Councillor to revive push to cancel Finch West LRT at community meeting

Thestar.com
June 20, 2018
Ben Spurr

The Ontario PCs’ victory in the June 7 provincial election has revived one city councillor’s hope of cancelling the Finch West LRT, but killing the project could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and critics warn it would deprive northwest Toronto of badly needed transit.

At a community meeting hosted by Metrolinx in North York on Thursday evening, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7 York West) plans to renew his push to stop the $1.2-billion Finch LRT, which would run for 11 kilometres between Finch West subway station and Humber College.

Mammoliti wants a subway on the route instead, despite projected ridership that falls well below levels that would justify a more expensive underground line, and the fact Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of the project, has already spent at least $236.3 million on the LRT. The province has already awarded the contract to build the 18-stop line, which is scheduled for completion by 2023.

“(Premier-designate) Doug Ford has already stated during the provincial election that what he wants is to build subways, and that he will revisit all transit projects to ensure that Torontonians are getting the best option available. I believe that the Finch LRT is a good place for him to start,” said Mammoliti in a news release Wednesday.

Ford made his preference for subways over LRTs well known during his one term as city councillor, but during the provincial election his party said he would proceed with the Finch LRT as planned. The Ontario PCs did not return a request for comment Wednesday.

Mammoliti’s latest attack on the LRT rests on a claim that local residents weren’t consulted about its construction impacts.

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In a speech at last month’s council meeting, he falsely stated the city and Metrolinx “held no consultation, none whatsoever, in Ward 7, from the inception of the LRT. Not one meeting.”

In fact, there were numerous consultations along the LRT route before and after council approved the project in 2010, including in Mammoliti’s ward.

As part of an environmental assessment, the city and TTC held public meetings along Finch in 2008 and 2009, including at a banquet hall and business improvement area in Ward 7.

According to Metrolinx, after the provincial agency took over the project it held at least 26 meetings between 2012 and 2015 with Finch residents, business improvement areas, Humber College, and community groups, and held sessions in all three wards where the LRT would run.

“There was extensive consultation around the project, the impact, the alignment, the stops,” said Jamie Robinson, Metrolinx director of community relations.

Despite Mammoliti warning in a public notice to residents that “large sections of Finch Ave. will close for up to a year,” Robinson said there are no such plans.

Although there was a full closure for six days last month in order to remove a natural gas pipeline from beneath the road, Metrolinx said in the future it plans to keep at least one lane of traffic open in each direction at all times.

“There are no long-term closures of Finch West required as part of the project,” Robinson said.

Keegan Henry-Mathieu, who is running to displace Mammoliti in October’s municipal election, agrees local residents are worried about the construction impacts of the LRT.

He accused Mammoliti of using those “legitimate concerns” to stoke opposition to a light rail plan that will finally get local transit riders off the Finch bus, which is one of the TTC’s most crowded routes. Henry-Mathieu said people he’s spoken to in the neighbourhood support the LRT.

“Residents know that it’s going to bring benefits to the community. They know it’s something that’s been long overdue, and people will tell you right then and there that they know a subway is not a viable option,” he said.

The environmental assessment projected that, based on employment and population forecasts for the corridor, the peak ridership demand on Finch by 2031 would be between 2,300 and 2,800 people per hour. That’s well below the 10,000 people per hour the city said would justify a much more expensive subway.

In an interview Wednesday, Mammoliti dismissed those ridership projections, claiming the TTC underestimates how many people use the Finch bus because many people board without paying.

“I know the ridership is there. I know that we need a subway,” he said.

A spokesperson for the TTC said the agency has never relied on fare box revenue to determine bus ridership, and instead uses manual counts performed by agency staff.

In the interview, Mammoliti also said much of the $236.3 million Metrolinx has already spent on Finch was for utility work that was required anyway and wasn’t specifically related to the transit project.

“It really has nothing to do with the LRT itself,” he said.

According to Metrolinx, expenditures to date include early utility works, but also testing, engineering, and legal work related to the LRT bidding process, planning and design work for a light rail vehicle maintenance and storage facility, and property acquisition.