After a lengthy debate Tuesday, March 28, Toronto City Council approved proceeding with the next steps for building the “Scarborough Subway”. The proposal would extend the TTC’s Line 2 Bloor - Danforth subway six kilometres underground northeast to Scarborough Centre Station. Council voted in favour of the plan 26 to 18.

By approving the plan, Council has authorized City and TTC staff to continue working on the subway extension until it reaches a state of “30 per cent of design”, when staff have to again seek council’s authority to continue.

According to the latest City report, the one-stop, express subway line will now cost $3.35 billion - considerably more than the original estimate of $2 billion.

Council also approved:

• a route under the “McCowan Corridor”; and
• a two-level bus terminal near Borough Drive and Triton Road in the Scarborough Centre development area at a cost of $187 million.

Council agreed to proceed with a staff reommendation that the City and TTC work with Infrastructure Ontario to pursue a Design-Build-Finance procurement process to build the extension. According to Infrastructure Ontario, with this model, a consortium could use private-sector resources and expertise to finance and build the project. This process transfers project risks to the consortium, which is accountable for delivering the project on time and on budget.

For more information about what staff are proposing, read Transit Toronto’s February 3 post.