TORONTO – Councillors voted to go ahead with the Scarborough subway extension Tuesday, choosing to shelve requests for more information about the controversial project.
Opponents of the subway say more information is needed but supporters, like Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong say it’s time to build something.
Councillor Josh Matlow, a vocal opponent of the proposed subway extension, had asked the city for more information including what the capital maintenance costs and operating costs of the subway will be, whether SmartTrack will be considered when calculating ridership projections, subway alignments, and how ridership projections were determined.
Information, he says, public officials should have before making major decisions.
“I don’t believe it’s ever too late to make the right decision,” he said.
“I really think that if we have enough information on the relevant facts, that I have enough confidence in my colleagues who want to see those facts that they will be informed by those facts and make the right decision.”
Council confirmed their support for the Scarborough subway in Oct. 2013. Councillors voted 24-20 to scrap a seven-stop, provincially-funded and operated, $1.4 billion light rail transit plan in favour of a $3 billion, three-stop, city-operated subway. The city is responsible for $910 million in construction costs, which will be paid for through an increase in development charges and a levy on property taxes. The city is also on the hook for operating and maintenance costs which a city reports pegs at roughly $30 to $40 million each year.
Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong voted against the subway when it was first brought up in 2013 but said Tuesday he supports it now because the city needs to build more public transit.
“I think we’ve had so many starts and stops, I voted that we should be building something and that’s why in terms of councillor Matlow’s motion, the one thing I don’t think any of us want is another debate,” Minnan-Wong said.
“We don’t need to talk about it more, a decision was made.”
Minnan-Wong admitted that there were “financial challenges” in building a subway but said he’s “voting for building something.”
But Matlow is convinced the LRT could still be built faster than the subway.
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