$1.5B shortfall for York Region roads 'alarming,' official admits

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 27, 2017
By Lisa Queen

York Region is $1.5-billion short on its forecasted 10-year roads construction budget and plans to delay 56 projects beyond 2031, a top official says.

While he called that a "worst case scenario," Brian Titherington, director of transportation and infrastructure planning, agreed the shortfall is "alarming" and doesn't include gaps for other transportation needs such as the extension of the Yonge subway to Richmond Hill and new rapid transit projects.

Last year, the region adopted a transportation master plan, a long list of roads projects based on population growth determined by the provincial government and managing traffic demands at today's levels, he said.

"(But) the road improvements we require to do that would be pretty much double what we've got the budget to do," Titherington said.

The region has warned over the next 10 years it will collect $300 million less than it had anticipated in development charges, fees on new construction used to pay for infrastructure.

The region also can't hike property taxes above a reasonable level to pay for ongoing operating costs of roads, Titherington said.

While this council has spent more on transportation than ever before, Titherington acknowledged cutting roads projects will upset commuters in a rapidly growing region where residents routinely identify traffic and transportation as their top local issue.

But the region can't continue building new and widening roads at its traditional pace, Titherington said, adding more focus is needed on public transit, carpooling, driving in off-peak hours and new technology that could change the landscape of transportation.

"Change is hard. The analogy I use is when you buy your home, you don't buy a house sized for that Christmas dinner or big family event when you have 30 people over and people sleeping over. You kind of figure out how to make that work," he said.

"We don't want to build our road network for the peak two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening because we have to pay for those roads all year around."

Meanwhile, the region is exploring the possibility of asking the province for new taxing powers that could help fund roads projects, Titherington said.

The news comes as credit rating agencies once again highlight the risk of York's debt load, which will peak this year at $2.9 billion before beginning to drop next year.

Moody's Investors Service is warning the region's debt burden "is currently one of the highest among rated Canadian municipalities" and that "demands from a growing population will continue to apply financial pressure to York's budget," regional treasurer Bill Hughes said in a report to council last week.

S and P Global Ratings cautioned it could lower the region's credit rating in the future if the region generates lower-than-expected revenue or takes on significantly more debt for capital projects.

On the positive side, Moody's reaffirmed the region's credit rating at Aaa with a stable outlook and S and P maintained the region at a AA+ rating with a stable outlook, Hughes said, adding the agencies praised the region's prudent and far-sighted fiscal management.