’s chief executive officer, Andy Byford and executive director of corporate communications, Brad Ross, further explain why the TTC closes parts of its subway network weekends: