Scarborough LRT’s undoing to cost $75M

City agrees to final bill in letter to Metrolinx, calling it a ‘fair balance’ and only requesting a consensus be reached as to what province will pay toward a new subway

The cost to Toronto of cancelling the Scarborough LRT will be $75 million, about $10 million less than earlier estimates.

The number was confirmed in a letter to Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig from city manager Joe Pennachetti, who has refused to state the precise number, saying he will report later on where the money is embedded in the city’s capital plan.

The Jan. 9 letter, obtained by the Star, says that $75 million “provides a fair balance between the positions of both the city and Metrolinx.” It goes on to say that, “in the interest of resolving this matter in an expedient manner,” the letter is meant to serve as confirmation that Toronto agrees to the $75 million.

The only condition would be a final agreement on the province’s contribution to the cost of a Scarborough subway, wrote Pennachetti.

Queen’s Park has said it will pay $1.48 billion toward replacing the aging Scarborough RT. That number is final, said a spokesperson for Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca on Monday.

The three-stop subway extension that will take the Bloor-Danforth line northeast of Kennedy Station to the Scarborough City Centre, is estimated to cost $3.56 billion. It includes a $660-million contribution from the federal government.

The city plans to pay the balance using a 0.5-per-cent levy on the property tax.

The provincial contribution would have covered the cost of replacing the SRT with a seven-stop LRT. But in October 2013, city council decided in a 24-20 vote it would rather build a shorter subway in Scarborough.

From the outset, councillors were told that Toronto would likely have to pick up the substantial costs of changing tracks on the project — money that had already been irretrievably poured into the LRT.

According to Pennachetti’s letter, the city and its independent auditor, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, disagreed with Metrolinx on how much of the “sunk costs” were attributed to management and administration of the project.

Metrolinx says there were costs associated with three categories:

Program oversight and management, including Metrolinx salaries and related administrative costs.

Planning, design and engineering consultants.

And, program management costs reimbursed to the TTC. Those included salaries, administrative expenses and supporting activities such as procurement, finance, IT and human resources, as well as engineering and construction services.

It would not provide the Star with an amount for each category, referring further questions to the city on Monday.

However, Metrolinx confirmed there was no cost to the city of renegotiating a contract with Bombardier to supply light rail vehicles for the LRT.

The provincial agency has a contract with the Montreal-based company to supply 182 light rail vehicles for $770 million. Those LRVs were to furnish the Eglinton Crosstown, Sheppard, Finch and Scarborough LRTs. But with LRTs being built in other cities, it’s likely the Scarborough cars could be used in places like Waterloo, Ont.