ROB FERGUSON
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
Four new public transit projects for the Greater Toronto Area, including a rapid transit line on Eglinton Avenue to Pearson Airport, are getting the green light from Premier Dalton McGuinty today.
But most of the projects must still go through the environmental approvals process, the government said in a statement, so it will be next year at the earliest before construction can begin, with the exception of the York Viva bus rapid transit line.
The projects, in concert with the TTC and the regional transit agency Metrolinx, are worth $9 billion.
The first will likely involve $1.4 billion in construction on the York Viva bus rapid transit system. A first segment will be built along Highway 7 from Markham Centre to Richmond Hill Centre with completion scheduled for 2011 – the year of the next provincial election. Construction will begin in the fall as some environmental assessments have already been completed.
Other segments of the line should be finished two years later, the government said in a statement that suggested the transit projects are just as important for the troubled economy as they are for commuters.
"Our investments in transit will create jobs, help stimulate the economy and improve the air we breathe," said McGuinty.
In Scarborough, rehabilitation work and extending the rapid transit rail line to Malvern Town Centre or Markham Road is slated to be completed and in service for commuters by 2015. Construction is expected to begin next year at a cost of $1.4 billion.
The 30-kilometre rapid transit line on Eglinton could be up and running by 2016 providing construction begins next year following the environmental assessment process. The estimated cost of the project, which includes a 10-kilometre tunnel from Keele to Leslie streets, is $4.6 billion.
Further north, the Finch light rapid transit line from Humber College on Hwy 427 to Don Mills subway station in the east could be finished by 2013 if approvals allow construction to begin next year at a cost of $1.2 billion.
Today's announcement from McGuinty and Transportation Minister Jim Bradley also includes financial support for a $3 million study of potential rapid transit lines through Hamilton – an east-west line on the King and Main street corridor and a north-south line along James and Upper James. The study will be completed by next spring.
