Crosstown station plan unveiled, but who will build it?

At a community meeting on Monday evening, the TTC and Metrolinx unveiled preliminary designs for Bathurst Station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line. The accompanying presentation gives the best visual representation of the scale of the undertaking so far, and offers a glimpse of what Toronto transit users can expect when the project is finally complete. Just a couple days later, however, the Star has learned that Metrolinx might pursue a public-private partnership that would push the TTC to the sidelines.

That's surprising for a number of reasons, but mostly because the TTC likely wouldn't want to operate a line that it didn't design, and it would surely be complicated to tender a deal between a private operator and the TTC on how to handle the movement of riders from one system to another. According to the Star's report, however, Metrolinx believes that based on the worth of the project — currently estimated at $8.2 billion — "it has an obligation to investigate all options."

Where that leaves the station design unveiled on Monday (see video above) remains to be seen, but as of right now, the TTC has been running the show. Would a private sector partner retain the preliminary plans or modify them as they see fit? Metrolinx President Bruce McCuaig insists that a decision can't delay the 2020 competition date or the amount that's been budgeted for the line, but depending on how long it takes to figure this out, that could become an unlikely prospect.

Initial thoughts? Metrolinx hasn't made any decisions yet, but what do you think of the possibility of an Eglinton Crosstown without the TTC?

For more on the current plans for Bathurst Station and the Eglinton Crosstown, check out this slideshow.