Premier Doug Ford was joined by minister of transportation Jeff Yurek and minister of infrastructure Monte McNaughton to announce the investment.
"Our government is investing in transportation to bring relief and new opportunities to transit users and commuters," said Ford. "We announced the new Ontario Line to deal with the dangerous congestion on Line 1, the Yonge North Subway Extension that will connect the subway to one of the region's largest employment centres, the three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension to better serve communities, and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension — a large portion of which will be built underground to keep people and goods moving on our roadways. This is our plan, our priority."
The province will invest CA$11.2bn to support these four rapid transit projects. This funding is above the government's prior commitment to put CA$5bn into subway extensions.
The funding is in addition to other contributions made to transportation in Ontario, including expansion of GO Train service to Niagara Falls and St Catharines, enhancements to the service in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and money for transit projects for the Hamilton and Ottawa regions. The province has also moved ahead with light rail transit for Mississauga; and announced CA$1.3bn to repair and rebuild highways across the province
"Today we are embarking on the most ambitious provincial transit buildout Ontario has ever seen," said McNaughton. "This is great for people and good for jobs."
The planned schemes are:
the Ontario Line, which will cost CA$10.9bn and will be delivered by 2027;
the Yonge North Subway Extension, which will cost CA$5.6bn and should be open soon after the Ontario Line;
the Scarborough Subway Extension, which will cost CA$5.5bn and will be delivered before 2030;
the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, which will cost CA$4.7bn and will be delivered before 2031.
They will require a combined CA$28.5bn, of which the province has committed CA$11.2bn.
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