Toronto’s gridlock is a major inconvenience to residents, an economic constraint, and a public safety concern. On average, congestion cost Toronto drivers 77 lost hours in 2022, a 22% increase from 2021 (1). And studies from a decade ago estimated the cost to Toronto’s economy at $11 billion per year, an amount which would surely be higher now (2). Whether you’re in the car or on transit, you need to get where you’re going faster.
Queen Street between Bay and Victoria Streets will be shut down for at least the next five years for the Ontario Line construction, but Metrolinx’s mismanagement of the Eglinton Crosstown suggests Toronto should prepare for a much longer wait.
In the meantime, the TTC, Metrolinx and the City are currently planning to do more construction so the Queen streetcar can run on Adelaide and Richmond Streets. This means Queen Street closed, Richmond and Adelaide gridlocked with streetcars and vehicles, and King Street for streetcars only.
If implemented, this proposal will be a disaster for drivers and for transit riders, who will all be stuck in worse traffic than before with vehicles not moving. And other candidates have proposed to make this even worse by having cars and streetcars battling each other on King, as well as Richmond and Adelaide.
Too often, Toronto is told to settle for these mediocre half-measures that make life harder for everyone to get around.
Brad is proposing a common-sense plan that lets each street play to its strengths.
Brad’s plan will:
- Divert the Queen streetcars to the enhanced King Streetcar Express Zone between Spadina Avenue and Church Street
- Improve the King Streetcar Express Zone by providing more frequent and reliable service, fixing the platform stops that are falling apart and increasing enforcement to ensure drivers are respecting the rules
- Keep streetcars off Richmond and Adelaide and maintain the dedicated vehicle lanes and protected cycle lane
- Use redeployed parking enforcement officers to keep traffic moving on Richmond and Adelaide.
- Prevent more construction chaos and save money by halting the current plan to install streetcar tracks on Adelaide Street.