If you were hoping to trade in your car for the region’s new rapid transit service in the next few years, you may want to hold on to your keys.
The budget unveiled by Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan Thursday asks Metrolinx to delay $4 billion in transit spending during the next five years, meaning Viva’s bus lanes, including an extensive project on Newmarket’s Davis Drive, likely won’t open as soon as hoped.
Viva didn’t know about the funding delays until the budget announcement, but will soon meet with the province and Metrolinx, spokesperson Dale Albers said. The province and York Region will work together to deliver programs in a reasonable time frame, he said.
Mr. Albers emphasized the province’s prior commitments to transit and that no projects are cancelled. But with shovels nearly ready to go in the ground in Newmarket, Markham and Richmond Hill, the future is suddenly uncertain.
“It does’t seem sensible to halt the project this far along,” said Newmarket Regional Councillor John Taylor, who began making enquries as soon as he heard about the delay.
Engineering work for Davis Drive’s rapidways is complete and expropriations have proceeded to the point some buildings along the strip are boarded up.
Mr. Taylor said he was very concerned, but spoke with regional chairperson Bill Fisch Friday and is confident Mr. Ficsh and staff, who brought Viva so far already, will ensure things don’t grind to a halt.
“I’m hoping we’ll have a positive outcome. I wouldn’t want to see Davis Drive caught in limbo,” Mr. Taylor said.
The bus line would help free up congestion choking Davis for decades, Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen said, adding Southlake hospital’s new cancer centre will bring even more vehicles to town.
Expropriations are also underway along Hwy. 7 East, so construction can begin this fall. Those lanes were set to open in 2013. Further phases, extending north along Yonge Street to Richmond Hill and through Newmarket and west along Hwy. 7 to Vaughan, were set for 2014 to 2015 openings.
Even further down the road were other Viva segments and plans to extend TTC’s light rail transit on Don Mills road and Jane Street into York Region.
It was almost exactly a year ago Premier Dalton McGuinty came to York celebrating $1.4 billion for Viva, fully funding the construction of the median lanes that allow buses to operate out of mixed traffic.
The premier was following through on the promise of the $11.5 billion Move Ontario 2020 plan unveiled during the 2007 election campaign. He hoped the federal government would step up with money, but that never happened and the original funds for transit projects across the GTA are almost entirely dispersed.
Now, the government is trying to hold off spending the more than one-third of funding already spoken for.
While Viva’s future is up in the air, things are surely more bleak for the unfunded Yonge subway extension, despite strong regional lobbying for the needed $3 billion.
It’s “basically dead”, Thornhill Conservative MPP Peter Shurman said of Move Ontario, but he and other local politicians formed a working group with residents to lobby for the subway and they are kicking around alternate funding ideas.
“Gridlock costs a fortune” in terms of money and quality of life for York residents, Mr. Shurman said.
Vaughan’s Spadina subway is unaffected but Toronto’s plans to construct LRT along Finch Avenue and Eglinton Avenue are also pushed back.
“It makes absolutely no economic sense, it makes no sense from a social policy perspective,” Toronto Mayor David Miller told reporters, describing the decision as “disgraceful” and “thick”.
Both Mr. Miller and the Toronto Board of Trade slammed the move as shortsighted given its job-creation potential.
“This is not a good day for regional transit,” board president and chief executive officer Carol Wilding said.
“Our infrastructure deficit has become the casualty of a fiscal deficit with shorter-term priorities sacrificing the fundamentals of long-term economic growth.”
The transit delays were one of several belt-tightening measures announced by Mr. Duncan, including a freeze on provincial salaries.
“Public servants make a valuable contribution to the health and well-being of this province. They are an important part of our well-educated workforce. That is why we will not propose mandatory days off. That is why we will honour existing collective agreements.”
About 700,000 unionized employees will not see a freeze, at least until their contracts come due. That means it’s business as usual for the unions while other Ontarians are busy making ends meet, Mr. Shurman said.
Mr. Duncan also touted previously announced programs, such as plans to spend $63.5 million on daycare, the introduction of full-day kindergarten in September and the shift to the HST in June.
The harmonized tax is expected bring $1.2 billion to the provincial treasury next year.
Storey from:
http://www.yorkregion.com/news/local/article/657189--transit-future-woes
For more information on the VIVANEXT Project and how it's planned to effect Davis Drive, click here
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