Ontario Place and Science Centre could be getting subway stations
Ontario Premier Doug Ford just revealed what his government is calling "the largest investment in new subways in Canadian history" in the form of a whopping $28.5 billion transit plan for Toronto and surrounding areas.
Speaking to reporters at the GO Transit Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility in Etobicoke this morning, Ford outlined a vision that includes, among other things, an expanded version of Toronto's long-awaited downtown relief line.
Instead of running from Osgoode Station to Pape Station as planned by the city, Ford's newly-dubbed "Ontario Line" will run all the way from the Exhibition Place west of downtown Toronto to the Ontario Science Centre in North York.
"We know that the congestion on Line 1 is a disaster," Ford said. "Commuters are sandwiched, shoulder-to-shoulder on the platform at Bloor Station with over-capacity trains speeding by. It's a clear health and safety problem, and without action it is only going to get worse."
It’s a historic day in Ontario! I am so pleased to unveil our transit vision — a plan for the 21st century!
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) April 10, 2019
Our plan — our priority to get Ontarians moving. #ONpoli #TOpoli #Transit pic.twitter.com/fhbuHkSNiS
So, in an effort to alleviate some of this congestion, the PC government wants to speed up the relief line — and then some.
"We're going to build from Pape to Queen — a project that has been studied and approved — but we won't stop there," said Ford. "We're going to push north, past Pape Station to a terminal at Ontario Science Centre and we're going to extend West... all the way to Ontario Place."
Calling it the "crown jewel" of his administration's transit plan, Ford announced that a preliminary budget of $10 billion had already been set aside for the Ontario Line project.
He also said that the line will be finished by 2027 — a full two years earlier than the City of Toronto's already expedited deadline of 2029.
