Scarborough politicians push Big Bend for subway route
Longer path would be less disruptive to area, say backers - but critics just see another delay.

thestar.com
By Ben Spurr
Oct. 27, 2016

Having won the lengthy political battle over the controversial Scarborough subway extension, some proponents of the transit project now want to change its route.

Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker and Liberal MPP Brad Duguid are asking city planners to study an alternate alignment for the one-stop extension. They argue the new route, which has the backing of a local community group, could reduce traffic disruptions and eliminate the need to expropriate property to build the subway.

Critics say that the new subway path, which would be roughly 280 metres longer than the alignment preferred by city planning staff, would be more expensive, may not be feasible, and studying it could delay the subway project. But De Baeremaeker described it as a “viable, reasonable option.”

“It’s called the magic of public input, of actually asking people who live in a community what they think of large-scale projects in their community,” said De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre), one of council’s most vocal supporters of the subway extension.

He said residents who support the plan “are people who actually know the area better than the engineers who are drawing on a computer from A to B.”

Like the route preferred by city staff, the new alignment - dubbed “the Big Bend” - would run under McCowan Rd. But instead of heading north to the Scarborough Town Centre, it would veer east just south of Ellesmere Rd., and then curve west under Triton Ave. and terminate under a field east of Brimley Rd., which would be used as a launch site for the underground shaft.

The plan was not contemplated in the Scarborough subway business case authored by city staff that went before council in July, or in the materials presented at weeks of public consultations earlier this year.

Instead, the Big Bend is the brainchild of Lorne Ross, the former planning commissioner for Scarborough, who works with the Glen Andrew Community Association.

In a news release issued last week, the community association warned that the existing subway construction plan would require the city to set up an “open pit mining operation right in our neighbourhood” for up to six years.

The TTC has warned that the Scarborough extension, which current estimates say will cost $3.2 billion, is already at risk for being delayed and going over budget. De Baeremaeker said he wasn’t worried that studying the Big Bend would add further delays because staff are still finalizing potential alignments.

Council, which backed the subway extension in a 27-16 vote in July, is expected to pick a final route at its meeting in December.

Bruce Hawkins, a spokesperson for the city’s planning department, confirmed in an email that staff have been asked to review the Big Bend alignment and could include it in the December report. Asked who directed staff to study it, Hawkins replied: “The alternative was submitted by the Glen Andrew Community Association.”

Councillor Josh Matlow said the fact that a new route is being considered at this stage “is just more evidence that our city’s transit planning process is highly politicized.”

Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s) has been a fierce critic of the subway plan, favouring instead a seven-stop LRT that would have been funded by the province. He predicted that studying the new alignment could further delay expanding rapid transit in Scarborough.

“It would be very sad if some of the same people who said so often that they just want to build something, anything, and get it built now, regardless of the facts or the costs, could now possibly be responsible for yet another delay,” he said.

Transit expert Steve Munro said the Big Bend might have some benefits, but he questioned whether details of the proposal were workable and said it should have been considered earlier. “The entire line’s design would have to be reviewed,” he said. “This represents a considerable delay.”

Duguid, who represents Scarborough Centre, said that he wanted more information, but on the face of it the Big Bend has merit. “This is not something that was just drawn on the back of a napkin,” he said.

He said he raised the plan with Mayor John Tory earlier this week and Tory was open to reviewing it.

Tory told reporters Thursday he wasn’t familiar with the details of the proposed alignment, but that he would be willing to have staff review the idea if it could improve on existing plans.

“And so my job really is, I think, to say, you know, what if somebody has an idea as to how we can build a subway or any other undertaking better - and I think it's going to be better for the residents and better for the taxpayers and better for the transit users - then I think it's my responsibility to make sure that we have access to that information so that professionals can consider it,” he said.