Toronto: Ontario Line yesterday got the backing – and funding promises – from NDP, Conservative and Liberal leadership as well as the promise of support from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who backed the alternative Toronto subway upload.
Ford was in Kenora yesterday when the announcement was made in Toronto.
According to an Ontario government proposal, the city subway system will remain the responsibility of Toronto, while Ford’s proposed transit expansion project will be the responsibility of the province.
“Under Ontario’s proposal to Toronto, the existing subway system would remain the responsibility of the city. Our four new expansion projects will be the responsibility of the province,” said Caroline Mulroney, Ontario Minister of Transportation at a press briefing yesterday.
Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation, said the $28.5 billion plan – Ontario’s New Subway Transit Plan for the GTHA – will deliver a better regional transit network that connects more people and reduces travel times throughout the region.
The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) plan now includes:
- The Ontario Line, spanning approximately 16 kilometers, and connecting the Exhibition/Ontario Place on the western lakeshore, to the Ontario Science Centre in northeast Toronto. Implementation by the end of 2027.
- The three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension. Implementing by 2029-30.
- The Yonge North Subway Extension, which will stretch from the existing terminus of Finch Station to Richmond Hill Centre in York Region. Implementation by 2029-30.
- The Eglinton West Crosstown Extension, which will extend the Eglinton Crosstown project, currently under construction, further west along Eglinton Avenue to Renforth Drive, a majority of which will run underground. Implementation by 2030-31. The Province is further committed to establishing connectivity with Pearson International Airport.
“I welcome… announcement from Mayor Tory and the City of Toronto to move forward with a new and ground-breaking partnership to transform transit in Toronto and get shovels in the ground as soon as possible on these critical projects. I also welcome commitments from federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to fund their fair share of our subways program and work with the province and the city to get the Ontario Line built. With all three levels of government working together, I am confident we can bring our transit system into the 21st century,” said Ford in a statement.
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