Province adds Royal Orchard station in Thornhill to Yonge subway extension

Thornhill residents asked to 'brace' for impact from new Transit Oriented Community designation, councillor says

Thestar.com
Jan. 17, 2022
Heidi Riedner

The provincial government has added a Royal Orchard station to the Yonge North Subway Extension.

"This is good news for Thornhill," ward Coun. Keith Irish said in a tweet.

A Royal Orchard station had been bypassed in Metrolinx's scaled back version of the subway route since its estimated cost of between $400 million and $500 million did not fit the $5.6-billion funding envelope for the project.

That added insult to injury for area residents who did not get the benefit of a station despite the fact the subway would travel underneath at least 35 properties in the area under the revised alignment that now veers off the original Yonge Street route.

Irish added, however, that the area should expect to brace for the impacts of intensification since the area will likely be designated a Transit Oriented Community (TOC).

TOCs are part of the government’s plan to build new, sustainable transit by placing more housing and jobs near or at transit stations along the routes of the province’s four priority subway projects, in return for developers helping to pay for subway infrastructure.

In a letter to York Region Chair Wayne Emmerson dated Jan. 12, Infrastructure Ontario said it will not seek additional funding from the region for the Royal Orchard station despite the fact the addition of the fifth station is outside the subway extension's current budget.

It will instead secure TOC proceeds to offset the costs.