Key downtown stretch of Queen St. could close for nearly five years for Ontario Line construction

Thestar.com
Aug. 17, 2021
Ben Spurr

A section of Queen Street may be closed for almost half a decade to allow for construction of a new subway stop in the heart of downtown Toronto, the Star has learned.

Metrolinx says the proposed closure between Bay and Victoria streets would last roughly from May 2023 to November 2027, and is necessary for the complex work required to build an Ontario Line station beneath the TTC’s existing Queen subway stop.

Drivers in both directions would be barred from using the roughly 280-metre stretch of Queen, which is close to major retail hubs like the Eaton Centre and the Hudson’s Bay flagship store, and important institutions like St. Michael’s Hospital and Old City Hall. James Street would also be closed, but north-south car traffic at Bay, Yonge, and Victoria Streets would not be blocked. The TTC’s 501 Queen streetcar would be forced into a long-term diversion.

Although Metrolinx, the provincial agency that oversees transit in the GTA, is leading construction of the Ontario Line, lengthy road closures require the approval of city council. Metrolinx says it hopes to take its plan to councillors in November.

The agency says that while building a new subway stop in such a dense area will inevitably present challenges, it will also deliver major benefits. The 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line is expected to serve up to 388,000 trips per day by 2041.

Malcolm MacKay, Metrolinx’s program sponsor for the Ontario Line, said in an interview the agency is consulting with the city, TTC and local business groups to minimize the impacts of the closure and will keep the public well-informed so those affected have time to adapt.

“That’s the goal, to give ourselves enough runway to properly implement this, properly communicate it, and get people aware of what’s happening so that they can make their plans,” MacKay said.

MacKay said Metrolinx usually avoids closing streets during station construction by using available properties nearby to drill beneath the surface and “mine” out the new stop from below. But that’s not possible in this case because the new Queen Street station will be beneath a narrow right-of-way surrounded by dense retail and office buildings.

“It’s probably one of our toughest stations because it’s so constrained,” MacKay said.

Metrolinx is planning to build six other Ontario Line stops downtown, but expects they will only require lane reductions, not full closures.

Softening the impact of the Queen closure could prove difficult. Although traffic volumes and transit use have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, before the crisis the city recorded more than 10,000 car trips on Queen just east of Yonge over a typical eight-hour weekday period. The 501 Queen streetcar carried more than 55,000 people per day.

The effects could be felt across downtown. MacKay said construction of the station is expected to add about five minutes to car trips on nearby east-west routes like King, Dundas, Richmond and Adelaide Streets, an increase of about six per cent. Delays to streetcar service would be similar.

Prolonged transit construction in other parts of Toronto, like on Eglinton Avenue where Metrolinx has been constructing the Crosstown LRT for the past decade, has dealt a financial blow to local independent businesses.

But MacKay said the effect of the Queen construction on major retailers near Yonge and Queen shouldn’t be as significant. That’s because pedestrians will still be able to access shops via pathways through the construction site and the underground PATH network, and parking lots will remain open. The centralized loading docks that serve malls won’t be blocked.

“There should be very little effect on those businesses,” MacKay predicted.

The Line 1 subway will remain in service during construction of the new Ontario Line station at Queen. But in order to allow streetcar service to continue operating, Metrolinx and the TTC are working on a plan to divert 501 Queen cars south via York and Church Streets. Westbound streetcars would be rerouted via Richmond, and eastbound vehicles would travel on Adelaide.

The diversion would require new track to be laid on York and Adelaide. Although streetcars would return to their regular routing on Queen after the closure, the new tracks, which Metrolinx has agreed to pay for, would stay. That would provide the TTC with more flexibility for diversions caused by traffic collisions or planned events like the Toronto International Film Festival.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the diversion would add time to riders’ trips and give them a longer walk to and from destinations on Queen, but it’s preferable to alternatives like using shuttle buses.

He said the agency is working with the city and Metrolinx to “ensure impacts on TTC services and inconveniences to our customers are minimized.” A report to the agency’s board is expected in the next month or two.

The $11-billion Ontario Line is the centrepiece of the Ontario PC government’s $28.5-billion GTA transit expansion program, and is planned to run between Exhibition Place and the Ontario Science Centre. It’s intended to relieve crowding on the TTC’s Line 1 and is scheduled to open around 2030.

The station at Queen will be one of two transfer points with Line 1 and is expected to be the busiest of the project’s 15 planned stations. By 2041 the stop is projected to serve 16,600 people an hour at its busiest time.