There’s no doubt about the benefits of having the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) staged in downtown Toronto but it will come at a cost once again this year.
The TIFF ‘Festival Street’ event, which is being held for the third straight year, will close King St. W. between Spadina Ave. and University Ave. from 5 a.m. on Sept. 8 until 5 a.m. on Sept. 12.
This will result in the diversion of the 504 King streetcar for the four-day festival.
Despite concerns in the past about the disruption, TTC officials say the event is a major draw to the city.
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“There’s a bigger picture that we have to be mindful of. Certainly we at the TTC are mindful of it and that is what TIFF does for the overall economy that we are part of. So we have to play our part,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.
In addition to the King streetcar, the 514 Cherry and 304 King night route will also be impacted by the road closure.
“What we’ve said is we’ll do all we can to mitigate the inconvenience,” Ross said. “We’ll make sure at the corner of King and Spadina, for example, that we have police officers to assist with traffic so that streetcars that have to turn there can do so as effortlessly as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said a number of measures will be put in place to make sure the word gets out about the road closures.
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They include posting messages on overhead signs on the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway, advanced notification signs at key intersections and additional signage across TTC subway stations.
“TIFF, the TTC, Transportation Services and Economic Development and Culture have worked closely over the past couple of months to discuss the closure and to ensure that an extensive communication and mitigation plan is put in place to inform residents of the closure and re-routing of the streetcars and to minimize the impact on residents, road and transit users,” said the Mayor’s Office in an email.
The Toronto International Film Festival takes place this year from Sept. 8 to 18.
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