Scarborough RT.
The Scarborough RT conversion and extension plan has received received the Minister of Environment’s Notice to Proceed.
Staff file photo
The conversion and extension of the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) line took another step forward last week.
The TTC received the Minister of Environment's Notice to Proceed for the project that will see the conversion and extension of the SRT.
The notice means the province has approved the TTC's environmental project report for the planned conversion of the SRT to light rail transit technology and the extension of the line to the Malvern Town Centre. Metrolinx has committed to funding phase one of the construction, which includes the extension to Sheppard Avenue. Construction on the first phase is to begin in late 2015.
The project might be in limbo, though, after the election of Rob Ford as mayor on Monday.
Ford has said he wants to replace the SRT conversion project with a subway, but negotiations would have to take place with the province as it is funding the project, which is part of Transit City - an initiative to build 120 kilometres of light rail through eight LRT projects across Toronto.
Scarborough Centre Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said he'd love to see a subway for Scarborough, but the funding isn't there for the extra $4 to $5 billion it would cost.
"It would be dishonest and disrespectful of me to say you can have a $5 billion subway system for nothing," he said.
De Baeremaeker said he'll keep an open mind and be the first to stand up and applaud if Ford can find the funding to build a subway. But he's also worried that it's taken this long to get improved transit for Scarborough and he doesn't want any talk of changes to delay it anymore.
"If you start over from square one you have to do studies for subways and you won't see subways until we're all in retirement homes," De Baeremaeker said. "If you rip apart Transit City and replace it with Rob Ford's vision the people who live east of McCowan Road will never see mass transit."
Ford's subway vision would see the SRT replaced with a subway that would loop north to Sheppard, where the LRT would also be replaced with a subway. (So residents east of McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue would have to continue to rely on buses).
The current SRT project includes lengthening existing stations and extending the line, partly underground, five kilometres from McCowan Station to the Malvern Town Centre (Sheppard Avenue to the Malvern Town Centre is phase two of the project). The project will also include modifications to Kennedy Station to accommodate the LRT as well as the Eglinton Crosstown and Scarborough-Malvern LRTs (though only Eglinton has funding committed at this point) and the construction of a maintenance and storage facility alongside the line just east of Bellamy Road.
De Baeremaeker pointed out the new LRT system that will replace the SRT is not a streetcar. It is a project that will improve transit in Scarborough and expand transit for those now dependent on buses.
"It will be fast and more convenient and have higher capacity that what we have today," he said.