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CBC
11 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Toronto business owners say King Street construction, road closure costing them
Just over two weeks after a major Toronto intersection was closed for a construction project that's expected to take much of the summer, some King Street business owners say they're already losing business due to reduced traffic and noise. The intersection of King Street E. and Church Street was closed to all traffic on June 2, and is scheduled to remain so until mid-August, according to the city. The closure is part of a joint project by the city and the TTC to replace aging streetcar tracks, as well as a 142-year-old water main. Spokespersons for the TTC and the city told CBC Toronto that work is currently on schedule. But in the meantime, transit has been rerouted off a portion of King Street, and some business owners say the construction is costing them. WATCH | Toronto downtown intersection will be closed until mid-August: King-Church intersection to be closed until mid-August 17 days ago Duration 3:00 Graham Wong, founder and CEO of LAUFT, where professionals rent on-demand work spaces, says the noise and traffic diversions aren't convenient for clients. "When they start to drill, it gets very loud. And so you can imagine that if someone has a video call, or they have a team meeting, they certainly want to have that ability to focus," he said, adding that the closure started earlier than expected. "So there were some juggling things that we had to do for clients, and saying, possibly, maybe, you move your meeting to another location that we have." He said the business is getting by, but if the project is delayed into September, it would start to conflict with the company's busy season as workers return from vacations. Another business owner on the street, Arti Joshi, says her spa Atmana opened near King and Church in the winter, and had started to break even last month. But revenue has decreased 70 per cent in June compared to May, she says, and the construction is keeping people away. "We're getting calls, but then when they see that this road is blocked, they don't want to come this way. So it's really hitting our business," she said. And for those who do make it, Joshi says the spa experience hasn't been as relaxing as in previous months. "Because I am in the lower level... I had to actually cancel my guests from coming in, because the entire place was vibrating and rattling," she said. Joshi says the drilling has improved since construction started, but the project is still disrupting business. "I just wish this gets over soon. We love this spot." Councillor proposes removing transit priority The road closure has also had a broader impact, forcing transit and vehicles to divert on side streets, adding to downtown congestion. Coun. Brad Bradford said Thursday that he wants the city to increase traffic flow in the area by temporarily removing transit priority on King Street while streetcars and buses are diverted for construction. He says he'll bring a motion forward at next week's council meeting to that effect. "There are no streetcars using this transit priority corridor right now. It is a transit priority corridor in name only," he told reporters at a news conference downtown Thursday. "This is a simple step that would immediately relieve the pressure on adjacent east-west routes and help ease some of the traffic congestion across the entire downtown core." Bradford, who represents the Beaches-East York ward in the city's east end, said he's responding to what he's heard from constituents, as well as businesses and people from across the city, about "what a nightmare it is to get into downtown Toronto." Bradford was also asked if he intended to run for mayor next year, but declined to confirm.
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Torontonians ‘mad as hell', Bradford says, pushing to temporarily reopen King Street amid traffic gridlock
Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford has laid out a plan to help relieve gridlock by reopening a portion of King Street. Natalie Johnson reports. Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford says the city must act on what he calls a 'common-sense' solution to worsening downtown gridlock: reopen a key stretch of King Street to vehicles until major construction wraps later this summer. Standing near the closed King and Church streets on Thursday, Bradford said downtown congestion has surged since the intersection was shut earlier this month to replace a 142-year-old watermain. With no streetcars currently using King Street between Spadina Avenue and Church Street, Bradford says he plans to introduce a motion at next week's council meeting to temporarily allow cars back onto the corridor. It's a move he says is already backed by businesses and residents in the area. 