Here we go again.
Mayor Rob Ford announced Wednesday that council will debate a Scarborough subway at its next meeting, marking at least the fourth time the issue will go to a vote this term.
At a press conference in his office, the mayor told media that he had asked the city manager to present a report at the July 16 meeting on funding options to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway east along the route of the Scarborough RT.
“There are many viable options to fund and finance a completion of the Bloor-Danforth subway extension,” said Ford. “Folks, the time to act is now. The cost of further delays will cost a fortune.”
Ford’s announcement comes days after the provincial transit agency issued an ultimatum to the city on the Scarborough RT replacement. Last year council voted to build an LRT along the route, but in it May reversed course, endorsing a subway instead. On Friday, Metrolinx president and CEO Bruce McCuaig told the city to reaffirm its preference for LRT by August 2 or the agency would “suspend work” on the project.
“I know for many of us, the choice is crystal clear. The choice is subways,” said the mayor, describing the LRT option as one that would “clog up our streets, move slower, and cost more in the long run.”
Aside from presenting councillors with a choice between LRT and subway, city manager Joe Pennachetti’s report will also discuss the cost difference between each mode, which is hotly disputed. Councillors pushing for a subway say it would cost $2.3 billion, only $500 million more than Metrolinx has budgeted for the LRT.
Pennachetti said Wednesday he expects that the city would have to pick up any costs over and above the $1.8 billion already pledged by the province, but proponents argue that gap is relatively small given the benefit of upgrading the project to underground rail.
Metrolinx’s estimate is much higher, however. In a letter mailed to the city last week, McCuaig said the difference between LRT and subway is actually $925 million.
It’s not clear that any of the money currently budgeted for the Scarborough LRT project could be used for a subway, however.
McCuaig’s letter made no mention of transferring any of the $1.8 million for the LRT project to underground rail, and in a scrum on Tuesday, he suggested the provincial agency wouldn’t help the city extend the Bloor-Danforth line.
“If it is a subway, our belief is that would become the responsibility of the city and the TTC to deliver that project,” McCuaig told reporters outside City Hall.
Councillor Josh Matlow is exasperated that Scarborough transit is still up for debate. Although he’s not optimistic, he says he hopes council will vote to reaffirm its commitment to LRT.
Otherwise, he warns, transit construction in Toronto’s underserviced eastern suburb will stall.
“Scarborough residents will be left waiting for the bus,” he says.
Matlow believes that there is no money to build the subway because the province won’t pay the premium, and council balked in May when asked to endorse revenue tools to pay for new transit.
“There’s just no evidence that this council and mayor are willing to do what’s needed to pay for the transit that they say they want,” Matlow says, adding that even if the millions could be raised, other transit priorities, including a downtown relief line, are more pressing.
But the evolving politics at City Hall and Queen’s Park indicate the subway proposal could have legs, at least for the foreseeable future. TTC chair Karen Stintz, who originally backed LRT, is expected to run for mayor in 2014 and needs support in the suburbs. She now supports a subway.
Meanwhile the Liberal government is facing a by-election next month in the riding of Scarborough-Guildwood following the resignation of one of its MPs.
Neither Stintz nor transportation minister Glen Murray returned a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
