Another new TTC subway station was just proposed for Toronto

One of Toronto's most contentious and oft-revised public transit projects is making headlines once again this week on the heels of a city staff report that proposes — wait for it — adding a fourth stop to the Scarborough subway extension. Yeah.

Some context, should you need it: Toronto City Council voted in 2013 to scrap a fully-funded LRT line for a three-stop subway extension through the east-end borough.

In 2017, they voted again to scale the extension back to just one station. Citizens were enraged at the time to learn that the cost for building just one single subway stop in Scarborough (a stop that many people never even wanted) had ballooned to roughly $3.35 billion, and much debate ensued.

Council votes 22-4 to allocate PTIF funding for the Scarborough Subway extension — number of stops still TBD. pic.twitter.com/o2BLZVZdWa

— Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt) April 17, 2019

Then, about a month and a half ago, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced as part of his PC government's first provincial budget that the three-stop Scarborough line was back on under his administration's plan to "upload" responsibility for Toronto's subway system.

It was one of four major moves affecting the GTA laid out in the Ontario government's new, $28.5 billion provincial transit expansion program.

Ford said at the time that all three stops would open before 2030 and cost about $5.5 billion to build. The new stops, according to the province, would be Lawrence East Station, Scarborough Town Centre Station and McCowan Station.

A report released on Monday from the Deputy City Manager of Infrastructure and Development Services to the City of Toronto's executive committee shows that this could change again, however, and this time it's Toronto floating the idea of more stops.

Stop talking and build the damn thing already.. by the time you guys get moving on this my family tree will be extinct...transit is a priority and talking about it isn’t actually accomplishing anything. DO something ffs...

— Lorrie Parrott (@lorrie_tdsb) June 5, 2019

"A station at Eglinton Avenue East and Brimley Road is being considered either as an alternative to a Lawrence station, or as a potential fourth station, which is one of the considerations to be addressed in the further assessment of this Provincial project," reads the report.

City spokesperson Brad Ross told the Toronto Star in a piece published Tuesday that the TTC and City of Toronto had "raised the potential of a fourth station" with the province as part of ongoing discussions surrounding the subway upload.

It's important to note that City Council has not yet voted to build a new subway station at Eglinton and Brimley. According to Ross, the matter remains a "staff-to-staff discussion right now."