Doug Ford promises more subways for Toronto
(The Star Health)

Doug Ford says his transit priorities as premier would be closing the Sheppard Ave subway loop to the Scarborough Town Centre, building a downtown relief line and extending the Yonge TTC line north to Richmond Hill to ease traffic congestion and transit overcrowding.But the Progressive Conservative leader — who pledged an extra $5 billion in subway funding while he cuts $6 billion in overall government spending — did not set any timelines for the projects and was vague on where the cash would come from. “It’s time to think big and build the transit that we need,� Ford said Wednesday at an airport hotel on the first official day of the June 7 election campaign, slamming delays in getting the $3.35 billion Scarborough subway extension built.The city’s transit planners have now set 2031 as the target for having a downtown relief line from Pape station to Queen in operation to ease crowding on the Yonge line, with an estimated price tag of $6.2 billion to $8.3 billion. Ford maintained he can get the subway projects completed faster through a provincial takeover of the building and maintenance of TTC subway lines, leaving the city of Toronto responsible for the subway’s day-to-day operations.He hinted money to pay for the projects would be borrowed.“We’re amortizing it over a long period of time,� said Ford, who took just five questions from reporters before walking away from his news conference on the way to campaign events in Carp and Renfrew later in the day.On the Scarborough subway extension, Ford said he would restore it to three stops, instead of the one currently envisioned, and said the needs of citizens along the route have been “ignored� for far too long.“We’re going back to the original plan.�He also pledged any extensions of the Eglinton Crosstown line west to Pearson International Airport and east to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus would be bui ...