First, the good news: for the first time ever, our governments have committed real capital dollars to building the Relief Line. Back in March 2018, the province and federal government jointly announced that they would be committing $8.9 billion to transit expansion projects in the City of Toronto. The federal portion ($4.9 billion) is part of the federal government’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, with the province agreeing to nearly match the feds with a commitment of $4 billion. This money is earmarked for a handful of Toronto’s priority transit projects, including the Relief Line but also the Waterfront LRT, SmartTrack and the Scarborough subway extension. On May 4th, 2018 Premier Kathleen Wynne signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mayor John Tory reaffirming that provincial dollars would be earmarked for these priority projects (though conspicuously absent from the list is the much-needed Eglinton East LRT that Scarborough residents have been demanding). Exactly how the funds will be divvied up amongst the various projects remains to be seen, but at least there is finally some money on the table.
Now, the bad news: the planning for the Relief Line is moving at a snail’s pace. Currently, the Relief Line subway is being planned as two separate projects: the RL South (formerly known as the “downtown” relief line) which would connect Pape Station in the city’s east end with Queen and Osgoode stations downtown; and the Relief Line North, which would extend the line from Pape station up to Eglinton and Sheppard, most likely along Don Mills Road. The RL South is scheduled to be built by 2031 at the earliest, while the RL North is so early into the planning stages that a timeline has not even been set. And a third phase, which would see the line continue west from Osgoode station into the city’s west end and up to Bloor Street, is not even on the drawing board yet! Needless to say, TTC riders are a very long ways away from true relief.
TTCriders recently joined the Stakeholder Advisory Group for the RL North planning process, which kicked off in April 2018. At the first set of engagement sessions, we pushed for the following concerns to be prioritized:
- Ensuring that the RL North provides transit access to the badly underserved communities of Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park
- Making sure that the line is extended as far north as Sheppard to better relieve upstream congestion on the Yonge Line
- Expediting the segment of the line between Pape/Danforth and Don Mills/Eglinton so that it opens at the same time as the Relief Line South
TTCriders will continue to advocate for this important transit link to be built
ASAP. We believe the Relief Line must serve as many communities as possible (not just the downtown core), with an emphasis on underserved transit deserts. We also strongly believe that it should be
publicly financed, operated and maintained as part of the TTC network.
We are pleased to see that the feds and the province are finally coming to the table with real commitments to fund the relief line, but more is needed. The RL south alone is estimated to cost $6.8 billion, with that figure certain to rise once more detailed designs come in. Clearly, the city needs a long-term, dedicated funding stream to ensure the north, south and west segments of the Relief Line all get built. We welcome the progress we’ve seen, but the funds aren’t enough and the timeline is still much too long.
It’s long past time all levels of government got serious about building transit in Toronto. That means sustained funding and continual progress on the Relief Line until shovels are in the ground. We shouldn’t have to wait for an election year.
Want to get involved in TTCriders' Relief Line Committee? Comments about this post? Email [email protected].
