Could Scarborough's LRT become a busway? Council to vote on future of aging line this week

The future of transit in Scarborough will roll onto the agenda at city hall this week as councillors consider ways to replace the suburb's aging light-rail line.

The SRT is being replaced with buses until the Scarborough subway extension is complete in 2030. But with the light-rail service being retired this fall, city council needs to approve a plan to replace it.

Last week, a key city committee approved a plan to finalize the bus routes that will serve the 35,000 users per day who currently take the line, which connects to the Bloor-Danforth subway. Toronto city staff recommended a series of priority bus lanes on a number of roadways and the addition of some intersection changes.

Council wants a dedicated busway that runs along the same path as the SRT out of the flow of traffic on local roads. That means it would run faster than those priority lanes. 

But the dedicated busway could be years away and could depend on receiving more than $60 million from the province.

In the meantime, council is being asked to approve a $7-million series of priority bus lanes on local roads.

Nevertheless, Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and the five other Scarborough councillors are also asking council to vote to continue planning work on the dedicated busway.

Transit advocates want the dedicated busway, saying it would save riders 10 minutes a trip.

The city's executive committee voted last week to approve the priority lanes, but are also asking the province to pay $2.9 million to finish design work on the busway.

Days later, McKelvie said she spoke with TTC CEO Rick Leary and asked him to find the cash in the transit agency's budget to finish the work. He said this week the work to find that funding is underway and council will receive an update.

"We want to come up with that $2.9 million to move forward with the 100 per cent design," he said.

City staff say it will cost about about $60 million to build the busway, but that price tag is likely to rise because that figure is based on preliminary design work. TTC chair Jon Burnside said he expects costs will increase on the project.

"We still need at least $60 million. And that's a very conservative estimate. In my opinion, we know that costs are always much higher than estimated," he said. "We're going to need help from the province and the federal government."

The fate of the SRT replacement has become a campaign issue in the mayoral byelection.