There has to be a better way, says east-end resident Pamela Trudel. She wants the TTC and city council to find a better solution to what’s shaping up to be a long, fragmented commute along Queen St. E. this summer.

The Kingston Rd. area commuter is collecting signatures she hopes will pressure transit and city officials to at least provide better bus service for riders on the 502 and 503 streetcars that travel from Kingston Rd. and along Queen and King Sts., respectively, into the downtown.

Track and water main work on Queen St. between Greenwood and Coxwell Aves., means that the 501, 502 and 503 streetcars are being replaced east of Leslie St. with shuttle buses. The routes are being detoured along Eastern Ave. and Leslie. Because all the buses are then being turned back at Parliament St., the TTC is asking riders to transfer to the 501 streetcar anywhere between Leslie and Broadview Ave., or to the 504 streetcar at Broadview only, to continue their journey downtown.”

There is no way to avoid that transfer during the construction that is expected to continue through October.

Add that to the general overcrowding on the Queen and King cars and you’ve got chaos, says Trudel.

She is not alone in her frustration.

“I now have to wait for a vehicle three times each way,” wrote Elise Brunet on Trudel’s petition. “At an average of 10 minutes per wait (that’s if I’m lucky, if the vehicle is not being short-turned or so packed that you can't get on), that means that 30 minutes into my trip I haven't moved an inch. My colleagues at work are in Oshawa in 45 minutes. Tell me there isn't something wrong with that.”

The TTC doesn’t have enough drivers to operate a continuous 502 or 503 route into the downtown because it also needs drivers on buses replacing the 510 Spadina streetcars between June and November for track work there, said chief customer service officer Chris Upfold.

It’s too much work to be covered by overtime and too short a period to justify hiring more operators, he said.

“If we did a full route of the 502 and 503 we couldn’t sustain that after we start to run Spadina,” said Upfold. The TTC is loath to start the buses along Queen and then pull them off, even though it is keenly aware that an added transfer is painful for riders.

Meantime, transit officials have been trying to smooth the Queen commute with more route supervision and flyers to let riders and businesses know what’s happening.

The Queen St. construction was originally scheduled for last summer but was delayed at the request of Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Beaches-East York), who said local businesses were concerned they wouldn’t survive another year of roadwork.

McMahon said she was never told the Queen work would bump up against the Spadina track replacement.

“It’s frustrating as hell,” she said, adding that she’s working toward a compromise.

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Some motorists are happy, however. They claim the buses allow traffic to move more quickly, said McMahon.

TTC CEO Andy Byford said he regrets the inconvenience to riders. “I do not like having to do this to the 502 and 503 customers,” he said. “I’m challenging my team to make sure there’s no more we can do. Can we get the works finished earlier?”