TTC board approves another $150M to complete delayed Spadina subway extension

The earliest extension could be ready is late 2017

Insidetoronto.com
March 27, 2015
By Rahul Gupta


The TTC board held its collective nose and supported staff recommendations which will see completion of the “cursed” Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) officially delayed by another year.

With the board’s majority approval the TTC now has the support it needs to extend TYSSE’s construction timeline at an additional cost of $150-million, with the project’s total cost standing at approximately $2.6-billion.

The TTC projects the additional money will allow construction of the TYSSE to finish in late-2017, the second time the project has failed to meet its deadline for completion.

TTC chair Josh Colle pushed hard for the move, saying it was imperative to get the subway extension - which was originally slated to open in 2015 but then delayed to late-2016- completed in as little time as possible.

“Anything that could have gone wrong with this project did,” Colle said. “Now we’re in a position to make changes.”

Concerns surrounding the TYSSE came to a head last week when CEO Andy Byford fired two senior managers attached to the project, which was followed by the release of the staff report containing multiple options for completing the work.

Delaying the opening of the six-stop extension to late-2017 is the earliest potential completion date according to the report. A majority of the board, which met in closed chambers for a large chunk of Thursday’s board meeting at city hall, also opted to support the issuing a sole-source contract for $80-million to an unidentified private company to take over management of the project, rather than kickstart a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) bidding process which would take six months.

Councillors Joe Mihevc and Vince Cristanti were the only two board members to vote against the move to sole-source.

Crisanti said saying he was taking the rare step of siding with his frequent city council opponent since the time savings promised didn’t warrant going against the traditional practice of issuing a tender and allowing several companies to bid for the contract possible for a lower price.

“If it was our own money, not too often would we go with just one contractor,” said Crisanti during the meeting. “We need to be assured we have the best price combined with management, skill and qualifications.”

Alan Heisey who voted for the Spadina plan also expressed reservations about supporting the sole-sourced contract, but was more concerned with the TTC’s junior role in oversight of the project. Heisey, who is one of three civilian board members, pointed out an executive task force appointed for TYSSE which has met monthly since 2007 has members from the City of Toronto and York Region - but none from the transit commission.

“It sounds like we’re sitting at the kids’ table at Christmas,” said Heisey of the seeming snub.

While the additional funds must be provided by both the city and York Region in a 60-40 funding split, the report also mentions the need to settle legal claims with various contractors.
The total amount of the claims has not yet been revealed, although Byford promised a full accounting by the end of the year. The amount is not included within the $150-million figure.

Byford, who along with Colle has suggested the TTC should re-examine its role in delivering major capital construction projects, promised the TTC would learn from its mistakes completing the Spadina extension.

“The TYSSE for a myriad of reasons will be seen as a case study of how not to do a project,” he said.