'What I'm hearing from Torontonians is that they are mad as hell with the congestion in the downtown core,' Bradford told reporters. 'They want the city to take it seriously. They want the mayor to step up and do something. If she's not prepared to do that, I will.' Construction closures bringing traffic to a crawl In addition to replacing the watermain, the work along the King-Church includes rebuilding TTC streetcar tracks. Watermain construction at King and Church intersection causing traffic, commute chaos Watermain construction at King and Church intersection causing traffic, commute chaos However, Bradford argues that no streetcars have been running through the corridor, with several routes instead using Richmond and Adelaide streets. 'These streets are already under pressure from the Ontario Line construction, lane closures and everyday commuting,' Bradford said. 'Now there are four busy streetcar lines moving more than street 30 streetcars per hour that have been diverted onto Richmond and Adelaide.' Bradford emphasized that due to this overflow, it makes little sense to restrict King Street when streetcars don't use it. Rethinking a traffic strategy Bradford's motion, seconded by Coun. Stephen Holyday, also calls on the city's Deputy City Manager of Infrastructure Services to develop better strategies for managing congestion ahead of major downtown infrastructure work — something he explains is even more urgent because the city's planned 'congestion czar' has yet to be appointed. That czar role was approved by council in April, part of Mayor Olivia Chow's wider congestion strategy. But a report on what the role will entail isn't due until July 10. In a response sent to CTV News Toronto, Chow's office released a statement suggesting they have sped up construction in the area by 'one full month' and that 'Bradford has not yet shared his motion with our office.' Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks to reporters on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) Instead, Chow plans to bring her own motion forward at council next week in collaboration with Coun. Chris Moise and Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik. Chow's office says this motion aims to 'ease congestion' by working with the TTC, transportation services and the Financial District BIA to 'manage temporary loading zones in specific areas.' 'This has been considered at city council repeatedly,' the email reads. 'We are always open to exploring new solutions to speed up traffic.' Meanwhile, another staff report suggested that Toronto's 5,600-kilometre road network has not expanded in decades, despite massive growth in construction activity and traffic volume. Last summer, up to 24 per cent of city roads were closed at one time, more than doubling travel times. The report also highlighted the city plans to have 67 traffic agents in place by summer — but enforcement alone may not be enough, Bradford suggests. 'This is about using common sense and looking for creative solutions to our problems,' Bradford said. 'We should be making better use of all the corridors that are available at our disposal when we can, particularly one that is significantly underutilized right now.' A 'segregated' east end feeling left out, Bradford says While the King–Church intersection isn't in Bradford's Beaches–East York ward, he says the consequences of downtown congestion are city-wide — particularly for residents east of Yonge Street. 'Respectfully, a lot of people from the east end of the city feel entirely cut off from the downtown core,' Bradford said. 'When they took that ramp down on the Gardiner, they segregated the east end of Toronto and made it very difficult and painful to get into the core, and we're still dealing with the impacts of that.' Gardiner Expressway Westbound traffic is seen on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press) 'I'm standing up for everybody east of Yonge that's having a hard time getting into the core, and folks from out in Etobicoke, North York, trying to get downtown.' Developers and business leaders have also lined up behind the motion, warning that gridlock is hurting the city's economic engine. 'Fixing Toronto's mobility crisis requires action, not just talk,' said Jon Love, executive chair of KingSett Capital. 'There's no reason for King Street to be reserved for streetcar priority when there are no streetcars running on it.' Leona Savoie, co-chair of NAIOP Greater Toronto's government relations committee, called the motion 'a common-sense solution to alleviate congestion and get Toronto moving again.' A bid for mayor? Notably, Bradford was asked several times during Thursday's news conference about whether he was trying to lay the groundwork for a future mayoral run, to which he said: 'I have not made any decision on that... As a member of the 25 councillors and 26 including the mayor, it is becoming on all of us to stand up and fight on the issues that are important for people that are trying to call the city home.'
