Scarborough concillors continue to push for Brimley station.
Scarborough Community Councillors are pushing the TTC to build a new transit station at Brimley, when the Scarborough RT is replaced by an LRT line.
Toronto Community News file photo
With the $1.4 billion redevelopment of the Scarborough RT on the horizon, Scarborough councillors and staff want to make sure a Brimley station is included this time around.
"If we don't put the station in now it will be just like last time," said Rod McPhail, director of transportation planning.
A station at Brimley Road south of Progress Avenue was envisioned 25 years ago when the SRT line was built. It never materialized then and councillors want to make sure the same mistake doesn't happen this time around.
"We have an opportunity now during the construction phase when Brimley (road) will go through change and development...If it doesn't happen now, I don't think it will ever happen," said Scarborough Centre Councillor Michael Thompson.
Councillors have always been in favour of the additional transit station in the Scarborough Civic Centre area- especially with the potential for 5,000 new units to be built in the area in coming years - but the TTC hasn't always been in support of the idea. That's now changed.
In a presentation at Scarborough Community Council Tuesday, March 9, afternoon, McPhail said he spoke with a TTC official on Monday evening and together they will make the case for a Brimley station. TTC officials previously wanted to see the numbers, the building permits for the area around the proposed station to prove it was needed.
"What they're saying now is let us do a business case and we'll go to Metrolinx jointly and try to get a station put in," McPhail said.
It is Metrolinx, a provincial body that oversees transit in the GTA, that is paying for the conversion of the current system from an orphan technology not used anywhere else by the TTC into a modern LRT, the same as that to be used in the Transit City lines.
The TTC's preference was to refurbish the line, but Metrolinx decided to change the current system so it would be compatible with the other systems being built. This decision is more costly and more time consuming - but it allows for staff and councillors to advocate for the inclusion of a station at Brimley Road, which would cost about $45 million.
Ryan Bissonnette is TTC Transit City spokesperson. He is aware of the business case that will be done concerning a station at Brimley Road.
"The current plan for the SRT does not include a stop at Brimley," he said.
Scarborough Centre Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker has been advocating for the station for years.
"We have to make sure as growth comes and (Scarborough Centre) gets turned into an urban village having an LRT station at your doorstep or just down the street is something absolutely vital to making that happen," he said.
There is potential for development at the southwest corner of Brimley Road and Progress Avenue, as well as a vacant plot of land on the southeast corner. De Baeremaeker believes a transit station would make the community more inviting to buyers and make transit more attractive to new residents.
"If the Brimley station had been built 20 years ago we'd have less cars on the road today," he said.
Thompson believes without the inclusion of Brimley station in the construction plan it means Scarborough will be short changed yet again.
"If we were to fail on an (approval) of a Brimley station at this time we will continue to go down the slippery slope that Scarborough continues to be behind the eight ball," he said. "We're at the apex to make sure Scarborough gets much improved transit."
Councillors unanimously approved a motion reaffirming their support for a Brimley station and supporting staff doing a business case. Staff is to begin working on the business case immediately as time is of the essence. Construction needs to begin within the next year if the line, which also includes an expansion to Sheppard Avenue, is to be completed before Toronto gets set to host the Pan American Games in the summer of 2015.
"Now with the Pan Am games we have to get it constructed before 2015," McPhail said.
Bissonnette said the TTC is currently conducting a "constructable analysis" to determine if the SRT can be finished before the Pan Am Games.
There is a public open house about the SRT conversion and extension at the Chinese Cultural Centre, 5183 Sheppard Ave. (east of Markham Road) on Thursday, March 11 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.