Queens Quay and Spadina painted red to stop drivers from encroaching on streetcar tracks

Thestar.com
September 7, 2018
Ilya Banares

The street car tracks at Spadina Ave. and Queens Quay have been painted bright red to try to prevent drivers from accidentally trespassing on streetcar territory.

“For the TTC, it’s just about keeping the right-of-way clear for our vehicles,” TTC spokesperson Hayley Waldman told the Star. “This is just one approach that we’re testing at this time among several other things being done in the area.”

Revitalization of Queen’s Quay was completed in 2015, and changes included shifting vehicular traffic to the north side of the street, decreasing the number of lanes, improving the streetcar system and and turning the south area into a pedestrian precinct.

The tracks were painted Tuesday evening as a measure to guide drivers at the somewhat confusing Harbourfront intersection.

The TTC, the City of Toronto and the Waterfront teamed up on the project.

According to Waldman, Waterfront Toronto will be taking the lead in monitoring the effectiveness of the measure.

A Star photographer visited the area of Queens Quay and Spadina on Thursday afternoon and saw several drivers continue to enter the painted area, just days after the initiative started.

Revitalization of Queens Quay was completed in 2015, and changes included shifting vehicular traffic to the north side of the street, decreasing the number of lanes, improving the streetcar system and and turning the south area into a pedestrian precinct.

Since the project was finished, however, drivers have struggled to adapt to the new set-up.

Ever since it opened, the Queens Quay tunnel near York St. has been a notorious magnet for drivers who would enter the streetcar-only tunnel by mistake, often delaying service for hours and requiring a costly extraction of the vehicle.

Several measures were put in place to dissuade wayward drivers, including the addition of lights, warning signs, rumble strips, and yellow-and-black-striped bollards. In late July, the TTC installed two gates at the openings of the tunnel, which open only to authorized vehicles.