Downtown relief line money doesn't amount to 'a study of a study' Tory says
Province set aside $150 million yesterday to study a new subway line
Toronto Mayor John Tory said this morning that provincial money announced yesterday for planning and design work on the so-called downtown relief subway line does not amount to a "study of a study."
Speaking on Metro Morning, Tory said the money will go toward work "that must be done," if the relief line is to be built.
Tory said the money will fund essential planning and design work to ensure the relief line gets built in a timely manner.
"This will go a long way to allow us to continue with that work and keep us on track so we can actually get it built," he said. "It is absolutely not a study of a study.
"You can't build a subway without planning the route out," he said.
Transit experts have talked about the need for a relief line for decades as a way to alleviate crowding on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line.
Line to cost $3.2B to build
In a proposed route preferred by city planners, the new line would run from south from Pape Station along Pape Avenue, turn west at Eastern Avenue, then connect to Queen and Osgoode Stations. The entire route will run underground in both directions, with several stops along the way.
TTC chairman and Coun. Josh Colle said yesterday he believes some of the funds will go toward planning where stops should go — and to study any technical challenges that would come from burrowing underneath a city of 2.8 million people.
City staff estimate the line will cost $3.2 billion to build, but there is currently no government money set aside for the project.
Metro Morning host Matt Galloway asked Tory if the relief line should be considered the "top priority" for transit expansion in this city.
Tory said the relief line is a top priority when it comes to subway expansion, but said SmartTrack, his plan to add transit using existing GO Transit rail corridors, is also a priority because it will improve transit within six years while a relief line will take more than a decade to build.
"This downtown relief line won't be finished for say 12 years, depending on whose estimate you believe," said Tory, who spoke by phone from Winnipeg, where he is attending a meeting of big-city mayors and municipal officials.
