Ontario reaffirms commitment to $1.2B Finch LRT

Ontario has reaffirmed its commitment to the $1.2-billion Finch West LRT.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca was joined by Mayor John Tory at Humber College on Monday where they discussed the plans for the 11-kilometre light rail transit line.

The Finch West LRT will run along the surface of Finch Avenue from the planned Finch West subway station at Keele Street to Humber College.

“We’re getting on with the building of urgently needed public transportation in the GTA,” said Tory. “It’s about connecting people to jobs and jobs to people, and that’s what this transit line will do.”

Finch West LRT map

Del Duca said the project will connect Etobicoke residents with the TTC subway system via the Spadina extension, as well add connections to local bus services in Mississauga and Brampton.

“When it comes to investing in transit and transportation here in the GTHA, it’s not about boundaries,” he explained. “We are entering a period of extraordinary progress.”

The project will allow connections to other transit systems across the GTA as well as GO Transit at the planned Finch West Station.

“All of this will help us to lay the foundation for a vibrant, integrated transit system that will help bring an economic boost to this area,” Del Duca said.

Tory reassured the public that the LRT would not block lanes of traffic or disrupt commercial truck traffic.

Construction on the provincially funded transit project is scheduled to begin in 2016 and be completed by 2021.

Del Duca said after construction is completed, work on the Sheppard East LRT will begin.

Construction on the Sheppard East LRT had been scheduled to begin in 2017 and be complete by 2021.

The statement caught TTC Chair Josh Colle off guard.

“I was a bit surprised by the Sheppard East timing,” said Colle. “My focus has got to be on what we’re getting in the ground… Would we like Sheppard sooner? Of course we would.”

Colle added that he’s optimistic about the amount of transit projects currently in the making.

Metrolinx, the province and the city all insisted that the Sheppard East LRT is still a priority and construction will begin as soon as possible.

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