Route of Yonge Street subway extension moved after residents complain

Thestar.com
Dec. 9, 2021
Ben Spurr

The provincial transit agency says it’s adjusting the route of a new subway project after residents in York Region pushed back against plans to tunnel the line beneath their neighbourhood --but some locals say the changes don’t go far enough.

Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster announced Wednesday the agency is altering the design of the Yonge North Subway Extension so that it will pass under fewer homes in the Royal Orchard area of Thornhill. Its tunnels will also be built deeper to lessen the impact on the community above.

In a statement posted to Metrolinx’s website, Verster said the agency had made the change after hearing from residents who feared the subway would be a “a disruption to the community.”

“In response to that feedback, and through our well-established process for improving designs as we advance our transit projects, Metrolinx has refined plans for the subway extension,” he said, promising the “long-awaited project” would “bring faster transit to more people across York Region and Toronto.”

According to Metrolinx, the new route won’t significantly change the cost of the extension.

The Yonge North project is a roughly 8-kilometre extension of the TTC’s Line 1 subway from Finch station to Richmond Hill. According to previous plans, the subway would have remained underground beneath Yonge Street as it approached Richmond Hill.

But in March the province released an updated design under which the line would swing east near Royal Orchard Boulevard and then run above ground parallel to the existing Richmond Hill GO Transit corridor, crossing beneath homes and a small creek along the way. The number of stations was also reduced to four, from as many as six under the earlier plan. The province said the changes were necessary in order to ensure the subway stayed within its $5.6-billion budget.

But Royal Orchard residents complained the tunnelling and underground train operations could damage their homes and have adverse environmental, economic, health and social effects on their community.

The latest route will travel under Bay Thorn Drive where it deviates from Yonge, and instead of going under 40 homes and 23 additional properties, will traverse beneath 20 homes and 15 other properties. The subway tunnels beneath will be between 21 and 50 metres below the surface, and on average will be deeper than in earlier plans.

“These refinements will keep things peaceful and quiet in the neighbourhoods along the route while still delivering all the benefits of the subway extension for York Region,” said Verster.

But Peter Palframan, a member of the Keep the Subway on Yonge residents group, said while tunnelling under fewer homes is an improvement, “the fact is, it shouldn’t be under any homes.”

“Our view all along has been that any alignment that goes beneath homes and the creek and the ravine doesn’t make any sense when there’s a perfect and better way, which is straight up Yonge Street,” he said.

Markham Coun. Keith Irish agreed, saying in a statement that a subway on Yonge would serve more riders and be more effective at reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.

“While it is the season of giving and I am pleased that Metrolinx has finally listened to the concerns of the Royal Orchard community...it’s still not quite the gift the residents of Thornhill were looking forward to,” said Irish (Ward 1 Thornhill).

Metrolinx’s decision to shift the Yonge North route is likely to draw scrutiny from communities elsewhere in the GTA who say the agency has been ignoring their concerns about the impacts of provincial transit projects close to their homes. They include residents of Leslieville and Riverside in Toronto who have been waging an organized campaign against Metrolinx’s plans to build a portion of the Ontario Line above ground through their neighbourhoods.