Metrolinx in the cross hairs of Toronto mayoral candidates

Metrolinx continues to be in the line of fire following reports of the delays that continue to plague the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. The news has some Toronto mayoral candidates calling on the province to take responsibility for the transit agency’s inaction especially as construction on the Ontario Line is set to start.

“The Crosstown is a disaster that has brought Toronto to its knees and if we see a repeat of that on the Ontario line, it will be a death blow to the city. There’s no accountability or transparency,” said Brad Bradford, who is calling on the province to fire Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster.

“I think we have all suffered long enough with the endless excuses on the Eglinton Crosstown.”

On Thursday provincial and Metrolinx officials said the latest delays for the 19-kilometre LRT line are due to 260 quality control issues caused by the construction consortium building the line.

The latest visible hiccup came on Thursday when a CityNews crew visited Sloane station, located between the Don Valley Parkway and Victoria Park Avenue, and saw a jackhammer being used to dig up and repair “an uneven layer of concrete” on the platform – work that is scheduled to take at least a month.

The line was originally set to open in 2020, but its deadline was pushed back multiple times and in the latter part of 2022 an indefinite delay was announced. The service that was supposed to be up and running last fall now has no expected completion date.

“We need to hear directly from Metrolinx as well as the proponent agencies as to why there is this delay, what is the solution and who’s going to pay for it,” said Mitzie Hunter.

Starting Monday, construction on the Ontario Line will result in Queen Street being shut down both ways from Bay to Victoria Streets for at least the next four years. Hunter says as mayor she would make sure the city was a stronger partner in projects being built in Toronto.

“I would ensure there was appropriate oversight of our transit build projects that there is a reporting relationship, accountability and transparency.”

Another mayoral candidate, Anthony Furey, took his criticism one step further and suggested he would sue Metrolinx for $1 billion, if elected. He cites “contractual breaches and persistent failures” as grounds for a lawsuit.