ABOVE: TTC may close the Yonge-University-Spadina line from Eglinton to St. Clair for repairs. Carey Marsden reports.
TORONTO – The rumoured closure of the busy Yonge-University-Spadina line from Eglinton Station to St. Clair Station next year symbolizes Toronto’s habit of deferring maintenance until it is “absolutely necessary” according to one infrastructure expert.
The commission is set to replace the 60-year-old track bed connecting the two mid-town stations. The TTC hasn’t confirmed a timeline but TTC CEO Andy Byford told CBC-Radio Friday morning the closure could last up to two months.
“It is 60-years-old. Track beds should be replaced about every 40 years,” TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said in an interview Friday. “So the time has come where it needs to be replaced.”
In fact, the aging track beds are causing problems across the Yonge-University-Spadina line, Ross said. Due to the deteriorating infrastructure, the TTC is forced to lower speeds through the area, causing inbound trains to be slower and more congested.
“On an average weekday, riding the Yonge-University-Spadina, there are about 600,000 people riding the line. It’s our busiest line, it is at capacity, again anybody riding the line knows just how crowded it can be,” Ross said. “But the trains having to move slowly, more and more people come down to the platform are waiting for trains, so the service degrades.”
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Murtaza Haider, an associate dean at Ryerson University, said Toronto’s habit of delaying maintenance until absolutely necessary is a chronic problem.
“What we have is a classic case of deferred maintenance,” Haider said. “And we continue to do it with the transit system and the road system until it’s absolutely necessary to have an intervention. And then it becomes a major nuisance because it is a major intervention.”
Instead, the TTC do ongoing maintenance and repair on infrastructure, he said.
“If we were to continue with good engineering practices, which are, we continue after constructing new infrastructure, we continue with the repairs in a timely fashion, A. it’s less costly. B. it’s less intrusive. C. it minimizes the overall negative impact on the society and the economy,” he said.
However, the TTC is working to upgrade its infrastructure across the network and track upgrades are only a part of that. During the October long weekend, the TTC will be closing the Yonge-University-Spadina line south of Bloor Street to upgrade its signalling system. The upgraded signal system should allow trains to move more efficiently, Ross said, which in turn will allow more trains to be in service at any given time.
“So you get a new signalling system, you have new trains, you have track bed that doesn’t deteriorate the service and you have a much more reliable experience riding the TTC – especially in the morning time when it is at its busiest,” Ross said.
But still, Haider expects the temporary closure to cause huge traffic problems in the Yonge Street and Eglinton Area with ripple effects throughout the city on both the roads and the TTC as people search for different routes while trying to bypass the epicentre of the construction.
Councillor for the area, Josh Matlow, is calling on the TTC to provide an “open, transparent” plan for the closure.
“I’m a local councillor where this happens to be. The reality is, it’s a line that is going to impact the entire city,” he said. “The earlier they can get out information and how they are supporting people, the better.”
Matlow published a letter to the TTC CEO on his website Friday asking Byford to respond publicly about why it’s necessary to close the tracks and what steps the commission will take to mitigate increased congestion.
Haider suggests the TTC and local employers have several options available for reducing congestion. Employers he said, could allow people to work from home or a secondary location and the TTC could operate express buses on routes that run parallel to the Yonge-University-Spadina line.
While the TTC has not yet said when exactly the closure will take place, Ross hinted that it would take place during the “warmer months” during a lull in TTC-use.
– With files from Carey Marsden
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