Toronto mayor's executive committee endorses plan to move ahead with Eglinton East LRT

UPDATE: Shortly before noon Tuesday, the executive committee voted to endorse recommendations from city staff to move ahead with the design of the Eglinton East LRT. A motion from Coun. Paul Ainslie for staff to explore adding a station outside Morningside Park was also adopted. City council will consider the recommendations later this month.

Read our initial report from this morning below:

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's executive committee is being asked to push forward on a light-rail line to serve east Scarborough, and spend nearly $10 million more to design the project.

Councillors on the committee will consider a request from staff to advance planning on the Eglinton East Light Rail Transit project Tuesday. The $4.65-billion line would run 18.6 kilometres and have 27 stops.

But staff warn the project remains unfunded by upper levels of government.

"Should construction not proceed, the $9.5 million of funding related to the works identified in this report would be sunk costs for the City, along with life to date expenditures of $5.7 million," city staff warn.

The city made similar warnings last months ahead of a request that city councillors advance design work on the Waterfront East LRT, which also remains unfunded.

Councillors are also being asked to approve an alignment for the Eglinton East line.

The proposed alignment begins at Kennedy Station, continues east on Eglinton Avenue and Kingston Road, and proceeds north on Morningside Avenue, Ellesmere Road, New Military Trail, Sheppard Avenue East and Neilson Road, staff say in a report. The line would end at a station on McCowan Road.

Work on the line could begin in 2027 and wrap in 2034. Based on modelling in the report, city staff estimate that ridership will continue to rise until 2041 when it will serve approximately 3,000 to 4,000 passengers per hour during peak periods.

Coun. Paul Ainslie, who represents Ward 24, Scarborough-Guildwood, said the line is an urgently needed transit link to the Bloor-Danforth subway line, Sheppard subway line and the GO Transit network. It also provides a vital connection to students who attend University of Toronto's Scarborough campus and Centennial College. 

"People are always asking and looking for better transit," he said. "Provincially, in particular, and federally, they keep telling me, they understand the need for it. … I'm hoping sooner rather than later, we'll see a cheque."

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, who represents Ward 25, Scarborough-Rouge Park, said the city has committed $1.2 billion to this project, but will need additional funds from the province and federal government to move ahead. 

"This LRT will serve seven priority neighborhoods and the University of Toronto and Centennial College and will also connect up into Malvern," she said. "It's important that it's served by higher order transit. Scarborough residents have been waiting a long time."

Transit advocate Steve Munro said the northern leg of the Eglinton East LRT could complicate the project as the Ontario government and Metrolinx study how to extend the Sheppard subway line east. That could mean Toronto's plans for the LRT, and how it connects to a potential subway extension, take a backseat to a provincial priority, he added.

"There's enough political machinations going on in the Sheppard corridor that it's going to foul up planning for the east end of Eglinton," he said. 

But Munro also worries the line is competing with a number of high profile transit projects and the urgent need to build housing across the province. It could get lost in the shuffle, he said.

"This Executive Committee report is basically about the money to keep the design work going," he said. "Well, can we please have a debate on actual project timing, and how the hell we're going to pay for this thing?"

City council must still grant the ultimate approval later this month. Then, city staff will continue their work and report back in 2024 with revised cost estimates, advancing the plans to 30 per cent design.