St. Clair LRT Status Report
From TTC Commissioner's Report site:
February 2005
TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION
REPORT NO.
MEETING DATE: April 19, 2006
SUBJECT: ST. CLAIR STREETCAR PROJECT: STATUS REPORT
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the Commission:
1. Receive this report for information, noting that:
· the previous legal obstacle to this project was successfully resolved when the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the application for judicial review of the project;
· the projected costs for this project, as defined in the environmental assessment report, remain unchanged from the $65 million reported in the November 28, 2005 report to the Commission;
· upon successful conclusion of negotiations with the contractors and subsequent approval by the City of Toronto, construction on the project will resume on June 5, 2006 for the section between Yonge Street and Vaughan Road;
· community consultation is continuing through the two forums established by the Minister of the Environment and the City of Toronto;
· there are ongoing discussions, led by City Transportation Services, regarding the feasibility of, and funding for, the out-of-scope, but desirable, features of burying all hydro wires underground, reconstructing the sidewalks, resurfacing the roadway, and installing new decorative street lighting at mid-block locations along St. Clair Avenue West; and
2. Forward this report to the City of Toronto for information.
FUNDING
This report has no effect on the TTC’s capital or operating budgets.
BACKGROUND
There continues to be a high level of interest in the St. Clair Streetcar project. In order to keep the Commission apprised of progress on this project, staff will, from time to time, submit progress reports. This is the first such report.
DISCUSSION
Here is the status of all major aspects of the project:
Legal
The group called Save Our St. Clair (SOS) is opposed to the St. Clair Streetcar project and requested a judicial review of Council’s authority to undertake the project. While this issue was before the courts, construction on the project was halted. This legal issue was successfully resolved when, on February 21, 2006, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed SOS’s application for judicial review, concluding that the St. Clair Streetcar project is in conformity with the City of Toronto Official Plan and that it complies with all requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act.
Financial
The financial status of the project remains unchanged from what was reported in the November 28, 2005, report to the Commission on this matter. Specifically:
· the currently-projected final costs (EFC) for the project, as defined in the original environmental assessment report, remain at $65 million;
· the project has incurred additional costs, which are entirely attributable to the disruption of the project caused by the judicial review, those being legal costs, construction contract penalties, delay-related inflation, construction mitigation at Yonge/St. Clair, and prolonged use of buses to replace streetcars; these externally-driven costs remain estimated at $2.7 million;
· negotiations are currently underway with the construction contractors whose work was suspended because of the judicial review, in order to determine the costs associated with the suspension of work. When these negotiations are concluded, the final costs will be reported to Budget Advisory Committee;
The full cost of the St. Clair Streetcar project is included in the TTC’s Capital Program, as a result of the budget approach recommended by the Budget Advisory Committee, at its meeting of November 17, 2005, to transfer the City’s original $20 million share of the project costs to the TTC in order to allow for single-agency cost accounting.
Construction
Construction will resume on the project in 2006, upon successful conclusion of negotiations with the contractors and subsequent approval by the City of Toronto, and will be carried out under three different contacts:
· Contract #1: covers the section of the route between Yonge Street and Avenue Road. This construction will begin on June 5, 2006.
· Contract #2: covers the section of the route between Avenue Road and Tweedsmuir Avenue. This construction will begin on June 5, 2006.
· Contract #3: covers the section of the route between Tweedsmuir Avenue and Vaughan Road. This construction will begin on July 3, 2006.
Work continues to be undertaken, jointly by TTC and City staff, on the detailed engineering work for areas further west along the line.
Community Consultation
Consultation with the community continues through the two forums established by the Minister of the Environment and the City of Toronto.
The Community Design Consultation Group (CDCG) is responsible for working with the project team to provide input and comments during the detailed design process regarding the appearance of streetscape features such as transit shelters, transit platforms, trees and landscaping, urban design elements, street furniture, and public art. The CDCG’s most-recent meeting was held on April 5, 2006, and the group will continue to meet throughout the project.
The Transit Community Liaison Committee (TCLC) is responsible for input regarding the detailed design, implementation, and construction of the project, and for facilitating communication between the community and the City and TTC. The TCLC’s next meeting is scheduled for April 19, 2006.
Additional Urban Design Improvements
It was reported in the November 28, 2005 Commission report that there are four additional discretionary features which were not included in the original environmental assessment recommendations nor in the original budget, but which would contribute significantly to creating an attractive pedestrian, retailing, and urban environment which, in turn, would contribute to Toronto’s “Beautiful City†campaign. These are:
· repaving the entire surface of St. Clair Avenue West, from Yonge Street to Gunns Road in order to create an improved travel corridor and enhanced appearance;
· reconstructing all of the sidewalks in mid-block locations along St. Clair Avenue to create a unified urban design and improved appearance of the pedestrian and open spaces;
· relocating underground all hydro wires over this section of St. Clair Avenue in order to reduce visual clutter on the street; and
· replacing all regular street lighting and poles with new, improved decorative lighting.
The earlier Commission report noted that incorporation of any of these discretionary features would require the approval of additional funding for the project which would be over and above the original EFC and current budget for the project. Toronto Transportation Services is currently reviewing the feasibility of undertaking these discretionary improvements and reviewing options for the funding of these additional expenses. These discussions are ongoing, and any proposal to incorporate these features into the project will be contained in future status reports.
SUMMARY
Work on the St. Clair Streetcar project is proceeding satisfactorily, and all original-scope components of the project are expected to be completed within budget and within the originally-projected two construction seasons. At this time, there are no major problems or obstacles to report.
AoD
