The cost of the City's Scarborough Subway Extension rises to $3.35 billion

“The message is clear – we are building the Scarborough subway extension,” said Mayor John Tory over Twitter on Tuesday morning.

His words were in response to the latest staff report, released on February 28, outlining additional costs to the Scarborough Subway Extension.

The cost to build the extension is now estimated at $3.35 billion, according to the report, which is being presented in an Executive Committee meeting on March 7.

Riding #ScarbTO RT is a reminder that this outdated transit needs to be replaced with a subway & seamless connection to Bloor/Danforth line. pic.twitter.com/YownIFxYTX

— John Tory (@JohnTory) February 28, 2017

Since July 2016, the TTC and City staff looked into further assessment on the extension project, and concluded that the McCowan Avenue alignment would improve transit operations needs and “encourage the development of Scarborough centre into a dynamic urban node.”

The concept for a connected bus terminal in the area will enable better pedestrian connections, and “unlock the greatest amount of development potential” around the station, according to the report. This bus terminal concept has an added cost of $187 million.

Today, City staff report is being released outlining proposed alignment for subway extension to Scarborough Town Centre. #getTOmoving

— John Tory (@JohnTory) February 28, 2017

Although the report states that the TTC provided a possible Brimley alignment that would reduce costs by approximately $214 million, the staff report said that this is not recommended because it doesn’t provide the same ridership, growth potential or convenient location as the recommended McCown alignment.

While Scarborough extension has funding from all levels of government, the report states that the City has not yet entered into contribution agreements with the province or the federal government. The report recommends the City request confirmation of the amount and source of the contribution from both.

Once the updated extension plan is discussed at the meeting next week, it will head to council later in March.

Tory was on the Scarborough RT on Tuesday, where he further supported the expansion plan.

“Subway extension will improve commute for thousands & bring economic benefits to City’s east end. Scarborough needs modern transit,” he tweeted.

Along with report, Council will receive independent value engineering report that shows big savings can be found during construction process

— John Tory (@JohnTory) February 28, 2017

And while the discussion continues at the upcoming meetings, he definitely made his opinion on the matter clear.

All 3 levels of government are on board & the message is clear – we are building the Scarborough subway extension. #getTOmoving

— John Tory (@JohnTory) February 28, 2017

These added costs come just weeks after members of the transit advocacy group, Scarborough Transit Action (STA), met with Toronto’s Auditor General to lodge a complaint against the TTC. The complaint was regarding a lack of evidence-based decision-making for the Scarborough Subway Extension.

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