Tories derail Eglinton subway But $945 million Sheppard line gets go-ahead
The Toronto Star
Sat Jul 22 1995
Page: A4
Section: News
Byline: By Bruce Campion-Smith Toronto Star
Work on the Eglinton West subway line will continue into the fall as workers fill holes, relocate utilities and patch up the street - all jobs that must be done to stop a subway line, at least for now.
As expected, the Progressive Conservative government yesterday announced it will delay the massive Eglinton subway project but continue with the $945 million subway line on Sheppard Ave. E. in North York.
"We will proceed with transit projects in a phased approach, beginning with the Sheppard subway line in Toronto," Finance Minister Ernie Eves said.
"We are deferring the Eglinton West project until the province and Metro Toronto have sufficient funding to proceed," he told a news conference.
The true impact won't be known for days or even weeks, but it means uncertainty and unemployment for many of the 1,200 people working on the line.
JOBS TO BE LOST
It's estimated that a further 34,500 direct and spin-off jobs will also be lost.
The $740 million project involved building 4 kilometres of subway line and six subway stations heading west along Eglinton Ave. from the Allen Expressway.
It was to end at Eglinton Ave. W. and Black Creek Dr. at the York City Centre, a new development that would have included a transportation gateway with GO transit and bus terminals with 110,000 square metres of commercial space and 1,600 new residential units.
Nearly $50 million has already been spent on the subway project and contracts approved for another $169 million worth of work, TTC figures show.
Metro is now on the hook to pay at least $6 million to stop construction of the Eglinton line, as well its $31 million share of the committed contracts and the $13.5 million spent so far.
Metro Chairman Alan Tonks, angry at not being consulted about the deferral, is thinking about going after the province to collect the millions of Metro taxpayer dollars spent on the project.
Since the provincial government is backing out of the deal, it should pick up the tab for all of the outstanding debts contracted up to this point, he said.
"I'm also asking staff to apprise me of what our total recourse is on behalf of the people of Metropolitan Toronto," he said.
Projects the scale of the Eglinton subway can't be turned on and off like a faucet, Tonks said, and the Tories should be under some obligation to abide by the commitments of the previous government.
But he said he was "guardedly optimistic" that work on the Eglinton line will resume one day.
Within hours of the announcement, David Gunn, chief general manager of the Toronto Transit Commission, was meeting with his engineering staff to look at the best way to stop the project.
"It's not pleasant but we should be able to do it in a fairly orderly fashion," Gunn told The Star.
"We have to relocate utilities, holes have to filled in, we have to restore the street. We have a lot of engineering work ongoing and that's got to be stopped."
The TTC will also have to store the two huge tunnel boring machines that were built and ready to start cutting the subway tunnels in the fall.
They won't be needed now until the tunnel work starts on the Sheppard line in about 18 months.
Despite suggestions that at least some portions of the tunnels should be built, Gunn said it's best to stop the project in its tracks. "You just have to bring it to a halt.
"The last thing you want are underground structures that have to be maintained and pumped and ventilated.
"You can stop things a helluva lot easier than you can start them."
That's a cruel understatement for the municipal politicians who had fought so hard for years to get shovels in the ground only to see their dream dashed in a single announcement.
And though the Tories said they are only deferring the work, Liberal MPP transportation critic and former TTC chair Mike Colle said the project is likely dead forever.
"They're going to put their money where they're going to get their political returns. And their political returns are in Post Rd. and Don Mills and not down in some poor part of Metro," he said. "It destroys our hope for the future."
Yesterday's announcement also chopped $74 million from the capital budget for municipal roads, $36 million from provincial highways, $14.6 million from GO Transit and $33 million earmarked for other transportation initiatives.
© 1995 Torstar Corporation
Illustration:
• Star photo (Power): MAKING TRACKS: North York mayor Mel Lastman leads a celebratory rally at Albert Standing Park yesterday after learning of the provincial government's support for the Sheppard AVe. subway line.
Edition: Sa2
Length: 730 words
