Visions for the GTTA

$697M seals subway deal - Toronto Star

$697M seals subway deal
Harper and McGuinty to announce federal funding next week for long-awaited extension of Spadina line into York Region
March 03, 2007
Bruce Campion-Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA–The final piece of the puzzle is in place to build the first-ever subway line beyond the border of Toronto into York Region, with a stop at York University, the Star has learned.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce next week that the federal government will pump $697 million into the plan to extend the Spadina subway from Downsview station. The province and the municipalities of Toronto and York have already committed money.

As well, the federal government will announce funding for:

• A Mississauga transitway, a bus-only road along Highway 403 and Eastgate Parkway from Burnhamthorpe Rd. to Eglinton Ave. E.
• Brampton's $280-million Acceleride project, meant to speed bus service. Ontario has already committed $95 million for the improvements.
• An expansion of York Region's Viva bus system. York Region officials want to get buses on to dedicated lanes.
• The widening of Highway 7, in the amount of $55 million.
• An environmental assessment to extend Highway 407 eastward to link up with Highway 401. This would go through federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's Whitby-Oshawa riding.
• A $5 million study of rapid transit in Durham.

The announcement comes with both the federal and provincial governments attempting to prove they are serious about protecting the environment. More public transit means fewer cars on the road and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

It comes with the possibility of a federal election this spring, and winning Ontario seats is a must for Harper to win a majority government. On March 19, the federal budget will likely have a lot of goodies for Quebec, and the Tories wanted to make a big splash in advance in Ontario.

McGuinty faces re-election Oct. 10.

Once contributions from Ontario and the various municipalities are factored in, the projects represent a $3.2-billion investment to help GTA commuters get around.

In December, Flaherty declared, "public transit generally is significant ... and environmentally important."

At the heart of the announcement is the $2-billion extension of the TTC's University-Spadina subway line to York University and into York Region to help cope with population growth north of Toronto.

About six kilometres of the 8.6-kilometre line will be in Toronto. A "preferred alignment" on the TTC website shows stations at Sheppard West, Finch West, York University, Steeles West in Toronto and Highway 407 and Vaughan Centre in York Region.

There has been a demand for years to make York University more accessible for its 65,000 students and staff.

The provincial government has already set aside $670 million for its one-third share of the huge project. Toronto and York Region last September set aside long-standing differences and agreed on a deal to split their $670-million share of construction work.

Despite active lobbying by the province and municipal officials, the federal contribution has been the hold-up, until now.

Now, thanks to this announcement, workers could break ground as early as this summer on the 8.6-kilometre extension from Downsview station, through the York campus and across Steeles Ave. to the Vaughan town centre.

The negotiations around the subway funding date back months with Flaherty and his Ontario counterpart, Greg Sorbara, frequently discussing the province's demand for additional transit cash. The extension goes through Sorbara's Vaughan-King-Aurora riding.

"We're going to move ahead on that project and I believe that at the right time the federal government will be a partner. There is a huge political risk for them if they're not," Sorbara said after one of their meetings last December. Speculation has been rampant for weeks that an announcement was near but it was only on Thursday that the federal cabinet gave the green light for the spending, sources say.

News of the announcement comes as big city mayors, including Toronto Mayor David Miller, gather in Montreal tomorrow and Monday to discuss plans for a national transit strategy.

With files from Allan Woods

More from me on this momentous occasion later...

Labels: brampton transit, durham region transit, mississauga transit, politics, subways, ttc, york region transit

posted by Andrae Griffith @ 2:46 p.m.