St. Clair Avenue Construction Update
Not to dig up the recent past, but I’m glad the reconstruction of the St. Clair Streetcar tracks are underway and going smoothly.
During the first couple of days of construction, the noise level was unbearable. But it quickly blended into the background noise of the big city. What was worse than the noise, however, was the traffic. The first two weeks of construction saw motorists honking, yelling and offering fellow drivers friendly advice on how and where to fornicate themselves. It was a free exchange of ideas right on the open street.
As you can tell from the picture, this section of the track is almost complete. Before long St. Clair Avenue will be spacious and pretty-fied.
Many people have many opinions on the construction and whether or not the city should assign a right-of-way for streetcars. Some argue that since it worked on Spadina, it’s going to work on St. Clair. Local businesses have been against it, since during the construction phase their business will suffer. Some commuters argue that a bus is more economical. Others love the Red Rocket.
What do you think?
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I think the problem is that some believe it DIDN’T work on Spadina, especially given where the transit stops were placed relative to junctions.
Ah, yes. Good point. That argument deserves highlighting. Since I don’t take the Spadina streetcar often (twice in the last year), I can’t really say if it’s a success or not. However, I’m quite sure there Spadina riders reading this who can share their point of view in all of this.
Speak up, Toronto!
Instead of spending close to 100 million for a right of way that will damage businesses permanantly and the maintenance of the tracks, the 2 obvious options could have been designating the streetcar tracks off limits to motorists during peak hours ala Jarvis St. Or using the trolley buses and getting rid of costly streetcars. The ferocity with which the City and TTC fought for this can only be explained by a payoff.