College streetcar work to finish next month

The city has been tackling the huge job of replacing streetcar tracks on the College, Gerrard and Carlton routes since late March. This has meant re-routing buses and streetcars. A lot of people have had to find alternate means of transportation, and want to know when TTC services will be back on track.

Scott Douggan, supervisor of track construction for the city, said the majority of the work is finished, with only a few short stretches of track left to complete.

"We are concentrating on downtown now," he said.

At present, the TTC is working on the tracks north of Gerrard St. up to Carlton St., which Douggan said should be done by mid-October. There are two construction jobs occurring simultaneously that will wrap up in mid-November: Carlton St. between Parliament and Yonge Sts.; and College St., between Yonge St. and Spadina Ave.

While the TTC has finished its track on College St., between Spadina Ave. and Bathurst St., the city is completing roadwork, so streetcar service can’t return until mid-November.

Douggan said the wait for the new road and streetcar tracks will be worth it.

"The streetcar ride will be like night and day — like riding on glass and very quiet."

The new tracks should last for 25-30 years. The city’s next big streetcar projects are St. Clair Ave., which was just approved in September and will start next summer, and portions of Queen St. in the Beaches and near Dufferin St.