CTV News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
City councillor urges city to temporarily reopen King Street to cars amid downtown construction
City Councillor Brad Bradford speaks about the spike in congestion in Toronto and the motion he will put forward to get King Street reopened to vehicles. Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford says the city must act on what he calls a 'common-sense' solution to worsening downtown gridlock: reopen a key stretch of King Street to vehicles until major construction wraps later this summer. Standing near the closed King and Church streets on Thursday, Bradford said downtown congestion has surged since the intersection was shut earlier this month to replace a 142-year-old watermain. With no streetcars currently using King Street between Spadina Avenue and Church Street, Bradford says he plans to introduce a motion at next week's council meeting to temporarily allow cars back onto the corridor. It's a move he says is already backed by businesses and residents in the area. 'What I'm hearing from Torontonians is they are mad as hell with the congestion in the downtown core,' Bradford told reporters. 'They want the city to take it seriously. They want the mayor to step up and do something. If she's not prepared to do that, I will.' Construction closures bringing traffic to a crawl In addition to replacing the watermain, the work along the King-Church includes rebuilding TTC streetcar tracks. Watermain construction at King and Church intersection causing traffic, commute chaos Watermain construction at King and Church intersection causing traffic, commute chaos However, Bradford argues that no streetcars have been running through the corridor, with several routes instead using Richmond and Adelaide streets. 'These streets are already under pressure from the Ontario Line construction, lane closures and everyday commuting,' Bradford said. 'Now there are four busy streetcar lines moving more than street 30 streetcars per hour that have been diverted onto Richmond and Adelaide.' Bradford emphasized that due to this overflow, it makes little sense to restrict King Street when streetcars don't use it. Rethinking a traffic strategy Bradford's motion, seconded by Coun. Stephen Holyday, also calls on the city's Deputy City Manager of Infrastructure Services to develop better strategies for managing congestion ahead of major downtown infrastructure work — something he explains is even more urgent because the city's planned 'congestion czar' has yet to be appointed. That czar role was approved by council in April, part of Mayor Olivia Chow's wider congestion strategy. But a report on what the role will entail isn't due until July 10. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks to reporters on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) Another staff also suggested that Toronto's 5,600-kilometre road network has not expanded in decades, despite massive growth in construction activity and traffic volume. Last summer, up to 24 per cent of city roads were closed at one time, more than doubling travel times. The report also highlighted the city plans to have 67 traffic agents in place by summer — but enforcement alone may not be enough, Bradford suggests. 'This is about using common sense and looking for creative solutions to our problems,' Bradford said. 'We should be making better use of all the corridors that are available at our disposal when we can, particularly one that is significantly underutilized right now.' A 'segregated' east end feeling left out, Bradford says While the King–Church intersection isn't in Bradford's Beaches–East York ward, he says the consequences of downtown congestion are city-wide — particularly for residents east of Yonge Street. 'Respectfully, a lot of people from the east end of the city feel entirely cut off from the downtown core,' Bradford said. 'When they took that ramp down on the Gardiner, they segregated the east end of Toronto and made it very difficult and painful to get into the core, and we're still dealing with the impacts of that.' Gardiner Expressway Westbound traffic is seen on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press) 'I'm standing up for everybody east of Yonge that's having a hard time getting into the core, and folks from out in Etobicoke, North York, trying to get downtown.' Developers and business leaders have also lined up behind the motion, warning that gridlock is hurting the city's economic engine. 'Fixing Toronto's mobility crisis requires action, not just talk,' said Jon Love, executive chair of KingSett Capital. 'There's no reason for King Street to be reserved for streetcar priority when there are no streetcars running on it.' Leona Savoie, co-chair of NAIOP Greater Toronto's government relations committee, called the motion 'a common-sense solution to alleviate congestion and get Toronto moving again.' A bid for mayor? Notably, Bradford was asked several times during Thursday's news conference about whether he was trying to lay the groundwork for a future mayoral run, to which he said: 'I have not made any decision on that... As a member of the 25 councillors and 26 including the mayor, it is becoming on all of us to stand up and fight on the issues that are important for people that are trying to call the city home.'
Toronto Star
17 hours ago
- Automotive
- Toronto Star
TTC streetcar derails at Dundas and Bathurst, forcing detours
Multiple streetcar lines are detouring after a 505 Dundas streetcar derailed on Thursday morning, the TTC says. The streetcar derailed near Dundas Street and Bathurst Street around 7:20 a.m., police said in a post on X. Damage to overhead wires has caused power issues and forced the 505 Dundas and 511 Bathurst streetcars to detour, the transport agency said. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Shuttle buses are servicing the 505 and 511 routes, while the 506 Carlton is back to regular service near College Street at Bathurst Street, the TTC said. The TTC is investigating whether the streetcar was damaged, a spokesperson added. Eastbound and westbound Dundas Street are closed at Bathurst Street, and southbound Bathurst Street is closed at Dundas Street. No injuries have been reported in the incident, officers said, adding people should expect delays in the area and consider alternate routes.
CTV News
19 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
TTC streetcar derails in downtown Toronto
A Toronto Transit Commission sign is shown at a downtown Toronto subway stop Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy A TTC streetcar derailed in downtown Toronto Thursday, causing road closures during the morning commute. Toronto police said the train went off the tracks just after 7:20 a.m. at Bathurst and Dundas streets. No injuries were reported. Road closures are in effect and police are asking motorists to consider alternate routes. At the same time, the TTC says service on the 505 Dundas, 511 Bathurst and 506 Carlton routes have all been impacted due to an overhead power line issue, though it's unclear if that's a direct result of the derailment. Shuttle buses are running. More details to come.
