Downtown relief line money doesn't amount to 'a study of a study' Tory says

Toronto Mayor John Tory said this morningthat provincial money announced yesterday for planning and design work on the so-called downtown relief subway line does notamountto a "study of a study."

Speaking on Metro Morning, Tory said the money will go toward work "that must be done," if the relief line is to be built.

• Toronto's downtown relief line gets $150M in planning money from province

• Toronto's downtown relief line now has a 'preferred' route

Tory said the money will fund essential planning and design work to ensure the relief line gets built in a timely manner.

"This will go a long way to allow us to continue with that work and keep us on track so we can actually get it built," he said."It is absolutely not a study of a study.

"You can't build a subway without planning the route out," he said.

Transit experts have talked about theneed for a relief line for decades as a way to alleviate crowding on the Yonge-University-SpadinaLine.

Line to cost $3.2B to build

In a proposed route preferred bycity planners, the new line wouldrun from south fromPape Station along Pape Avenue, turnwest at Eastern Avenue, then connect to Queen andOsgoode Stations. The entire route will run underground in both directions, with several stops along the way.

TTCchairman andCoun. JoshCollesaid yesterday he believes some of thefunds will go toward planning where stops should go and to study any technicalchallenges that would come from burrowing underneath a city of 2.8 million people.

City staff estimate the line will cost $3.2 billion to build, but there is currently no government money set aside for the project.

Metro Morning host Matt Galloway asked Tory if the relief line should be considered the "top priority" for transit expansion in this city.

Tory said the relief lineis a top priority when it comes to subway expansion, but said SmartTrack, hisplan to add transit using existing GO Transit rail corridors, is also a priority because it will improve transit within six years while a relief linewill take more than a decade to build.

"This downtown relief line won't be finished forsay 12 years, depending on whose estimate you believe," said Tory, who spoke by phone from Winnipeg, where he is attending a meeting of big-city mayors and municipal officials.