Sheppard subway is ‘doable:’ Ford

The Sheppard subway is still “doable,” Mayor Rob Ford said after a closed-door TTC meeting Wednesday.

“We spoke with developers in Canada, in the province, in the city, and like we’ve always been saying, [the Sheppard subway] is very, very, doable and affordable,” Ford said at city hall.

“Every single person said ‘let’s do it.’” Not one developer said ‘no.’”

A special city council meeting, which was slated for March 15 but moved to March 21, will provide the answer the province and Torontonians have been waiting for after a month of tumultuous transit talk: will the city build a subway extension or light-rail transit (LRT) on Sheppard Avenue?

According to various reports, the LRT option will likely be adopted.

Private consultations with developers “is not the way to do business,” Coun. Maria Augimeri said.

“We were elected publicly and we should appeal to the public…Our job is not to make sleazy development deals in the backroom.”

The special council meeting on transit was originally scheduled for March 21, but was moved up this week.

An expert panel — put together earlier this month after a key council vote on the future of Toronto transit — will release a report at the March 15 meeting. That study is expected to endorse the LRT option for Sheppard, according to various media reports.

Ford continues his push to build subways, despite the fact his underground transit plan isn’t fully funded. He has floated a possible parking tax to pay for it.

The province has promised $8.4 billion to Toronto for new transit projects and Premier Dalton McGuinty has voiced frustration over the fact city officials can’t get a plan nailed down.

Ford scrapped the LRT-focused Transit City plan created under former mayor David Miller. TTC chair Karen Stintz revised and resurrected that outline earlier this month. In a major blow to Ford, on Feb. 8 council endorsed her plan that calls for LRT on Eglinton and Finch.

The mayor wanted the entire Eglinton LRT line to run underground. Stintz’s plan calls for it to run at ground level between Laird Drive and Kennedy station.

In a compromise, her plan also called for the formation of the expert panel to study the feasibility of Ford’s Sheppard subway extension.

Ford took to the airwaves on Sunday using the new AM talk radio show he co-hosts with his brother Coun. Doug Ford to push his subway plan.

Opposition councillors, including Josh Matlow, are also doing their best to convince residents LRT is the way to go.

Stintz and Matlow held a town hall meeting at the North Toronto Memorial Community Centre on Tuesday night and presented their case.