A TTC board member is warning that the city is at risk of “cheaping out” on a key waterfront transit connection, as it mulls proposals to scrap streetcar service to Union Station in favour of less costly alternatives.At a public meeting about waterfront transit plans on Monday night, the city unveiled a set of three options to overhaul the tunnel that links the station and Queens Quay.Streetcars running on the western waterfront currently operate in the 530-metre tunnel and terminate at Union. But with a new East Bayfront streetcar line planned, the existing underground infrastructure can’t handle the extra service.The three options being proposed to link Union and Queens Quay are: expanding the tunnel to accommodate the additional streetcars; replacing the streetcar tracks with a below-ground pedestrian walkway; or, in what would be a first of its kind project in Toronto, installing an underground cable car.Read more: If it’s worth spending billions to build a subway in Scarborough it’s worth properly linking the waterfront to Union: KeenanExpanding the tunnel and preserving the streetcar service would be the most expensive option — previous estimates indicate it would cost at least $270 million. It’s also the only one that would provide seamless transit access between the waterfront and Union. Under the other two proposals, streetcars would operate east and west along Queens Quay but not travel north to the station.Councillor Joe Mihevc, who sits on the TTC board, argued the city would be foolish not to maintain the streetcar link. He said it’s the only option that improves transit, while the other two are aimed at keeping costs low.“This is not a project that we should frankly cheap out on,” he said, describing the other proposals as “second-rate.”The high cost of expanding the tunnel is driven by the complex underground work it would require, including expanding the streetcar loop benea ...
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