Province to accelerate ‘priority’ transit projects
The Ontario Government is pushing ahead with plans to not only built transit projects, but also get them built faster.
On July 6, Premier Doug Ford, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA) Kinga Surma announced that the province would exempt what it calls “key provincial highway construction and priority transit projects” from the hearing of necessity process to get those works built faster.
According to the province, the processes, which occur five to ten times annually, “add months of red tape and construction delays for critical provincial infrastructure, costing up to five months for transit projects and up to 12 months for provincial highway projects.”
"Communities need reliable transit, transportation and housing as a strong foundation for future economic growth," said Mulroney. "These initiatives would create tens of thousands of new well-paying jobs, make our roads safer, reduce gridlock, and put home ownership within reach of many people across the province."
As part of its plan, the government would also enter into new commercial agreements with partners to build transit-oriented communities—similar to the transit-oriented communities memoranda of understanding it has in place with the City of Toronto and York Region.
Doing so, says the province, would allow for the development of more housing around transit in an integrated manner and put more job opportunities within the reach of more people. The measures would also save taxpayers money by having the development industry make direct, significant contributions to the costs of building transit.
"Instead of building stations in isolation, we will build fully integrated communities," said Surma. "Transit-oriented communities will benefit the Greater Toronto Area by increasing ridership, reducing congestion, providing a mix of housing—including affordable housing—and providing critical local services and amenities like daycares and recreational spaces."
These measures would allow the province to more quickly undertake important technical investigations and prepare construction sites, while ensuring meaningful consultation with landowners. It would not, Mulroney promised, compromise the rights of owners, tenants or anyone else impacted by decisions to deliver such essential transit projects.
The announcement of the plan came a day before the government announced that its Bill 171, Building Transit Faster Act, was passed into law. The legislation specifically enables the province to expedite the process of building Ontario's four priority transit projects: the Ontario Line, the Yonge North Subway Extension to Markham and Richmond Hill, the improved three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension, and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension to Pearson airport.
"During consultations and throughout debate, we heard a common theme from a wide range of people who reinforced how important it is to not only build transit quickly, but to also get it right," said Mulroney. "That is why we've focused solely on eliminating the roadblocks that cause unnecessary delays, so we can deliver these major transit projects as quickly and cost effectively as possible."
The legislation will expedite the planning, design and construction process for the four subway projects by:
- relocating utilities more efficiently;
- better enabling the assembly of land required to construct stations, conduct tunneling and prepare sites;
- ensuring timely access to municipal services and rights-of-way;
- allowing the province to conduct due diligence work and remove physical barriers; and
- ensuring nearby developments or construction projects are coordinated so they do not cause delays.
With the legislation passed, the province called on the federal government to contribute its share of funding to the transit projects.
"We continue to call on the federal government to come to the table and fund at least 40 percent of these nationally-significant subway projects that will provide a modern, efficient rapid transit system, benefiting all transit riders and taxpayers," said Surma. "With the passage of this bill, we can get shovels in the ground sooner and get skilled people back to work as we restart the economy and recover from COVID-19."
Also significant among the transit announcements was Ford’s promise to spend $2.6 billion this year to expand and repair Ontario’s highways and bridges.
Those projects cited by the premier were:
- widening Highway 3 between Essex and Leamington from two lanes to four,
- widening 401 from London to Tilbury from four lanes to six, and
- twinning Garden City Skyway QEW going into St. Catharines.
It is not known when formal announcments on each will be made.