Scarborough subway cost to be updated after election

TTC spokesperson confirms report won’t be finished until design phase is 30% complete

Senior city officials will know the updated cost of the Scarborough subway in 2018.

Exactly when that estimate will be ready is still unclear. But the Star has confirmed the public won’t be told until the first quarter of 2019, when a staff report to council is expected — well after the next municipal election.

The TTC earlier confirmed to the Star the subway will be at 30-percent design by “mid-2018.”

But in an email Wednesday, TTC spokesperson Brad Ross clarified that the work will happen in phases and that an actual cost estimate is not expected to be ready until “late 2018.”

Council was told in March that “city and TTC staff plan to report at the next key decision milestone for this project in late 2018,” with a cost update, once the subway has advanced to 30-per-cent design, according to a staff report.

A letter from city manager Peter Wallace to the head of the provincial transit agency Metrolinx, dated Nov. 20, outlines the city’s position on a regional transportation plan being drafted by the agency.

At the end is a chart updating the status of the city’s priority transit projects.

The chart notes that the TTC is “currently advancing both tunnel and station design work from 10 per cent to 30 per cent” with “expected completion end of 2018.” It notes the “next milestone” is a report to council on the updated cost estimates in “Q12019.”

The nomination period for the election runs from May 1 to July 27 next year. Election day is Oct. 22. With files from Ben Spurr