Ask Torontoist: What’s With the Unnecessary TTC Lay-Bys?

By Stephen Michalowicz

Ask Torontoist features questions posed by you and answered by our elite team of specially trained investigative experts (also known as our staff). Send your questions to [email protected].

Reader Simon Nuk asks:

Norseman Street isn’t on any TTC bus route, so why does it have TTC-style lay-bys?

One of Norseman Street’s unused lay-bys. Photo by Stephen Michalowicz/Torontoist.

Torontoist Answers:

Once upon a time, Norseman Street, which runs through Etobicoke between Royal York Road and Kipling Avenue, was part of a TTC bus route known as the 121 Norseman. The route ran south from Royal York Station along Royal York Road to Norseman Street, west on Norseman Street to Kipling Avenue, looped back to Kipling Avenue via three side streets, and then returned to the station (a map of the defunct route is available at Transit Toronto). TTC and City records indicate that the route began operating on November 26, 1984 and ran until March 27, 1986, when it was discontinued due to low ridership.
According to Bruce Clayton, acting manager of the City’s traffic operations department, Norseman Street was last rehabilitated in 1984, when the lay-bys were installed to serve the 121. Since the route was terminated, the lay-bys have been used occasionally as temporary stops for TTC bus routes diverted by construction, and by local residents looking for convenient on-street parking, as we witnessed after we took the photo above.
Clayton told us that the number of unused lay-bys in the city is quite low and that they’re typically removed when a street is redone, unless—after evaluation—the City thinks they might be used again. In the case of Norseman Street, the City simply hasn’t gotten around to redoing it yet.