Anytime there's a disruption on a main street it has an immediate impact on traffic in the city. And the
6-alarm fire that burned on Queen St. W. near Bathurst is definitely one of them.
No cars are being allowed through the hot spot affected by the fire and drivers are being warned to avoid the area. All the activity is not only turning parts of normally busy Queen St. W. into a icy ghost town but clogging up traffic on other routes, as motorists try to figure out ways around the roadblock.
And things aren't much better on the Better Way. Streetcar traffic has been severely impacted because authorities have been forced to turn the power off to a large section of the street and there are shuttle buses running in the area. But if you're planning to head in that direction, you won't be getting far.
The TTC is diverting traffic on King, Shaw and Spadina and the Red Rocket is suggesting passengers who normally take the Queen car try using King instead and walk the extra distance.
Both the Spadina and the Bathurst streetcars had been diverted, but cleared up just after 4pm. Cars are now running north and south through the Queen intersections.
The TTC is less sure that the Queen streetcar's normal route will return at all during the day and Thursday is in doubt, too.
The subway is running but that service was feeling the heat from the fire in a much different fashion. At the height of the blaze, the high wind was driving smoke back east and those acrid fumes were infiltrating some of the underground stations.
Fans were brought in to clear the smell away from the St. Patrick, Osgoode, St. Andrew and Union stations, but passengers noticed it when they got off. Things improved once crews got the flames under control.
The area is likely to remain closed for some time.