Province moves in on city's subways

Torontosun.com
May 7, 2019
Antonella Artuso

The Ontario government tabled legislation Thursday which will allow it to take over subway construction in Toronto.

Bill 107, the Getting Ontario Moving Act, assigns responsibility for designing and constructing subways in Toronto to the provincial agency Metrolinx.

“If a rapid transit project is the sole responsibility of Metrolinx, the City of Toronto and its agencies cannot take further action on that project,” the legislation says.

Premier Doug Ford is pictured Ontario’s legislature on May 2, 2019. (Jack Boland, Toronto Sun)

Bill 107 would also bring in a range of new measures, including fines of $150 to $1,000 for driving too slowly in the passing lane of highways and a $200 to $1,000 fine for defacing or removing traffic signs or control devices.

Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek said the average TTC commuter doesn’t care which level of government expands the subway system.

“What the people of this province really want is new subways, new opportunities,” Yurek said Thursday. “They want that (downtown) relief line built. They’ve waited far too long for it to get built.”

Toronto and the province are still in talks over the uploading of existing subway lines, and one of the issues is who gets the air rights over stations.

“We want to utilize the air rights to fund the stations that will be built or stations that can be rebuilt,” Yurek said.