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A City of Toronto staff report heading to this month's meeting of City Council updates plans for two light rail transit projects – the Eglinton East and East Bayfront LRTs.
In a City news release announcing the updates, Mayor John Tory stated, "These projects will bring more transit to two areas that absolutely need it—the Waterfront and Scarborough. I am absolutely determined to get the Eglinton East LRT built because I know it will make a meaningful difference to transit users in Scarborough. Waterfront transit, east and west, must be a priority for the city given the development both built and planned. We have to keep moving transit forward in all parts of our city—that's why we are moving ahead these two projects and why we are continuing to work with the Province to move forward its major transit projects, as agreed."
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According to the release, the City intends to extend the currently under-construction Crosstown LRT 15 kilometres east and northward to the Malvern Town Centre. The report proposes an Eglinton East LRT with as many as 21 stops and three connections to GO Transit stations. The release states, "The line would provide transit access to historically underserved communities, travelling through or adjacent to seven Neighbourhood Improvement Areas and bringing higher-order transit within walking distance of 49,000 Torontonians."
City staff recommend that Council give thumbs up to a new project scope with a different design than it previously approved. The new design accommodates the Province of Ontario’s subway expansion plans. If Council approves the report, staff will report back on project costs, the construction schedule and approach next year. Since they've now updated the project scope, staff expect the project to cost as much as $4 billion – doubling the original budget.
Ontario's plans for extending the TTC's Line 2 Bloor – Danforth subway have required City planners to extensively redesign the Eglinton East LRT connection to the main Crosstown LRT at Kennedy Station.
In April, 2019 City Council approved an alignment for the Eglinton East LRT (EELRT) and directed City staff to continue planning and designing the project, and to report back to Council with a plan, schedule, cost and funding requirements. As the report's authors dryly note, however, "More recently, roles and responsibilities related to transit expansion have changed, per the terms of the Ontario-Toronto Transit Partnership" that City Council authorized in October, 2019. A subsequent agreement formalized the roles and responsibilities of Ontario and Toronto in implementing major transit initiatives in Toronto. As a result of Ontario's transit expansion plans in Scarborough, in particular, City staff have had to update the design and cost estimates for the EELRT.
As part of the newer design for the Line 2 extension, provincial transit planners have introduced a third subway track under Eglinton Avenue East near Midland Avenue "for service reliability improvements". They've also modified the depth of the subway tunnel east of Kennedy Station. These infrastructure changes eliminate the design that City planners previously developed for linking the subway with the EELRT. Accordingly, City staff have assessed several potential alignments for the LRT to connect at Kennedy Station.
Staff are now recommending that they proceed with designing an LRT tunnel east from Kennedy that is longer than they originally planned. The tunnel would include an underground station at Midland Avenue, which offers, as the report explains, "the potential for market-driven transit-oriented development above the station". The tunnel would reduce potential pedestrian and cycling conflicts at Eglinton Avenue and Midland Avenue and decrease "operational and design concerns at the eastern end of the Eglinton Avenue overpass."
When City staff presented a proposal for the EELRT to City Council in 2019, they designed while expecting that the City would build an LRT on Sheppard Avenue East before the Eglinton LRT would be operating. The design of the Eglinton East LRT north of the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus assumed that some of the Sheppard East LRT infrastructure, including its maintenance and storage facility, would also serve the EELRT. As part of the 2019 budget, Ontario announced that it intended to extend the TTC's Line 4 Sheppard subway eastward to McCowan Road, after it extended Line 2. The City has now updated its design and cost estimates for the Eglinton East LRT to include more infrastructure as part of the project that City staff did not previously contemplate. The new project plan now recommends a maintenance and storage facility north of the campus on the east side of Morningside Avenue south of Highway 401.
Staff propose building the EELRT in two phases. For first phase, the EELRT could between Kennedy Station and the U of T Scarborough, including the maintenance and storage facility. This approach which would allow LRT operations to begin while contractors complete the final phase of the project to Malvern.
