TTC modifying 510 Spadina bus replacement service on weekday afternoons

Starting Monday, July 8, the TTC is modifying the 510 Spadina bus replacement service to improve reliability while navigating afternoon gridlock and congestion on the south end of the route.

From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday only, 510 Spadina buses will no longer operate on Spadina Avenue between Front Street W. and Queen’s Quay W. During these hours, buses will instead turn left on Front St. and then right on Blue Jays Way, looping around back to Spadina Ave. to go north to Spadina Station. There will be no 510 service during these hours at stops on Spadina Ave. at Fort York Blvd./Bremner Blvd. and at Queen’s Quay W.

This change is the result of on-going monitoring of the route since June 23 when buses replaced streetcars to accommodate essential infrastructure work.

In the first week of this planned six-month service change, the TTC has seen southbound afternoon travel times triple to more than an hour from approximately 20-25 minutes at other times of day. Buses running south of Front St. are getting caught in congestion and gridlock as motorists attempt to get on the Gardiner Expressway.

During the afternoon rush hour, southbound bus operators will announce the turn, allowing customers to exit the bus and continue their journey south on foot if they can. Supervisors will be on site on southbound Spadina at King St. and Front St. for customers with mobility needs or anyone with strollers, packages or large bags needing assistance to travel south of Front St. In these cases, the supervisor will relay a message to another southbound bus advising of an accommodation requirement. With buses running every two to three minutes at this time of day, we believe that in most cases customers getting off a turning bus will only be waiting approximately 10 minutes for service.

New stops will be placed on the south side of Front St. east of Spadina Ave. to offload southbound customers, and on the north side of Blue Jays Way east of Spadina Ave. for customers wanting to travel north.

Customer service representatives and TTC supervisors will be available at the new stops and key locations in the area to assist with direction and with accommodating accessibility needs.

The TTC continues to monitor route performance and is looking at other possible improvements and modifications.

The TTC and City of Toronto are working together to explore additional longer-term measures to reduce congestion and enhance transit priority and cyclist safety along Spadina Avenue. Subject to City Council approval, additional measures will be implemented in late July.

The City has already deployed Traffic Agents at key intersections along the 510 Spadina route from Monday to Friday between noon and 7 p.m. to assist with traffic flows and will adjust traffic signals as needed to support buses to make turns along the diverted route while the TTC operates modified bus replacement service. The City is proactively monitoring traffic on Spadina Avenue and surrounding streets and will make additional adjustments as necessary.

The TTC reminds customers that 511 Bathurst and Line 1 offer alternatives for north-south travel with east-west connections at College St., Dundas St., Queen St. and King St. All road users are encouraged to plan their journey in advance and consider alternate routes based on travel time projections.