The City of Toronto and Ontario’s transit agency are at odds over who will pay for a key connection between two future Scarborough commuter lines, with councillors warning costs could escalate if the link isn’t built soon.
At the heart of the conflict is a proposed link from the Scarborough subway at Kennedy Station with the planned Eglinton East light rail transit line. Construction is already underway on the three-stop Scarborough subway extension, running from Kennedy Station on Line 2 to Sheppard Avenue East, while the LRT is in the early design stage.
Metrolinx is building the nearly eight-kilometre extension, but says it wants the city to pay for the connection to the LRT. Toronto has asked the province to incorporate the cost of the link into work already underway on the Scarborough subway station.
Mayor Olivia Chow said Friday that it will cost taxpayers less and be more efficient if construction to preserve space for the eventual LRT expansion is done now.
“We want to make sure that they connect,” she said of the two lines. “If the Scarborough subway station is built without considering the LRT, then [the link] will be a lot more expensive and take longer to build.”
Mayor hopes transportation minister will step in
Chow said she’s had conversations with Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria about the issue and hopes he intercedes, something city council formally requested during a meeting last month.
The city has been pushing Metrolinx for years to roll the connection, called the Kennedy Station “overbuild,” into their plans for the subway extension. Metrolinx has so far refused, most recently asking the city to commit by the end of July to covering the full costs of the connection and delays it says it will create on the subway project.
City staff have warned that failing to build the connection now could mean that Kennedy Station will need to be closed temporarily at some point to accommodate future construction to connect the two lines.
The cost of the overbuild is not spelled out in public documents. Those figures were provided to city councillors in reports that have been kept confidential because city staff say they could negatively affect contract negotiations.
Chow said if the two lines aren’t seamlessly connected for transit riders, it’s a missed opportunity.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie agrees.
McKelvie, who represents Ward 25 (Scarborough-Rouge Park), said at a recent council meeting she’s frustrated with Metrolinx’s indecision about the link.
“After years of fooling and farting around by Metrolinx, we’re now in the position where we have to spend a significant additional amount of money to protect for the Eglinton East LRT,” she said at the July council meeting.
“It is important that we make this investment today so that we can construct the important Eglinton East LRT in the future.”
Council voted unanimously in favour of a motion from McKelvie asking the province to intervene last month.
City’s requests ‘not within budget’: Metrolinx
Last December, council named the Eglinton East LRT a priority and agreed to spend nearly $10 million to advance design on the project. The line is estimated to cost $4.65 billion, will run 18.6 kilometres and have 27 stops.
But staff have warned the project remains unfunded by upper levels of government.
Metrolinx said in a statement Friday that it has been working with the city to accommodate the LRT through its design and planning exercises for the subway project.
“While the Eglinton East LRT is protected for, the additional scope proposed by the City is not within budget or project schedule,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for Minister Sarkaria said Metrolinx has made several adjustments to the Scarborough Subway Extension project design to protect and accommodate the LRT. The subway project has been changed in order to not preclude a potential Eglinton East LRT, Dakota Brasier said in statement.
“The province has taken significant action to support the city in advancing its capital program and transit priorities — including the (Eglinton East LRT),” she said.
Transit advocate calls connection a ‘no brainer’
Transit advocate Steve Munro said he can’t understand why Metrolinx won’t simply build the necessary connections now to ensure the work is done in a cost-effective manner. He called the connection a “no brainer” that should have been part of the planning process long ago.
“Metrolinx has got a reputation of just not playing ball with anybody,” he said. “This just seems like one more of those situations.”
Munro said it’s possible Ontario doesn’t want to invest in the Eglinton East LRT, which thus far is only a city priority project and doesn’t have the fiscal backing of the province or federal government.
“The province has been spending money like water and at some point they are going to run out of the ability, or willingness, to be paying for these transit lines,” he said.