Spadina subway extension $400M over budget

The TTC’s unfinished Spadina subway extension from Downsview Station through York University and up into Vaughan is about $400 million over-budget.


Thestar.com
March 6, 2015
By Tess Kalinowski

The TTC’s unfinished Spadina subway extension from Downsview Station through York University and up into Vaughan is about $400 million over budget, the Star has learned.

Sources say the 8.6-kilometre, six-stop addition - which was originally expected to cost $1.5 billion and later ballooned to $2.5 billion - is now “hundreds of millions” more expensive.

Announced in the March 2006, the subway was supposed to open by this fall. Now 2017 appears more likely.

Mayor John Tory’s office would not confirm the $400 million. “But the impact of a project of this scope would obviously be significant,” said his spokeswoman, Amanda Galbraith.

The final tally will depend on how quickly the TTC and the city want the project done, said TTC board chair Josh Colle, councillor for Eglinton-Lawrence.

“How aggressive do we want to be to get this back on track,” he said.

Toronto and York Region would be on the hook for those additional costs. But given the longstanding, extensive issues with the project it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Ottawa and Queen’s Park to chip in a commensurate amount, said Colle.

“If it’s the will of York Region, Toronto and the TTC to get this in line with the targets that have been set, it’s going to cost a lot of money,” he said, citing accelerated work schedules and increased labour costs.

Both he and Tory say the city may have to consider opening the subway only as far as York University to start. That’s where the bulk of the ridership is expected to be initially.

But that’s a non-starter for Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, who represents the riding of Vaughan and has long championed the line.

“We made a contribution of $900 million to the Move Ontario Trust and that was a contribution that was delivered with the expectation that the project would be running all the way to York Region and that’s what we anticipate will occur,” he said.

He acknowledged the project’s challenges, but said, “This is a subway that runs to York University and to my community, so it is disappointing to know that it continues to have its challenges.

“We’re all waiting for the official update from the TTC.”

The TTC is expected to report to its board on March 26 on potential opening dates and cost implications.

The minister emphasized that Queen’s Park, which has already invested $900 million in the subway, cannot be expected to bail out the city.

“As the TTC and the city, and York Region, all three, are aware they are...responsible - and have been since day one - for cost overruns that might arise on this project,” said Del Duca.

“It’s absolutely a TTC-run project. It’s a traditional build from the TTC,” he said, noting that, unlike the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Spadina is not a private-public partnership using the province’s Infrastructure Ontario procurement process.

“I know the TTC is working hard on this to get it back on track and that it does come into service as soon as possible,” said the minister.

The massive cost overrun could be a further source of tension between Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory.

Wynne, who is saddled with a $12.5-billion deficit and has already refused Tory’s request of an $86-million budget bailout, has promised $15 billion for transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area over the next decade.

News of the Spadina overrun could put added pressure on the mayor to raise taxes to cover the costs.

Since work formally began on the extension, the line has been plagued by setbacks. Construction, which started 16 months late due to funding problems, was further delayed by issues tunneling under York University and two exceptionally harsh winters.

Work was stopped at York for about six months following the 2011 death of construction worker Kyle Knox.

There have also been multiple issues with contractors and sub-contractors leading to myriad legal claims.

Colle said he was disappointed in the TTC staff and its contractors’ project management. “The reports that I’ve seen to date show that the relationships between sub-contractors, contractors and the project manager weren’t where they should have been,” he said.

He was also critical of the oversight by a joint executive committee led by Toronto city manager Joe Pennachetti and York Region chief administrative officer Bruce MacGregor, calling it less vigorous than it should have been.

The subway extension is projected to add 30 million more trips annually to the TTC by 2021 once it’s complete.