The province says its plans to build LRTs on Sheppard East and Finch West remain firm and could even start construction sooner in the wake of Toronto council’s decision to abandon a seven-stop LRT in favour of a three-stop Scarborough subway.

Metrolinx president Bruce McCuaig said the provincial transportation agency will look at whether it can move the schedule forward, given that the TTC has said subway construction wouldn’t begin for five years.

“I think we’re going to take some time to look at the entire program and see if it still is optimal to start Sheppard in 2016 and start Finch in 2015,” he said on Wednesday.

The LRTs, which would take five years each to build, are part of an $8.4 billion provincially funded transit expansion that also includes the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT, which is already under construction.

Mayor Rob Ford told city council Tuesday that Sheppard and Finch would be his next targets for subways rather than LRTs. The province has agreed to give the $1.48 billion it budgeted for Scarborough transit to the subway.

The extension of the Bloor-Danforth line is expected to cost between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. Even with $660 million from Ottawa, the city is expected to implement a 1.6 per cent property tax increase toward the $910 million funding gap.

McCuaig refused to speculate on whether Metrolinx might reconsider the other lines in the agreement, if city council made such a request in the future.

“We have no mandate ourselves and I don’t believe the city has a mandate in terms of seeking any other changes to the master agreement,” he said, adding that Sheppard plans are already well along.

Construction on a grade separation near the Agincourt GO station was already underway when Ford was elected three years ago and declared the LRT program dead. City council subsequently overruled him.

Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray also offered assurances that the change in plans for Scarborough won’t alter the other LRTs.

An agreement with the city to build light rail transit on Sheppard and Finch “absolutely” remains in place, he said, adding that none of the funding for those projects will be cannibalized for the Scarborough subway.

“We’re locked in now to those routes. We can’t constantly be changing them. Scarborough was a 30- or 40-year-old grievance that needed to be resolved and there was a very clear position from a mayor and council by majority vote. It is a democracy and there is always a tension between sticking to the plan and being respectful of overwhelming mandates,” Murray said.

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He said the province was duty-bound, however, to listen to the city.

“There are always tensions … if in next year’s election a mayor ran on a very clear agenda on transit, received a majority of votes and council got elected, you have to work with that reality,” Murray said.

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