I think the photos make things look worse than it really is, thanks to a zoom lens,
Drum, did some city engineer actually tell you the tracks where off by up to a foot? It looks to me like the tracks are placed where they are to accommodate centre poles and left turn lanes in a narrow street allowance. But of course, it was beyond stupid to insist on centre poles for St Clair, so the city still bears some responsibility
But you guys can stop deriding transit city based on these photos, those streets have plenty of room to allow for straight trackage and left turn lanes with centre poles.