TTC selects company to handle completion of Spadina subway extension

CP24.com
April 10, 2015
By Joshua Freeman

The TTC has reached a tentative deal with a third party to manage the completion of the over-budget and delayed extension of the Spadina subway line.

TTC CEO Andy Byford said Friday that he and TTC Chair Josh Colle have negotiated a deal with a project management company and that the TTC board has given him the go-ahead to proceed with that agreement.

“I’ve now got authority to proceed to sign that deal. I can’t say anything more until that deal is signed,” Byford told reporters following a special TTC board meeting.

While the company won’t be named until the deal is actually signed, Byford said he’s confident he’s picked the right party to get the subway extension back on track.

“I have absolute confidence in the third party we have been talking to,” he said.

The move comes after a staff report released last month revealed that the completion of the subway line extension will require an additional $150 million and at least an extra year of work.

The move prompted the dismissal of two senior TTC employees responsible for the project and prompted staff to recommend that the TTC ‘hit reset’ on management of the extension.

Speaking Friday, Byford said the new agreement represents the best value for the city.

“My message to the taxpayer would be that my overriding objective was to get the Spadina extension open at the earliest possible time end-to-end and to spend the least amount of additional money,” he said.

Byford said the deal with the project management company could be signed within the next few days, possibly as early as today.

When completed, the project will extend the subway from its current terminus at Downsview Station up to York University and beyond into Vaughan.

The delay means the Toronto-York-Spadina subway extension will open by the end of 2017 at the earliest and would come in at least $2.784 billion.

While the province and the federal government have both contributed to the project, the overrun costs will be shared between Toronto and York Region.