Someone managed to collide head-on with a streetcar in Toronto construction zone

If you think your day is off to a bad start, there's one Toronto driver who may just be having a worse morning after somehow managing to crash head-on into a streetcar, causing the shutdown of a portion of College Street during peak rush hour.

The accident took place shortly before 7 a.m. Friday on a stretch of the roadway that is under extensive construction, which was very likely a factor.

Crews are still on the scene assessing and cleaning up the mess just east of Bathurst as of 9 a.m., with eastbound traffic completely blocked at the major intersection as a result.

Heads up for anyone taking the eastbound 506 today, major crash just east of College and Bathurst
by u/nuwutella in toronto

Locals are finding it quite baffling how the motorist got themselves into the snafu, joking that it would have taken some very fancy driving and that perhaps the streetcar swerved right into their lane.

There have also been many comments about the collision being a perfect example of drivers and roads in Toronto on any given day — which, in light of the recent incidents involving TTC vehicles and cars, is not exactly untrue.

People have quite impressively wedged their cars between streetcars and utility poles, crashed into LRT trains that aren't even in service yet, and, many times, driven into tunnels that are very clearly reserved for transit vehicles only.

Last year, someone actually got their very expensive convertible stuck in almost the exact same spot on College as today's incident, also during roadwork. It was not an isolated incident, either.

506 Carlton: Detour eastbound via Ossington Ave, Dundas St W and Bay St due to a collision.
Shuttle buses ordered to operate through the area.

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) August 18, 2023

Anyone who has visited the thoroughfare on the north end of Kensington Market in recent weeks will know that the street has long been undergoing TTC track replacements, pedestrian safety improvements and other infrastructure upgrades, including the installation of new raised sidewalks and separated bike lanes.

Those commuting through the area on the TTC this morning found themselves detouring down Osssington, across Dundas and back up Bay Street, though shuttle buses were also dispatched.

As of 9:28 a.m., regular service has resumed.