Streetcars making stops along St. Clair.
Saturday afternoon saw the collection of heritage PCC streetcars ferrying passengers along St. Clair Avenue to celebrate the partial reopening of the St. Clair dedicated streetcar line after a long construction period. Streetcar service resumed to Earlscourt Loop (Lansdowne Ave.) on Sunday.
Photo/COURTESY
Four years after construction began on the St. Clair Avenue right-of-way, the much anticipated streetcar service has resumed between Bathurst Street and Lansdowne Avenue.
The service was up and running Sunday, Dec. 20 but the final stretch between Lansdowne and Keele Street won't be ready until the spring.
Construction for the 6.7-kilometre right-of-way started in 2005 and the first phase between Yonge and Bathurst streets opened in 2007.
But the rest of the project was delayed due to court challenges by community members upset with the proposal, water main work and placement of underground hydro wires, said TTC spokesperson Brad Ross.
"We haven't been running a streetcar there for a few years now," Ross said. "We are getting the residents and businesses in the community to recognize now the streetcars are operating and are back on track. At the end of the day this is positive for the entire community."
With the return of streetcars along the section of St. Clair, the 512 St. Clair bus route will be served by streetcars travelling on the new right-of-way from St. Clair station at Yonge Street to the Earlscourt Avenue loop at Lansdowne Avenue.
Bus service will operate on St. Clair Avenue West between Keele Street (Gunns loop) and Oakwood Avenue (Robina/Oakwood loop) until the completion of the St. Clair right-of-way and the resumption of streetcar service along the entire 512 route.
"We have gone through tough times and the construction was not pretty, however that is all behind us now," said St. Paul's Councillor Joe Mihevc, TTC vice-chair.
Mihevc acknowledged construction hurt certain businesses more so than others but campaigns such as the Shop St. Clair initiative, which encouraged residents to shop locally during the construction period, helped boost sales.
"The good thing is that we did the hydro, water, natural gas," he said. "We're not going to see construction on St. Clair for some time. The final 150-metre stretch (of streetcar service) will open in the spring."
The business community took a hit during construction, with many merchants either shutting down or forced to deal with a steep decline in sales.
"The business community is very happy construction is over and we are looking forward to the flow of traffic along St. Clair to return to what it was," said Victor Cappella, chair of the Hillcrest Village Business Improvement Area. "The traffic flow definitely changed during construction, with less and less people coming to St. Clair."