Ontario Construction News staff writer
Metrolinx has updated its plan for a proposed TTC Yonge Street Line extension with fewer stations than originally anticipated.
It’s now being recommended that there be up to four stations while the original business case said there would six stations located at Steeles Avenue and then two above-ground stations, one at Highway 7 and one north of Richmond Hill Centre terminal at High Tech Road. A storage facility for up to 12 trains was contemplated along the rail corridor north of High Tech Road.
The estimated cost of building a three-stop subway extension is between $4.3 and $5.1 billion and every additional station would add about $500 million to the bill. Further planning for a fourth station located near Royal Orchard Road is underway.
The total cost and budget for the original 7.4-kilometre extension was pegged at $5.6 billion. According to the report, construction could begin in late 2023 and should be finished by 2030.
Metrolinx, which also oversees GO Transit and coordinates major transit expansion projects, has been responsible for developing the initial business case for the project. The agency’s board of directors is set to review the details at a March 25 meeting.
“As we continue to keep up with tremendous growth in Toronto and York Region, our government is delivering on our plan to provide people with access to faster, more reliable transit to get them where they need to go,” said Caroline Mulroney, minister of transportation.
“The release of the initial business case marks an important step towards our vision for a truly connected transit system that people in the Greater Toronto Area deserve.”
The Initial Business Case and supplementary analysis outline options for an approximately eight-kilometre extension from Finch Station to Richmond Hill. The province and Metrolinx will be moving forward with further analysis on a route that will provide access to transit within walking distance to 26,000 more people and reduce commute times to downtown Toronto by up to 22 minutes.
“We’re so pleased to be taking this important step forward with the Yonge North Subway Extension and we’re eager to get out there in the communities to share more details about how this important and much-needed project will benefit people,” said Phil Verster, president and CEO of Metrolinx. “We know a fast, seamless subway connection between Richmond Hill and downtown Toronto has been envisioned for a long time, and we can’t wait to make that vision a reality.”
The economic benefits of the completed line will top $3.6 billion, including thousands of jobs during construction.
“However, to build projects of this magnitude, we need everyone at the table. We continue to call on the federal government to commit to paying their fair share, at least 40 per cent of these four nationally-significant subway projects,” said Kinga Surma, associate minister of transportation (GTA).
In April 2019, the province announced a new transportation vision with a preliminary estimated cost of $28.5 billion. This includes the largest subway expansion in Canadian history with the all-new Ontario Line; a three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension; the Yonge North Subway Extension; and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.
The Line 1 extension project was first unveiled by the Ford government ahead of the 2019 Ontario budget as part of a $28.5-billion suite of transit network expansion projects, which also included the new Ontario Line (initially pegged to cost $10.9 billion), the Scarborough Line 2 subway extension (estimated to cost $5.5 billion) and extending the yet-to-be-open Eglinton Crosstown west toward Renforth Drive from Mount Dennis station (budgeted to cost $4.7 billion).
Toronto city council and the federal government have announced their support for Ontario’s transit expansion vision.