The project maps highlight, but the report does not explain, the future of the 'missing link' between the end of the future Line 4 Sheppard extension and the intersection of Sheppard East and Neilson Road, where the EELRT turns westward toward Malvern.
The City and TTC proposed an LRT between Kennedy Station and the intersection of Sheppard Avenue East—passing the Scarborough campus—as part of the Transit City plan. Mayor David Miller announced the proposal to build a network of LRTs throughout Toronto in 2007. The plan also included a Sheppard East LRT between the end of the Line 4 subway at Don Mills Road and Meadowvale Road. His successor, Rob Ford cancelled the program—except for the Crosstown LRT line between Mount Dennis and Kennedy—as his first act after becoming mayor on December 1, 2010.
In 2016, City Council agreed to a plan to develop a one-stop express subway extending Line 2 Bloor-Danforth to Scarborough Centre, instead of a three stop line staff had originally proposed to save costs. That reduced the cost of the subway from around $4.5 billion to $3.5 billion. Council directed staff to apply the savings to building the EELRT to U of T Scarborough.
In 2018, the City approved several changes to the project, including a tunnel under the complicated Morningside-Lawrence-Kingston intersections and extending the line to Malvern.
Rapid transit to and from the Malvern community—or, rather, the lack of it—has a long and complicated history. Both provincial and City administrations have promised Malvern residents at various times over the past 50 years that they would complete transit schemes that would serve their neighbourhood. Originally, the TTC proposed operating what it currently dubs Line 3 Scarborough rapid transit to connect Malvern with the subway. The Transit City network also would have extended Line 3 to Malvern--and those are just two of many other Malvern transit proposals that have failed to materialize.
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City staff also report that the City, TTC, and Waterfront Toronto continue to work on two Waterfront Transit Network priority projects—the Union Station to Queens Quay link and the East Bayfront LRT. Staff are developing the projects to the 30-percent design stage and estimating the preliminary costs. The scope of the projects extends from Union Station to the foot of Bay Street and along Queens Quay and Cherry Street to the Distillery Loop. They would provide new infrastructure to operate streetcars to the East Bayfront development area.
The project team is currently focused on creating a plan to phase transit improvements at Union Station and on Queens Quay. It's also comparing options for a site for a tunnel portal on Queens Quay east of Bay Street, where streetcars would transition from the underground section to an at-grade reserved right-of-way. The City, TTC, and Waterfront Toronto are reviewing 10-percent design drawings for Queens Quay from Yonge Street to east of Parliament Street, while the TTC is also focussing on producing a 15-percent design for the underground section from Union Station to the portal. According to the City staff report, design work on the section between the East Bayfront and Cherry Street will start shortly.
The team expects to complete an environmental assessment, including the 30-percent preliminary design and engineering of the Union Station-Queens Quay link and East Bayfront LRT to Cherry Street by late 2021. A report to Council will recommend the preferred design and a schedule for constructing the projects before the City's 2022 budget process. That report will also identify costs for building the projects in phases.
The report explains that City and TTC staff are also reviewing other aspects of the Waterfront Transit Network that may require them to revise their plans due to updates to other transit-expansion projects. For example, the Ontario Line and new GO Expansion plans impact the Exhibition Place portion of the network.
The City has discussed the possibility of an LRT or streetcar line along Queens Quay East for many years. The Transit City plan included such a line as a future stage of the plan. In 2018, City Council endorsed the overall Waterfront Transit Network and identified priority segments. That endorsement included a revised streetcar loop at Union Station, a new Queens Quay station and a tunnel portal between Bay and Yonge Streets.
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The City's Executive Committee will consider the staff report during its meeting of December 10. If the committee approves the report's recommendations, City Council will discuss and, hopefully, approve them December 16 or 17. You can read the report here.
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What do you think of the LRT proposals? Leave your comments in the form below, or join the discussion on our Forum:
- Eglinton East LRT discussion thread, here;
- Sheppard East LRT discussion thread, here; and
- Waterfront transit discussion thread, here.
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