The Waterfront Transit Reset study was completed in 2019, and set out a complete vision and network plan for streetcars operating in an exclusive right-of-way from Long Branch in Etobicoke to the Leslie Barns at Commissioners St in the Port Lands.
The key components of the plan in the Western Waterfront (from west to east) are:
Waterfront West transit will be considered as part of an anticipated report on the City’s transit priorities, expected in 2024.
This project proposes a new streetcar connection between Exhibition Loop, on the north side of Exhibition Place, and the Dufferin Gate Loop on Dufferin Street. This connection would allow a new streetcar service to be operated between Union Station and Dufferin Street with potential connections to King Street, the Queensway, and farther west. The project would also enable future extension of the Waterfront line along the Lake Shore Boulevard West corridor, connecting to the Queensway via Colborne Lodge Drive.
Work on the project is being undertaken in coordination with other capital infrastructure improvements in the area, including replacement of the Dufferin Bridge over the Lake Shore West Rail Corridor and Gardiner Expressway, Liberty New Street (planned for the north side of rail corridor between Dufferin and Strachan), Metrolinx’s Exhibition GO Station improvements, the new Ontario Line station, and potential connections from the Exhibition Station to Ontario Place. In addition, the work is being considered in the context of the City’s Cultural Heritage Landscape Assessment, longer-term Master Planning for Exhibition Place, and the overall planning work underway for Liberty Village.
The TTC completed 30% design work for the Exhibition Loop-Dufferin Gate Loop Streetcar Extension in early 2020. The project has been put on hold pending a fuller understanding of the design, ridership, and pedestrian movement effects of the Province’s Ontario Line station at Exhibition Place, the various adjacent projects, and as area planning and design becomes finalized.
Additional details about the Exhibition Loop-Dufferin Gate Loop Streetcar Extension project can be found in TTC’s February 2021 (Item 8), September 2021 (Item 6) updates to the TTC Board and City’s Waterfront West Transit Update in 2022.EX33.2 (p. 16).
As part of the Waterfront Transit Reset Phase 2 report, a Preliminary Functional Alignment for the preferred “Humber Bay Link” LRT route was identified in the Planning and Technical Background appendix to the Waterfront Transit Phase 2 report, adopted by Council on January 31st, 2018.
Park Lawn Lake Shore Transportation Master Plan
At the direction of City Council, Transportation Services initiated the Park Lawn Lake Shore Transportation Master Plan (TMP) in 2016 as a comprehensive transportation study to plan for the required transportation infrastructure in the Humber Bay Shores are. In accordance with the Council-approved Waterfront Transit Network, the preferred road network in the TMP calls for a dedicated transit right-of-way along Lake Shore Boulevard from Humber Loop to Legion Road – this segment would further be subject to Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Schedule C.
Further work is required to co-ordinate the provision of streetcar infrastructure within the Christie’s site with streetcar infrastructure proposed along Lake Shore Boulevard West, as part of review of the broader City-wide transit network prioritization of the Waterfront LRT initiative.
Christie’s Planning Study
Resulting from the 2021 Christie’s Planning Study, Official Plan Amendment 506 calls for a transit hub to be created around the new Park Lawn GO station, with access for buses and streetcars. A preliminary conceptual alignment for a streetcar loop is outlined in Map 46-2: Structure Plan of the OPA, and section 15.5 provides for easements that may be required in order to implement such loop.
As part of the Waterfront Transit Reset Phase 2 report, the section of Lake Shore Boulevard from Legion Road to the Long Branch Loop was identified for operational improvements for the streetcar service.