City of Toronto unveils ceremonial Taylor Swift street signs

CTV National News: Night two of Eras in Toronto One down and five to go. Sean Leathong reports on the buzz in Toronto after the first night of Taylor Swift's six show Eras Tour run.

The city has unveiled new street signs to mark Taylor Swift’s six-show run in Toronto, temporarily renaming a downtown route in the pop singer’s honour.

Twenty-two ceremonial street signs, which read “Taylor Swift Way,” will mark an honorary route connecting Nathan Phillips Square to the Rogers Centre for the month of November.

Swift will perform at six sold-out shows in Toronto on Nov. 14, 15, 16, and Nov. 21, 22, and 23.

At the end of November, the signs, which were created by the city in partnership with Rogers, will be donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank for the organization to sell off at auction. Funds raised will be matched by Rogers up to $113,000, which the city says in a nod to Swift’s lucky number, 13.

An online auction for the “1 Taylor Swift Way” sign and six others launched today and runs until November 10. Five more signs will be released for auction each Monday in November.

“It’s our honour to welcome Taylor Swift to Toronto for nearly a Fortnight of music and magic. We hope fans are Enchanted by their walk down ‘Taylor Swift Way’ and will generously support the auction of these signs – each a keepsake for Evermore that will help a great cause,” Mayor Olivia Chow said in a news release.

“Thank you to our partners at Rogers for generously matching those donations and for helping us bring this initiative to life by funding these signs.”

Signs will be installed along Queen Street West, John Street, Front Street and Blue Jays Way.

On Monday, Metrolinx also announced it would be boosting rail service across the network to accommodate fans during the concert series.

During the six shows, additional trips will run along the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, and Stouffville GO train lines.

A full list of service enhancements can be found on GO Transit’s website.