Leslie Street Barns delayed by faulty streetcar track installation
60 metres of new track were laid 9 cm too high, city says
The construction fiasco on Leslie Street in Toronto's east-end will continue well into July.
It was revealed Thursday that a 60-metre stretch of new streetcar track between Queen Street East and Eastern Avenue was laid about nine centimetres too high, forcing contractors to re-install the track.
Leslie Street was supposed to reopen to traffic in about three weeks, but now it will remain closed until at least mid-July.
The tracks are part of the TTC's Leslie Street Barns project, a storage and maintenance facility for the new generation of streetcars coming to Toronto streets in the coming years. The project, which is nearly a year behind schedule, has been plagued by tens of millions of dollars in cost overruns.
TTC CEO Andy Byford told The Globe and Mail that TTC inspectors are not able to watch over private contractors "24/7". Ultimately the responsibility lies with the construction company, who will cover the cost of the mistake.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Mayor John Tory expressed his disappointment in the new delay and said the city "cannot go on this way."
"This is totally unsatisfactory. It's disrespectful. It's not just about money — the contractor will pay for it — it's about people's time and it's about disruption in that neighbourhood that has gone on too long."