Starting “the week of” Tuesday, May 25, TTC crews are occupying the two track lanes on

• Queen Street West west of Bay Street

to weld standard lengths of rail into longer strings.

Crews weld the rail to prepare for the City of Toronto / TTC project to renew the streetcar tracks on Queen West between Fennings and Bay Streets.

This advance work allows TTC crews to install new track more quickly, reducing the timeline for disrupting the nearby neighbourhood. Crews store the rail strings in the north curb lay-by west of Bay Street. They’ll gradually deplete the rail pile from this location, as they renew the tracks and install new rail during Phases 1 to 4 of the project (between Bay Street and Spadina Avenue).

^ Image, TTC.

To move or slide the strings of rail safely and efficiently from the track lanes to the north curb lay-by, a crew will pull the rails overnight (Sunday, May 30 into Monday, May 31) with a Toronto Police Service escort. Expect noise during this activity.

The City will temporarily relocate food-truck vendors nearby while the TTC stores the strings of rail on the north side of Queen West.

The TTC has already replaced streetcars with buses along this section of Queen Street West to accommodate this project. However, passengers aboard buses along these routes can expect delays:

• 301 Queen overnight shuttle bus;
• 501L Queen / Long Branch shuttle bus;
• 501P Queen / Park Lawn shuttle bus.