City set to reveal route of Scarborough subway extension to local residents

Scarborough residents worried their homes may be expropriated because they are in the path of the proposed subway extension are to get more details from the city at a meeting Tuesday evening.

About 30 homeowners received letters from the city late last week or early this week, warning that their homes could be expropriated by the city to make way for the new line.

• Revamped Scarborough subway plan would eliminate 2 of 3 planned stations

• Mixed feelings about Tory's mixed-use subway plan in Scarborough

• SmartTrack will 'look similar' to original plan, but changes likely, Tory says​

They were also advised to come by the Scarborough Town Centre Tuesday night to meet with TTC and city engineers, and to find out which route has been selected for the Scarborough subway line. 

Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker, who represents Ward 38 in Scarborough Centre, said the extension will run east from Kennedy Station beneath Eglinton. The tunnel will then head north up Danforth Avenue, and continue under McCowan Avenue to the Scarborough Town Centre.

He said barring some fine tuning, two houses will be directly in the way of the line, and parts of eight other properties will abut it. A total of 30 houses are affected, most of which could suffer from nothing more than a slight vibration when trains pass, he said. "Most people won't be affected and, to be blunt, won't care." he said.

'May not have to expropriate any houses'

"In the best-case scenario, we may not have to expropriate any houses at all," said De Baeremaeker, who said he'd be at Tuesday's meeting to help ease any fears that residents might have. 

"We may have people who would ask us to purchase their homes because they may say, 'You know what, you may tell me there's no vibration next to my house because of this great technology, but I don't want to live above a subway tunnel.' So they may ask us to move, and of course out of fairness I think the city would purchase their home on a willing seller/willing buyer basis." 

If houses do need to be expropriated, he said owners will have no choice but to sell their houses to the city "for fair market value, plus any transaction costs." Transaction costs include lawyer's fees, bank fees, mortgage re-financing fees and moving costs, he said.

The city and the TTC are expected to reveal the exact route of the line and whether any houses will need to be expropriated by the end of the year.

Tuesday's meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Scarborough Town Centre.