City council to explore options to repurpose decommissioned Scarborough RT

Toronto City Council says it will explore options to repurpose the Scarborough Rapid Transit line when it is decommissioned next year.

Ward 24 Scarborough-Guildwood Councillor Paul Ainslie says one idea is to turn the existing above grade track from McCowan station to Kennedy station into a linear park, similar to “The High Line” in New York City.

Ainslie notes that two city owned properties bookend the track and both have been identified as Housing Now sites.

“With the anticipated growth at Scarborough Centre, we have been putting our minds to what creative opportunities may exist to improve the public realm and provide opportunities for the many new residents who will call this part of Scarborough home in the coming years,” Ainslie said.

The Scarborough RT is scheduled to be permanently shut down at the end of 2023, eventually being replaced with the three-stop Scarborough Subway extension on Line 2. Shuttle buses are scheduled to ferry transit riders from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre for the next seven years until the project is completed, scheduled for 2030.

On Wednesday, a group of transit advocates called on the city to come up with a better plan than using shuttle buses.

“The vast majority of Scarborough transit users want to transform the decommissioned RT corridor into a rapid bus way with green public spaces and dedicated bus lanes,” said Zan Kahurram of the TTCriders advocacy group, who cited a community research report done in the summer of 2021 which showed 91 per cent support keeping the SRT corridor for bus travel and other community uses.

The same report also revealed 63 per cent of transit users were not even aware that the RT was permanently closing in a year’s time.

The TTC is in the midst of public consultations on the LRT replacement.