It was not unusually expensive, and cheaper per Km than the Ontario Line.
An extension to Eglinton was being actively studied, Pape was the Phase 1 terminus.
Still hasn't. (beyond design and property). Real work should begin soon. Minus Cummer Station it would seem, and at vastly more per km than the previous iteration which has a better route.
Scarborough had loads of different iterations through time because of City Council and Mayoral hijinx......one of those Mayors was a fella with the name Ford......whose brother was on that Council.
Three.......... Yonge North cannot be described as under construction currently.
Disagree, nothing remarkable about it............... the Liberals before him started work on Crosstown, a 22km long project; they delivered the TYSSE and UPX, the Georgetown South GO upgrades, the 3rd track on Lakeshore East GO, 15-minute weekday service on Lakeshore GO (which we no longer have because of Ford's incredibly unwise move of building a joint corridor, which is a colossal, generational mistake, just like the REM / Mt. Royal tunnel in Montreal).
The diversion to Exhibition is also an incorrect move. Yes, eventually, the line should have gone further west, and it would have. But Ford chose the wrong Terminus.
The Relief line as originally planned had a budget of $6.8 billion for ~6.3km of line, or about $1,080 per km. The Ontario Line has a budget of $10.4 billion for 15.6km of line, or about $666m/km. So yes, it is
substantially cheaper, by about 40%.
The City had preliminary studies going out for an eventual extension to the north, correct. This was not planned to occur for many years however, likely not until well into the 2040's. The western extension was not on anybody's radar however and the City had no (public) plans to address transit mobility in the west end despite it being the location of a significant amount of employment and residential growth in the city.
Preliminary work is underway on Yonge - specifically at Finch Station to prep for the connection. Major work's aren't happening, but there is actual construction contracts, no matter how minor, underway relating to the extension.
Yes, Scarborough is well politicized and is the line least attributable to Doug as the City was approaching construction on the line when the province took it over. The Province did return it to a more rational design however without a palatial STC station and reintroducing the 3-stop design.
The Liberals promised big, for sure. They trickled actual funding dollars out however, much like how Doug is promising big on highways but trickling actual funding dollars out today. The 15 years the Liberals were in power featured one subway extension and the Crosstown starting. They also promised Finch and strung out funding for nearly a decade before signing the dotted line. They initiated GO expansion as well. Not a terrible legacy, but over their 15 years in government surprisingly little made it to hard construction. It's a stark difference compared to the Ford Government which has 3-4 subway lines (depending on how you define "construction") underway with 4 years of announcing them. It's a stark difference compared to the Liberals who reached construction start on two lines in 15 years.
The Joint Corridor is fine. There is a temporary reduction in 15 minute service during construction staging but it will be restored ten-fold post construction. With HFR working through, VIA frequencies will be redirected off of the joint corridor soon anyway and reduce pressure on the line. 3 tracks is more than enough to handle LSE and Stouffville services.
How is Exhibition an incorrect move? It creates a Union-Station-West of a sorts which relieves pressure on the actual Union Station while bringing rapid transit access to Liberty Village and a key entertainment centre which drives huge crowds. Plus it aligns the OL for a future westward extension at grade along the rail corridor, which enables much more cost-effective transit expansion.
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