[URBAN NOTE] "Cash shift might revive Sheppard subway extension"

[rfmcdonald]

Ben Spurr's Toronto Star report is eye-catching. Moving the Sheppard line on form being a stub would be nice, but is it viable?

City council may have ended the debate over one controversial Scarborough subway this week, but the dispute over a second one may be heating up.

The Star has learned that the province has asked Ottawa to withdraw $330 million in federal funding from the Sheppard LRT project and reallocate it to the Finch West LRT.

According to a spokesman for Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca, the province made the decision in order to meet the new federal Liberal government’s eligibility criteria for infrastructure funding. Queen’s Park insists the $1-billion Sheppard LRT is still funded in its long-term fiscal plan, and the provincial transit agency Metrolinx says it is moving ahead with the light rail project.

But removing the federal funding could spur a renewed push from local politicians who want to scrap the Sheppard LRT and extend the existing Sheppard subway line into Scarborough.

“The decision to reallocate funds came as a result of the Federal government’s request to shift their Building Canada Fund to ready-to-proceed projects,” wrote Patrick Searle, Del Duca’s spokesman, in an email.

He said that the province risked losing the funding if it wasn’t moved to a shovel-ready project and that “the recommendation was made to redirect the funds toward Finch as it is ready-to-proceed at this time.”