METROLINX THREATENS TO STOP WORK ON LRT
City reversed position and went for subway
The provincial agency in charge of transit expansion in Toronto is threatening to stop work on a light rail line to replace the aging Scarborough rapid transit line if city council does not reaffirm its support of the project.
Bruce McCuaig, chief executive of Metrolinx, wrote a letter Friday to city manager Joe Pennachetti seeking clarity on the city’s contradictory position on the transit corridor.
He referenced a vote in May by city council that supported extending the Bloordanforth subway line to the Scarborough Town Centre and Sheppard Avenue. Six months earlier, councillors had voted to build light rail line on the stretch; the city, Metrolinx and the TTC signed a master agreement to build four LrT projects, including the Scarborough LrT, in November 2012.
“Given the uncertainty created by council’s May resolution, we ask that city council reaffirm its support for the Scarborough LrT project,” Mr. McCuaig wrote. “If this reaffirmation is not received by Aug. 2, 2013, Metrolinx will suspend work on the Scarborough LrT project, pending clarification of the city’s position on the master agreement.”
Mr. McCuaig wrote that the suspension would minimize any further sunk costs, now estimated to be $85-million. “At the same time, however, a suspension would result in a delay in the delivery of improved, modern and efficient transit service to the people of Scarborough.”
Mr. McCuaig noted Metrolinx is in the midst of two competitive bids related to the $1.8-billion Scarborough LrT.
The question is what vote do you want to go with?
One is for the overall Eglinton-Crosstown-Scarborough LRT project and the other is for the storage facility. “To ensure value for money, we need to attract high-quality bidders to our procurements, and this cannot be achieved if there is uncertainty about city council’s support for the projects,” he wrote. Mr. McCuaig also disputed the cost differential between an LRT line and a subway extension. According to the TTC, a subway at this location would cost $500-million more than light rail. Metrolinx thinks a subway would cost $925-million more.
Karen Stintz, the TTC chair, voted in November to build light rail in Scarborough. Six months later, she supported building a subway instead. She said Friday that she met with Transport Minister Glen Murray last week to gauge his openness to changing plans. “When I left the meeting, my understanding was the answer is no,” she said.
She said she will now seek to meet with the minister again to “better understand his expectations so we don’t send any more mixed messages.”
Ms. Stintz added: “We took a vote at a moment in time and then we took another vote at another moment in time. The question is what vote do you want to go with? But, we never had a discussion on who pays for scope change?”