Spadina subway to York could be delayed - again

TTC head Andy Byford says the 2016 completion date is "at risk." A team of outside experts is being recruited to examine the project.

Thestar.com
Nov. 5, 2014
By: Tess Kalinowski

It’s been postponed once already. But there’s fresh doubt about whether the Spadina subway extension will meet its latest opening target of 2016.

The $2.5-billion, six-stop subway from Downsview Station to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre was originally supposed to open in 2015. But in late 2012, the TTC said it wouldn’t happen until the fall of 2016.

That date now appears to be “at significant risk,” said TTC CEO Andy Byford, who admitted that another delay would almost certainly have budget implications.

The threat of a second postponement comes as the TTC has been trying to recover its reputation for service and reliability.

Byford, who came to the TTC three years ago, said the system has made progress on several fronts, including customer service. But there are other things it has to get right.

“One of them is to deliver on our promises,” he said.

The subway extension into York Region has suffered setbacks almost since work began in 2010. The subway construction started 16 months late due to funding issues and the schedule was never adjusted to account for that, said Byford. Other difficulties ranged from an unusually harsh winter last year to tunneling issues under York University.

In 2011, 24-year-old construction worker Kyle Knox was killed at the York University site, and the Ontario Ministry of Labour investigation suspended some work there into 2012.

Three stations - Pioneer Village, York and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre - have been particularly problematic.

Last year, TTC officials admitted there were issues with Walsh Construction, which has the $170-million contract to build the Pioneer Village Station.

Byford said the TTC has since been working with Walsh and its other contractors to recover the lost time. But the contractors are having difficulty with sub-contractors, who want a premium to expedite the necessary work.

The subway tunneling is complete, most of the concrete has been poured and the base structures are in place.

There is still plenty of work to be done installing track, signaling, power and automatic train control, and testing the trains.

“Although late fall 2016 seems a long way away, it isn’t,” said Byford.

Pioneer Village is particularly critical in completing the project, or at least opening some stations. But temporary piles that support the structure being built around them are standing in the middle of the track area. There’s no way to run trains up the line as long as they are there.

Whether those can be removed earlier is one idea Byford hopes to explore with a team of international experts he is recruiting to study how the schedule could be expedited. That panel is expected to be on site this month.

“Are there things we can safely and legitimately claw back to make up lost time? No option is being left off the table,” he said.

Byford would not speculate on the length of another potential delay. He said he hopes to know more once the expert panel has looked at the schedule and remaining work.

“If the schedule has to change, what we cannot do is keep announcing dates and keep missing them,” he said.

Byford has already informed the TTC board and mayor-elect John Tory that the subway opening could be delayed.

He said Tory appreciated the warning, and the TTC has promised the incoming mayor will be the first to know of any revisions to the opening schedule.

The new subway stops are expected to generate an additional 30 million TTC trips annually by 2021, with the York University stop expected to be the main destination.

The project is being funded by Ottawa, the province, Toronto and York Region.