Construction of four light-rail transit lines designed to ease the burden on Toronto's overcrowded transit system could be completed as soon as 2020, according to an LRT construction plan the Metrolinx board will vote on Wednesday.
Metrolinx, the planning body for transit in the GTA and Hamilton, is asking its board members to vote in favour of a plan to move forward with transit projects along Eglinton Avenue, the Scarborough RT, Sheppard Avenue and Finch Avenue.
The plan the board will be asked to consider Wednesday would see:
- Construction on the Sheppard Avenue light-rail transit line beginning as soon as 2014 and finished by 2018.
- Construction on an LRT on Finch Avenue beginning in 2015 and finished by 2018.
- Continued construction on the Eglinton Avenue LRT with a completion date of 2020.
- Upgrades to the Scarborough RT to convert the line into a light-rail transit line starting in 2014, with a target completion date of 2019.
If the board accepts the plan, it will be moving forward with the transit plan already approved by Toronto City Council during meetings on February 8 and March 22, 2012.
During the March meeting, councillors voted in favour of the recommendations of an expert panel that deliberated on the best transit options on Sheppard Avenue East.
That decision went against the desires of Mayor Rob Ford, who wanted to use transit money allocated by the province to extend the Sheppard subway line.
