March 31, 2011

Ontario government to fund new rapid transit construction in Toronto

The Government of Ontario announced Thursday it will provide $8.4 billion in funding towards light rapid transit projects in Toronto.

The province, through its Metrolinx unit, will be responsible for building the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) which will run east about 25 kilometres along Eglinton Ave. from Black Creek Dr. to the Scarborough City Centre, near Highway 401 and McCowan Road. The line will be largely underground from Black Creek to Kennedy Rd., then partially elevated from Kennedy and Eglinton northeast to the Scarborough City Centre. It will have 26 station stops.

The Metrolinx project, which is projected to cost $8.18 billion, includes securing environmental approvals, designing, coordinating, planning, constructing and implementing.

In a separate project, the city will add nine stations to the Sheppard subway, which currently runs east from Yonge St. to Don Mills Rd. When complete, the Sheppard subway will run from the Allen Expressway in the west to Scarborough City Centre in the east. The city would construct stations, maintenance and storage facilities. This would extend the Sheppard line about 5.5 kilometres west from Yonge St. and eight kilometres east from Don Mills Rd.

The provincial government said Metrolinx may contribute up to $650 million to the costs of the Sheppard project but the first priority for provincial funding is the Eglinton-Scarborough line.

Both Metrolinx and the City of Toronto are required to complete environmental assessments for these projects.

The province originally planned to fund several light rail routes — dubbed Transit City — to Toronto through Metrolinx. Under the original plan, most Transit City routes would have been above ground and light rail would have been constructed along Jane St. and Don Mills Rd., among others. The Eglinton light rail was originally going to be underground only to Brentcliffe Ave., and then above ground to Kennedy Rd. The original plan was supported by then-Mayor David Miller. However the current Mayor, Rob Ford, who was elected in October, did not want above-ground light transit routes on dedicated lanes in the middle of major arteries.

Thursday's announcement was a revised transit plan.

DCN DIGITAL MEDIA

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