It seems GTA commuters waiting for a Yonge Street subway extension to Richmond Hill will have to wait a little longer.
There has been public talk for years of a potential extension of the line north into York Region, but its position on the GTA transit priority list is unclear.
Vaughan Counc. Alan Shefman’s hopes are waning.
While the Toronto Transit Commission remains only providing service to Toronto, it’s leaving the GTA without an effective transit system, Shefman says.
“The TTC doesn’t understand this is no longer a municipal boundary driven issue,” Shefman said. “Transit is a regional issue. Until people get rid of the TTC and create a Greater Toronto transit authority, we are all going to be stuck in short-sighted planning for transit. We’ll never meet our transit needs in this area as long as the TTC exists.”
Metrolinx, transit agency for the GTA, has spoken with the City of Toronto, the TTC and York Region in the attempt to make the subway line extension a reality. But according to Ian McConachie of Metrolinx’s media relations department, factors in the development, such as time and cost, have been the reason for its delay.
“The Yonge Subway North extension to Richmond Hill is identified as a priority project for Metrolinx in the regional transportation vision for our region, ‘The Big Move’,” McConachie said. “At the direction of the Board of Directors, our staff was directed to undertake additional analysis…in order to comprehensively scope the project. (That includes) possible adjustments in project scope, timing or phasing and the cost impacts of the various options on the subway yards strategy.”
On the TTC’s end, details appear to be hazy. Kevin Carrington, spokesperson for the TTC, said that currently the commission is unsure of where the direction of the subway line extension is headed and that other priorities have their attention.
“We know there’s some talk and a little bit of movement,” Carrington said. “But our focused has been on other things. That may change, but it is what it is.”
