Transit Priority Measures to Support Streetcar Service Diversions during King Street East and Church Street Intersection Closures

The Queen Street diversion uses tracks on Richmond Street and Adelaide Street, between York Street and Church Street to by-pass the closure of Queen Street from Bay Street to Victoria Street. Therefore, the existing 501 Queen service will also be impacted by the diversion due to the increased number of streetcars using this route. The proposed temporary transit priority measures aim to mitigate the impact on the 102,900 daily customers primarily on streetcars that travel along the diversion route. The measures in this report are being approved as temporary, and a long-term plan for parking and traffic regulation changes on Queen Street West and Queen Street East between Spadina Avenue and Broadview Avenue will be brought forward to Toronto and East York Community Council in the near future. This report proposes a suite of transit priority measures to support the diversion including new parking restrictions on Queen Street, additional no stopping zones, increased duration of turning restrictions, restrictions on CaféTO curb lane installations and, implementing a short eastbound transit-only lane at the intersection of Queen Street East and Broadview Avenue to support streetcar and general traffic operations. In addition to the proposed TPMs, the TTC will work with City staff to support the diversion using the Traffic Agent program and signal timing optimizations where possible As TTC operates transit service on Broadview Avenue, Queen Street, Richmond Street, Adelaide Street, Church Street and York Street, City Council approval of this report is required.

3. City Council authorize to October 14, 2025, inclusive, restriction of permits for Curb Lane CaféTO installations during the diversion routing along the following roadway sections: a. south side of Queen Street East, from Hamilton Street to a point 9 metres east of Broadview Avenue. b. both sides of Queen Street East, from East Don Roadway to Church Street; c. both sides of Church Street from, Queen Street East to Adelaide Street East; d. both sides of York Street, from Queen Street West to Adelaide Street West; and e. both sides of Queen Street West, from York Street to Spadina Avenue 4. City Council delegate authority to the General Manager, Transportation Services to amend the by-laws outlined in Recommendations 1 to 3 from May 11, 2025 to October 14, 2025, for the purposes of addressing operational and safety issues that may arise in relation to the watermain and track maintenance project. 5. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to implement changes and submit directly to Council, any necessary bills for by-law amendments to the schedules, to City of Toronto Code Chapters on the streets and within the parameters as generally described in Attachment 2. 6. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission, to collect traffic and transit data, monitor the performance of the transit priority measures, subject to data availability. 7. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission, local Business Improvement Areas, and the Toronto Parking Authority, to report back to the Toronto and East York Community Council by the fourth quarter of 2025 on the effectiveness of these changes for streetcar operations and a recommended long-term plan for parking and traffic regulations on Queen Street West and Queen Street East, from Spadina Avenue to Broadview Avenue.