Time to talk about building subways, again

After the city council equivalent of a back alley knife fight, plans for transit expansion in Toronto are finally showing signs of life. But there’s a dirty little secret about the light rail lines set for North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough that no one wants to talk about: by funneling new riders onto jam-packed trains on the Yonge subway line, these necessary additions to our transit system could actually make things worse for thousands of already-frustrated commuters.

In other words: imagine your current squished subway ride with a few thousand more close-quarters friends.

To combat this nightmare scenario, Toronto needs to wade back into a conversation about transit expansion. It’s time to talk about building subways again.

No, not the fantasy subways Mayor Rob Ford pushed for. His scheme — never funded — called for all-suburban underground lines that may have lost the TTC tens of millions of dollars in unrecoverable operating costs. Instead, politicians and planners need to turn their attention back to an idea for subway expansion that’s been kicking around since the 1980s.

Transit geeks have called it ‘the downtown relief line,’ but former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson, who’s been putting together a campaign designed to build support for the new subway line, likes to refer to it as ‘the city subway loop.’ It’s a name that better recognizes the line’s far-reaching benefits.

As Thomson and other supporters see it, the new route would form a large ‘U,’ covering a vast section of downtown and the suburbs. Starting in the east-end at Eglinton and Don Mills, the subway would head south to connect through Leslieville. From there, it would turn west through downtown, stopping in the heart of the financial distract via Wellington Street. In the west, the line would curve back up toward Eglinton and Keele.

It just might be the most important infrastructure project Toronto can build right now.

In Thomson’s estimation, this is the only project that can “really put a dent in Toronto’s gridlock,” making for a network that can actually accommodate demand from riders. “Transit systems are like the blood systems in the body,” she says. “If the heart isn’t working well, you get problems in all the other arteries.”

By all accounts, the heart of Toronto’s transit system — the ever-crowded Yonge subway — isn’t doing so well. The city subway loop, endorsed by virtually every transit expert in Toronto, looks to be the best long-term fix — especially with expansion looming.

But before commuters can board the new trains, the plan needs support from politicians, business leaders and riders. And, most critically, the city needs a workable funding plan that can put construction on track.

Coming up next week: How to fund the subway line Toronto desperately needs.

Read more from Matt Elliott at Ford For Toronto.