GO Transit users in Whitby will eventually benefit from the extension of GO Rail east from Oshawa to Bowmanville.

The plan, unveiled on Feb. 13, would see two new GO stations built in Oshawa help to reduce some of the parking pressure faced by Whitby users as well as Oshawa users. Plans are to keep the current Oshawa GO station, increasing the number of stations in Oshawa to three once the extension is complete.

The new stations in Oshawa will be built at Thornton’s Corners, just east of Thickson Road and north of the 401, and at Ritson Road (old Knob Hill Farms site). Stations will also be built in Courtice and Bowmanville.

It’s anticipated that, including parking spots currently in the Oshawa lot, there will be an additional 3,980 to 4,950 parking spots opening up for riders at the four new stations.

“This is going to positively impact our road congestion in rush hour, our parking deficiencies and our transit routes connecting to the train,” said Whitby Regional Coun. Rhonda Mulcahy.

“This (announcement) has been a long time coming and I am also very happy for our neighbours to the east for gaining easier access to the city,” Mulcahy said.

Complaints about a lack of parking at the Whitby GO station (and Oshawa GO station) have been heard frequently over the last few years.

Whitby GO user Karin Harrison frequently finds the parking lot at Whitby full and needs to drive to Ajax GO station to find a free spot.

Harrison got a $27 parking ticket last fall when she was forced to park in the Iroquois Park Sports Centre lot after she couldn’t find a free spot anywhere at Whitby GO Station.

That’s even though the Town of Whitby leases 300 of the 705 spots at Iroquois Park for GO riders to use.

“Where else do we go? They don’t want us to park on the streets, that would be a huge problem,” Harrison said last fall.

Told about the expansion plans to Bowmanville, Harrison was cautious in her optimism for more GO parking.

“It’s great news if it happens for everyone out in the east,” Harrison said.

“My only negative is will it happen? They’ve been talking about this extension to Bowmanville since we moved to Whitby 20-plus years ago,” she said.

Indeed, it will be toward the end of this decade before the project is complete. Early estimates for the project indicate a timeline of almost six years and a capital cost of between $527 and $529 million. However, many large transit projects typically take longer than projected and end up costing more than budgeted for.

That was the take on the project Whitby Mayor Don Mitchell had.

“It is a good news announcement but with a projected six-year timeline — and timelines on major transit projects are rarely met — it will be a long time before there is any potential parking relief.

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“Also, the provincial direction is to maximize their transit investment by building transit supportive high-density projects around the GO stations. This is happening now west of Toronto … so I would not anticipate a lot of surface parking around these new stations, which means we still have to find ways to get a lot more GO riders to the stations in a lot fewer vehicles,” Mitchell said.

Whitby’s population is expected to expand by about 80,000 people in the next two decades with the lion’s share of the growth coming in West Whitby and Brooklin. A proportion of those new residents will use GO Transit and may well need parking spots.

TK Tim Kelly is a general assignment reporter for YorkRegion.com and its sister papers. Reach him via email: tkelly@yrmg.com

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