Downtown Toronto intersection to close for months to replace 142-year-old watermains

Traffic to be reduced to one lane in each direction during construction.

A busy downtown Toronto intersection will fully close for two months this summer as crews work to replace 142-year-old watermains in the area.

The work at King Street East and Church Street started Sunday, throttling traffic to one lane in each direction. Crews are currently replacing the watermains that run along the north end of King Street East on either side of the intersection, the city says, before they move to the south side.

Construction will ramp up in July, when the intersection will fully close for the replacement of pipes and streetcar tracks that run through King and Church. That work isn’t expected to be complete until the end of August.

“Excavation and heavy breaking will occur at various times throughout the day,” the city said in a news release. “Concrete milling and breaking activity will occur mainly between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Concrete breaking work is the most disruptive and will typically last the first 1-2 days for each phase of construction. Around-the-clock work during rail installation by TTC is required to preserve the integrity and quality of new rail and concrete. Overnight rail work by TTC may consist of moving new rail into position, rail installation and rail welding/grinding.”

Three TTC routes will be impacted by the construction, including 503/303 Kingston Road, 504/304 King, and 508 Lake Shore. The 504/304 replacement buses will divert around the work zone when it fully closes in July.

Last week, a transit advocacy group said the changes to those routes, which will be diverting in both directions on Queen, Richmond, and Adelaide streets between Spadina and Broadview avenues, will affect 100,000 riders.