Toronto councilors are set to square off Wednesday over the future of public transit in the city.
TTC chair Karen Stintz called for the special meeting earlier in the week to discuss the future of Toronto's transit system with the intention of reaffirming Transit City – a light rail-based plan shunned by Ford when he was elected mayor in 2010.
Ford's alternative plan would instead see the Eglinton light rail line built underground and the construction of a Sheppard subway line using private funds.
Coun. Norm Kelly, a TTC Commissioner and supporter of Ford's plan, ratcheted up the rhetoric ahead of the debate Wednesday.
"I would be severely disappointed if council made that decision," Kelly told reporters Tuesday. "You could say that councillors who support the surface plan are ignoring the will of the residents of Toronto as expressed in the last election."
Ford promised to scrap the plans and bury the cross-town transit underground during the 2010 mayoral campaign.
And he warned in a mass email ahead of the key meeting of the consequences of additional above-ground transportation.
Ford said Stintz's plan "would put more tracks on the roads, create traffic chaos and result in years of needless, messy and inconvenient construction." He also urged Torontonians to "let your councillor know why you support underground rapid transit."
Stintz's move was backed by a petition -- signed by 24 councillors -- suggesting that the meeting be held to make a decision on a position for the city's transit future, as requested by the chair of Metrolinx – the province's transportation board.
Metrolinx had requested clarification on Toronto's transit strategy after support waned for Ford's subway plan and a collection of councillors including Stintz began pushing for more of the line to run above ground.
The Transit City plan, originally approved in 2009, would see light rail lines built along Eglinton Avenue, Finch Avenue West and Sheppard Avenue East, while replacing the Scarborough Rapid Transit Line.
