Here's why a Toronto walking trail cost a staggering $149 million

A new report from the City of Toronto has confirmed that the sky-high $149 million price tag for Metrolinx to extend a local trail a mere two kilometres is, somehow, correct.

The cost to lengthen the existing West Toronto Railpath (WTRP) shocked residents when it was first publicized over the summer, with many jumping to  criticize Metrolinx — and by extension, the provincial government — for such cost-overruns that have come to characterize seemingly every project that the transit agency touches.

As City Councillor Brad Bradford said in discussions on the extension's budget at the time, "spending $150 million on a 2 km path will make people's heads explode."

However, upon some re-evaluation through a third-party peer review, the cost estimate is apparently fair.

This is the kind of nonsense Torontonians get over taxed for

— Bobby F. ✈️ bobbyfairview.bsky.social (@bobbyfairview) August 13, 2024

As the City's general manager of transportation services argued in a report that is headed to the Executive Committee next week, the work ahead involves "much more" that merely adding on to the mixed-use route.

Noting the significance of the WTRP as "a fully off-street pedestrian and cycling pathway that connects neighbourhoods, provides communities with greenspace and public realm amenity space, and serves as a safe active transportation corridor," the doc goes on to explain the magnitude of the forthcoming construction as justification for its cost.

For starters, the work will double its current length.

"The second phase of the WTRP, known as the West Toronto Railpath Extension (WTRPE), will extend the Railpath an additional 2.1 km south to Sudbury Street, approximately 200 m south of Queen Street. Much more than a pathway, the WTRPE is a significant infrastructure project that includes four bridges, including a 350 m long elevated section crossing the Barrie rail corridor, two public plazas and seven new community connections," it reads.

It also notes that the additions will end up "providing direct access to the WTRP from Lansdowne Avenue, Shirley Street, Northern Place, Delaney Crescent, Brock Avenue, Dufferin Street and Queen Street...  providing a critical link connecting neighbourhoods from the Junction all the way to downtown." 

The verification of the cost estimate comes the same week that researchers found Metrolinx and the Government of Ontario is notorious for vastly over-spending on other high-profile projects in Toronto — our four forthcoming subway lines, including the Ontario Line — because of "poor planning" and too many unnecessary consultations.

As a result, Toronto's transportation projects cost as much as ten times more than comparable lines in other major cities worldwide.