Mayor John Tory is throwing his support behind a new city plan to build the Eglinton East LRT in a single go, rather than splitting the project into two distinct phases.

The original plan for the LRT line was to build from Kennedy Station to the University of Toronto's Scarborough Campus (UTSC), before working on an extension to Malvern.

But on Monday, Tory said it made more sense to look at the project as a whole and begin planning the Malvern extension concurrently with the Kennedy-UTSC section.

"This does not preclude us from phasing the construction," he said at a press conference in Scarborough. "But I support getting on with the project and building it as one."

The six-station Malvern extension would run from the university campus to Malvern Town Centre via Sheppard Avenue East and Neilson Road.

The funding question

The LRT line, which would link up with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line that is currently under construction, is still in the "concept refinement" phase and has yet to secure funding commitments for construction.

But on Monday, Tory insisted that the money for the extra planning, at least, was already in hand.

The planning, he said, can be done with the "funding for the planning and design work already available."

The old concept for the Eglinton East LRT saw the section stretching from UTSC to Malvern Town Centre as a second phase of the project. (eglintoneastlrt.ca)

Tory has taken heat for supporting the now $3.35 billion Scarborough subway plan, which will extend the Bloor-Danforth line by one-stop. Critics say the costly project is sucking up all of the money needed to build the Eglinton East LRT.

Tory told reporters both the LRT and subway are vital for transit in Scarborough.

We have already secured $9 billion from the federal & provincial governments to get on with building our transit projects including the Eglinton East LRT, the Relief Line & the Waterfront LRT. I am determined to keep working with those governments to continue this progress. —@TorontosMayor He also spoke confidently about his ability to secure more funding down the line, touting the recent $9 billion cash infusion resulting from a recently-inked infrastructure deal as an example.

"Any additional funding we need to cover the entire cost of this project we will obtain," he said.

No tunnel needed at UTSC, says report

The city report, made public Monday, also gives updates on the thinking around several other thorny aspects of the planned LRT line.

After discussions of building a tunnel under the UTSC campus, the report concludes that the LRT track should go through the campus at surface level, with a pedestrian underpass to get students from one side of the tracks to the other.

It also suggests that building a tunnel for the LRT train is needed to get the line under the complex intersection of Kingston Road, Lawrence Avenue East and Morningside Avenue.

The report will be debated by the city's executive committee next week.