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The Disaster That Is The Queen Streetcar

Posted by Tim / October 19, 2007

10 Comments

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It's bad enough that the Queen streetcar runs so irregularly, and somehow manages to send two to three at a time and then nothing for 40 minutes. But since this Monday the TTC has given commuters yet another reason to walk, bike, drive or join the crowd on the rails at King or Dundas.

Like the never-ending track construction and replacement elsewhere in the city, the TTC has decided that October is the month to rip up the ground at Queen and Bathurst. Stopping by today for a closer look, I took some photos of the mess - and progress to date. It seems like they've finished most of the excavating and are now in the laying tracks or pouring cement phases.

Here's hoping work is complete on or ahead of schedule which as of now is slated to finish on November 5th. More photos:

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Discussion

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Chris / October 19, 2007 at 04:27 pm
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Was on the way to a concert last night, driving on King and saw the about 20-car lineup of streetcars diverted from Queen to King. What a mess!
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anonymous / October 19, 2007 at 05:18 pm
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I live right near the construction, and I agree, it's a total mess. I wouldn't normally be opposed to repair work (it's got to be done, right?), but the city gave us absolutely no warning or heads-up. Not even a note in our mailbox. What's worse is that they work from 6 am until midnight, and at times it feels like a mini earthquake is going on. Here's hoping for an early finish.
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Gloria / October 19, 2007 at 05:55 pm
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Wow, that's some major surgery there. Echoing Anon here: Where was the advance notice?
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Andrew / October 19, 2007 at 06:59 pm
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Can't we just get rid of the rails please? Vancouver gets along fine with these:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus";>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus<;/a>
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Rick / October 19, 2007 at 07:39 pm
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I took the Queen car on Tuesday night.... the diversion along King was hideous. It took forever.
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Vince / October 19, 2007 at 08:24 pm
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http://ihatethettc.com
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Wrenkin / October 20, 2007 at 12:41 am
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Vancouver gets along, but not always "fine." The other week there was a crash in the middle of an intersection, and all the older trolleys without battery back-up couldn't go around it. There aren't a lot of alternate routes outside of downtown, so they piled up. Last week a wire broke in rush hour, so all the buses were stranded. I like them, mainly because they're quiet, but nothing's perfect.

Vancouver uses double-length diesel buses wherever Toronto would use a streetcar. There are supposedly some extended trolleys around, but I don't think they're in regular service.
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Chris Orbz / October 20, 2007 at 01:16 am
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I was so sure that initial shot was photoshopped... Good thing there's no reason to go to Queen and Bathurst anyway, 'cause that looks atrocious! Sucks so many people still do need to go THROUGH it, though.
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word / October 20, 2007 at 01:35 pm
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I'm still at a loss as to how a streetcar track can wear out. And after they do this replacement and make a huge mess, negatively affecting all the businesses nearby, the ride doesn't seem that much more quiet or comfortable to warrant it.
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Ben / October 22, 2007 at 02:07 pm
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word: of course it will wear out. Any infrastructure will wear out eventually. Streetcar tracks probably have to be redone every 5 - 15 years. If you were to look a couple of weeks ago, you would see that the concrete around the tracks was crumbling.

The whole intersection was due for a revamp in my opinion. Here's hoping that they fix the depression in the North West corner where the giant puddle forms.
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