TTC proposing 35 weekend subway closures in 2017

The TTC has unveiled its list of closures for the coming year and if there’s any good news it’s that there are slightly fewer of them than last year.

Twenty of the 35 planned closures will affect Line 1, Yonge-University, with the first of the year coming next weekend when a large portion of the system will be closed from Downsview to St. George stations.

Portions of Line 2, Bloor-Danforth, will be closed 10 times while three closures will affect the Scarborough RT. The Sheppard Line will see just one closure in 2017.

The bulk of the closures will be in April, May and June with some part of the system closed every weekend during those three months.

Sports fans in Toronto will bear the brunt of the frustration as 22 Blue Jays games will be affected by the closures including the weekend of June 3 and 4 when division rival New York Yankees are in town. That is also the weekend for one of the 11 full closures of the Yonge-University line from Downsview to St. George.

Other sporting and cultural events affected by the closures:

– 5 Toronto Maple Leafs games including the February 25 match against the Montreal Canadiens
– 4 Toronto Raptors games
– Honda Indy Toronto weekend July 15 & 16
– Ariana Grande concert at ACC on March 5
– Tim McGraw / Faith Hill concert at ACC on June 24
– Bruno Mars concerts at ACC on August 26 & 27

The TTC says the closures are necessary and that shutting down portions of the system over a single weekend allows crews to do the equivalent of five weeks of overnight work.

Most of the closures are to implement ATC – automatic train control, which the TTC says will allow them to run more trains at higher speeds, thus providing more reliable travel times.

The closures are expected to be approved at a meeting of the TTC Board on Wednesday.