Doug Ford Unveils New Subway Line

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Published April 10, 2019 at 5:06 pm

ontarioline

Doug Ford recently announced that, after much talk of “subways, subways, subways” before and after the provincial election, there will indeed be a new subway line.

But it will not connect to Mississauga.

At least not yet.

That said, one line extension will connect to a 905 municipality. According to this newly released map, the Yonge North Subway Extension will run from Finch to Richmond Hill Centre in Richmond Hill.  

Today, the Ontario announced billions of dollars in transportation funding–but says it will only be covering a portion of the massive price tag.

Joined by Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation, and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Infrastructure, Premier Doug Ford announced a $28.5 billion expansion to Ontario’s transit network.

The province says this is the most money ever invested to get shovels in the ground and get new subways built.

Some funding will go towards building the brand new Ontario Line, which will cost $10.9 billion and will be delivered by 2027. That line will run from Ontario Place/Exhibition, just west of the downtown core, to the Science Centre in North York.

The Yonge North Subway Extension will cost $5.6 billion and should be open soon after the Ontario Line. It will run from Finch to Richmond Hill.

The Scarborough Subway Extension will cost $5.5 billion and will be delivered before 2030. It will run from Kennedy to McCowan.

The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension will cost $4.7 billion and will be delivered before 2031. It will run from Mount Dennis to Toronto Pearson Airport.

The province says the projects will require a combined $28.5 billion, of which the province has committed $11.2 billion.

“Our government is investing in transportation to bring relief and new opportunities to transit users and commuters,” said Ford.

“We announced the new Ontario Line to deal with the dangerous congestion on Line 1, the Yonge North Subway Extension that will connect the subway to one of the region’s largest employment centres, the three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension to better serve communities, and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension — a large portion of which will be built underground to keep people and goods moving on our roadways. This is our plan, our priority.”

The government also confirmed that it will be proceeding with the Hurontario LRT project slated to run from Port Credit GO in the south to the Brampton Gateway Terminal in the north. The commitment to the project–which was reaffirmed in March after Metrolinx announced that it would be cutting out the City Centre loop–came after months of uncertainty that the project would proceed at all.

While there was no talk of a subway extension into the west-end GTA today, there has been talking about extending subway service to Peel and other regions.

Late last year, Yurek highlighted benefits of uploading Toronto’s TTC’s subway operations and construction to the province and mentioned suburban extensions.

“This will allow (the province) to push the subway further into York, Peel and Durham Regions. We can prioritize projects based on what is best for all of Ontario, not just Toronto,” Yurek said at a 2018 event.

The province says the partial funding it has pledged “over-delivers” on the government’s commitment to put $5 billion into subway extensions.

The province also says the subway funding is part of an overall effort to enhance transportation.

Recently, the province expanded GO Train service to Niagara Falls and St. Catharines, enhanced GO Train service to Kitchener-Waterloo region, committed billions to transit projects for Hamilton and Ottawa regions and announced $1.3 billion to repair and rebuild highways across the province.

Ford said the province is committed to working with the City of Toronto to upload the TTC subway infrastructure.

“The TTC is a vital service that supports not just Torontonians but the people of Ontario,” said Yurek. “Our government is continuing to work in good faith with the city under the Terms of Reference to make sure that we can build better transit faster.”

Are you disappointed that the subway won’t be reaching Mississauga?

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