Councillors call for public inquiry into Eglinton Crosstown LRT ‘disaster’

Thestar.com
Dec. 12, 2022

Two city councillors are demanding a public inquiry into years-delayed and overbudget Eglinton Crosstown construction, while the mayor and provincial transportation minister are urging Torontonians to continue being patient.

The duelling demands come after leaked internal documents show provincial transportation agency Metrolinx believes the construction consortium building the light-rail line lacks “a credible plan toward the completion of the project.”

Coun. Mike Colle (Ward 8 Eglinton Lawrence) and Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12, Toronto--St. Paul’s) jointly called on the Ontario government Friday to launch an official inquiry into the transit project Matlow called a “disaster.”

“The initial construction (completion) target was 2020 and then 2021 and then 2022 and now we don’t even know, with cost overruns in the neighbourhood of a billion dollars,” Matlow said in an interview.

“Many, many small business owners lost their livelihoods due to construction delays” while neighbourhoods have been torn up, he said. “The public has a right to know what went wrong, what is being done to resolve problems and how to ensure it doesn’t happen again on other transit projects like the Ontario Line.”

The 19-kilometre line, being built using a public-private partnership, will run between Mount Dennis and Kennedy station with 25 stops.

Crosslinx Transit Solutions, comprising four construction and engineering firms building the line, says it will finish by March. But a leaked Metrolinx document says Crosslinx does not have a “credible plan” for completion.

The document also says the budget is now $12.82 billion. The cost was pegged at $11.78 billion in 2018.

Reporters pressed Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney on the revelation after a Friday news conference confirming $1.5 billion in city-provincial-funding to expand and improve the Bloor-Yonge subway station.

Mulroney said she knows people are frustrated while Crosslinx and Metrolinks negotiate “final technical” issues, but suggested pushing the agencies to move faster could reduce safety on the line when it’s running.

She pointed to a public inquiry into Ottawa’s error-ridden, unreliable light-rail line that blamed, in part, political pressure to finish the $2.1-billion project.

“You can’t rush technical issues,” Mulroney said of Eglinton Crosstown logistics. “We have to make sure it opens safely and runs well.”

Mayor John Tory said: “I’m sure Metrolinx has a plan” for completion of the line, but urged the agency to be more transparent on timelines and finances, and to use all available resources, including outside experts, to finish the job.

But he won’t support a public inquiry, saying that could delay completion and “public inquiries, generally speaking, in instances like this only are good for lawyers,” hired to represent various parties at hearings.

Tory’s answer didn’t sit well with Matlow.

“The mayor’s knee-jerk action is to blindly provide cover for Metrolinx and the province on this rather than demand accountability for the residents of Toronto,” Matlow said. “He’s not onside with the public on this.”