Work is about to start on a 1.5km stretch of Dundas between Bathurst and Dovercourt that will replace the streetcar tracks with newer, longer-lasting versions.
"The
TTC tracks typically last about 17 years on average," says Gordon MacMillan, the city's director of design and construction for linear infrastructure. "In the past, we used old timbers below grade, just like you'd see on a railway, but now we're using concrete, that's giving the steel a longer life, and making future replacements faster. When we go in to replace these in 20 years, we'll just have to crack on layer of concrete, snap the old tracks out, and snap the new ones in."
With the older timber system, contractors like Bolton-based Domti, who have the Dundas job, have to dig almost a metre down and replace everything, which puts the roads out of commission for some time. In this case, with a winter shut-down, until next July.
While the work is being done on the tracks, the city is also resurfacing the road and reconstructing all the sidewalks and boulevards, and planting new trees.
The budget for the whole project is $4.1 million.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Gordon MacMillan
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