TTC swapping 510 Spadina streetcars for buses until December
CBC
Riders on one of Toronto's busiest streetcar routes will instead be boarding buses for the next several months.
In a news release issued this week, the TTC announced that starting on June 23, the 510 Spadina Streetcar will be replaced with buses for track repairs and for the "modernization" of overhead power lines. The change will be in effect until December.
"I know many people rely on the Spadina streetcar and construction can be challenging. This is important work that will ensure a safe and reliable TTC service for many years to come," Mayor Olivia Chow said in a statement.
The TTC said workers will be upgrading the overhead electrical system along the streetcar right-of-way between King Street and Queens Quay, and from College Street to Spadina Station.
Track work will take place at Spadina Station, alongside enabling "future platform extension."
The transit agency said that effective June 23, buses will replace the 510 streetcar going both ways on Spadina between Spadina Station and Queens Quay W.
There will be no 510 streetcar service to or from Union Station, so riders heading to or leaving the city's central transit hub will be able to transfer between replacement buses and 509 Harbourfront streetcars at Queens Quay W.
The TTC also said it will increase 509 streetcar service.
"The modernization of the overhead power network on Spadina Ave. is part of our commitment to ensuring a safe and reliable transit system for all TTC riders," said TTC Chair Jamaal Myers in a statement.
"While temporary bus replacements may cause inconvenience, dedicated TTC teams will be working hard to ensure the upgrades are finished on time or ahead of schedule by the end of this year."
With the B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservatives neck and neck heading into election day on Saturday, there are also a record number of Independent candidates who — if voted in — could hold the balance of power in a minority government scenario. British Columbians have only elected one Independent MLA in the last 60 years. Vicki Huntington won a seat in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013. But University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the situation could be different this election cycle. Of the 40 Independent candidates running, six of them are incumbent MLAs, who carry the benefit of name recognition in their community. "So we've got Independents in this election who I think we could deem to be viable shots at actually winning a riding, which is not normal," Telford said. "They're still long shots, but they are certainly plausible candidates."
Though Bill C-282 has received cross-party federal support in Ottawa, Alberta's provincial government says it's not a backer of the Bloc Québécois legislation that aims to prevent Canada's supply-managed sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from being included in future international trade negotiations.
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 others are facing criminal charges for allegedly running a drug-trafficking operation that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada and used violence — including murder — to achieve the group's goals, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.