2 subway extensions into York Region on track

Yorkregion.com
June 8, 2016
By Lisa Queen

With last weekend book-ended by two major subway events headlined by heavyweights from Queen's Park, public transit in York Region has taken a major step forward in the last week, the president of the region's transit corporation says.

"We are now finally seeing the long-term strategy and dream fall into place," Mary Frances Turner said after Premier Kathleen Wynne's visit to Vaughan Monday morning. "It is the underpinning of our growth strategy."

Wynne's visit came just three days after Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca was in Richmond Hill to announce funding for engineering and design work for the future extension of the Yonge Street subway line from Finch Avenue to Richmond Hill.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, chairperson of the transit corporation's board, called the two transit events in the region within days of each other a significant acknowledgment of York's transit needs and growth projections, especially after years of different governments at Queen's Park failing to acknowledge those requirements.

Wynne was at the future Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station at Hwy. 7 to mark the completion of track work on the extension of the Toronto-York Spadina subway.

The six-station extension is scheduled to open in December 2017.

"With this investment, we will provide subway service that moves beyond regional boundaries for the first time," Wynne said.

"We are confident Ontario's record investments in infrastructure will pay off for people in their everyday lives and will also help our economy grow and create jobs."

While the track completion is a significant step, the subway extension has faced challenges.

For example, York officials found out in January the region would be on the hook for another $160 million as the project was yet again over budget, this time to the tine of $400 million.

Toronto's share of the cost overrun was $240 million.

A year earlier, York had to pitch in $92 million in additional funding.

The cost of the subway extension is now expected to be $3.2 billion, up from the original forecast of $2.6 billion.

Cost overruns have been blamed on a variety of reasons, such as start-up delays, poor performance by some contractors and scope and design changes not originally budgeted for.

Despite the challenges, Del Duca, MPP for Vaughan, called the completion of the track work a major step forward for the subway extension.

"We know how important public transit is to managing congestion, curbing emissions and building communities," he said.

"Another important milestone has been reached for the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension that will enable people to spend less time commuting and more time with their friends and families."

Del Duca was at the Richmond Hill Centre bus station Friday to announce $55 million from the province for design work for the extension of the Yonge subway.

"It's a significant step," he said. "Certainly in my last two years serving as minister of transportation, this is the largest single investment the province has made with respect to this particular project," .

The Yonge subway extension is part of Metrolinx's next round of future transit projects, Del Duca said.

Extending the subway to Richmond Hill will be "transformational" to the region's transit network, Turner said.

Residents and other officials also weighed in on news of the province's investment.

"Fifteen years to build, which we will pay through our tax dollars. In the meantime, how many more condos and cars will be on Yonge Street?" resident Dave Slotnick posted on Facebook.

"It's a nice move, but, really, 20 years behind the times!!"

Thornhill MPP Gila Martow applauded the extension of the Yonge subway, but also raised concerns.

"Expanding the Yonge subway north will benefit residents in Thornhill, Vaughan, Markham, Unionville, Aurora and Newmarket, while getting many commuters off of downtown streets," she said.

"We need to stop wasting time and money on low-priority bus lanes, like the project at Bathurst and Centre, and focus on transit that will benefit tens of thousands of commuters versus a couple of hundred."

Martow questioned how long it will take for the project to be completed.

"(On June 1), the provincial government announced it will take at least 14 years before the downtown relief line will be ready for riders. How long will it take for this project (Yonge subway extension), 20 years?" she said.

"How can we trust Metrolinx to get this right after what we've seen with the Spadina line? The residents of York Region can't afford more delays, poor management and outrageous cost increases."

But the announcement means the Yonge subway extension is now officially in the works, Scarpitti said.

"This was an incredible (announcement) and we finally have the funds now to start the design of the Yonge subway. This is the No. 1 project in York Region. It is critical for transportation. It is also critical for the growth plans the province has for this area. This is one of the urban growth centres and you can't have urban growth centres without rapid transit," he said.

"This is significant. The train is frankly leaving the station when it comes to the Yonge subway. Now, all eyes are turned to the federal government. We have seen the province of Ontario come and fund 15 per cent of this project. When we were in Ottawa a few months ago, we made a specific ask of the federal government to kick in another 15 per cent of the engineering costs. That's 30 per cent of the engineering costs, which would allow us to go out and be tendered. So, all eyes have turned to the federal government. The pressure is on."

Scarpitti blasted Toronto officials who, in recent days, have criticized the Yonge subway extension because they argue a downtown relief line should take priority.

"That is just a smoke screen," he said, adding the province has just announced funding for the relief line and said other improvements will ease congestion on the subway in downtown Toronto.

"This (Yonge subway extension) is the most justifiable subway project in recent history."

Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow hopes the Yonge subway extension will open by the mid-2020s to relieve traffic congestion.

"There are 2,500 buses that leave here every day taking people to the Finch subway station," he said.

"So, this is a big deal from the point of view they are announcing they are giving us more money. Not all the money we need at this point in time to finish all of the design work and all of the engineering drawings to be able to go to tender for the subway extension from Finch to York Region and Richmond Hill, but it's a major announcement."

York Region chairperson Wayne Emmerson called the funding a major first development in the long journey to building the subway extension.

"This is a great announcement," he said. "This is great for the region of York and it will help immensely with our growth coming, for the future of York Region.

"We know this is a small step, but it's a critical one. This is the one that really means a lot. Once you start the designing and the planning and engineering of the Yonge subway, it's going to be really be great. Now, we have to go to the federal government to make sure they ante up what they said they will do. We will be shovel-ready probably in a couple of years."

The funding may not be a large amount of money, but it sends a very clear signal that Queen's Park is moving forward "in an incremental manner," said Godwin Chan, one of three York councillors who formed the Yonge Street North Group several years ago to lobby to get the 7.4-km extension built.

"I view it as a small step forward ... a kickoff for more funding and progress on this much-needed project," he said.

Chan ran into federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi later on Friday and urged him to secure further funding from Ottawa.

Chan has been vocal about the need for the subway extension, along with Markham Councillor Valerie Burke and Vaughan Councillor Alan Shefman.