Jennifer Keesmaat would cancel parts of John Tory’s SmartTrack plan and withdraw city funding for a controversial three-stop Scarborough subway extension if she’s elected mayor this fall.

Keesmaat, who is considered Mayor Tory’s chief rival in the Oct. 22 vote, made those promises as she unveiled details of her “network transit plan” to a room full of reporters at a downtown YWCA Thursday morning.

She said she would follow through on a “real plan for transit” and end what she described as years of “chaos” caused by the city pursuing policies that candidates had drawn up “on the back of a napkin in order to get elected.”

“This is a network plan that is designed to deliver excellent transit over the long term for residents of the city of Toronto,” said Keesmaat, who served as Toronto’s chief planner for five years before stepping down last September.

Tory’s campaign fired back in a statement that charged that instead of offering “bold” new ideas, most Keesmaat’s proposal was “exactly the same as the transit network expansion plan championed by Mayor John Tory and approved by city council.”

The statement warned that despite the similarities, the few changes Keesmaat is proposing make her plan “a risky proposition” that would lead to “endless debates, endless re-drafts, and endless talk.”

“The biggest loser in all of this would be the residents of Toronto who would see worsening traffic congestion, longer commutes and even more crowded subways, streetcars, and buses,” the statement said.

The city’s first priority under Keesmaat’s plan would be to build the relief line subway, which would connect the eastern end of Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) to downtown and take pressure off of crowded Line 1 (Yonge-University-Spadina). She promised to start construction on the $6.8-billion project by 2020 and finish it by 2028, three years ahead of the current 2031 projected deadline.

Her second priority would be to make permanent the King St. streetcar pilot project, which she said had succeeded in improving downtown commutes.

Her third goal would be “unsnarling” the planning “mess” in Scarborough.

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The city is currently planning a one-stop subway extension to the Scarborough Town Centre, the cost of which is estimated to be at least $3.35 billion. The city has committed $910 million to the plan, with the remainder of the funding coming from the provincial and federal governments.

But newly elected Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford has pledged to build a three-stop subway extension instead, which by some estimates would add roughly $1 billion to the cost.

Keesmaat said the province will build the three-stop extension “no matter what,” and so the city should take its $910 million and spend it on other parts of the network, including a 16-kilometre extension of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT to Malvern in Scarborough.

A spokesperson for Ontario Transportation Minister John Yakabuski didn’t respond directly when asked whether the province would build the subway without a city contribution.

Keesmaat is also proposing cutting back on the latest version of Tory’s SmartTrack plan, which would add up to six new stations within Toronto on existing GO Transit lines. Council has approved spending up to $1.46 billion on the new stations.

Keesmaat would cancel a proposed SmartTrack-branded stop at Lawrence Ave. near Kennedy Ave., arguing that it would be too close to stations on the three-stop Scarborough subway extension.

She would also cancel a SmartTrack station planned for Gerrard St. and Carlaw Ave., on the grounds the area would be served by a station on the relief line.

Although her plan includes four of the six stations that are part of the council-approved SmartTrack plan, Keesmaat repeatedly attacked the mayor’s signature transit proposal on Thursday, calling SmartTrack a “mess” and a “distraction” that “took us away from building a true transit network.”

She noted the original version of Tory’s plan included 22 new stations and a heavy rail line to the airport. It now consists of just a half dozen additional stops on existing GO lines.

Tory has defended the shrinking plan, arguing it’s natural for any complex project to change in scope as it’s refined and the smaller plan will still deliver improved transit for Torontonians.

Additional parts of Keesmaat’s plan include extending the Eglinton Crosstown LRT to Pearson airport, enhancing service on nine major TTC bus routes, building a Jane St. LRT that was part of the Transit City proposal, and completing the Waterfront LRT.

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She said the entire network would take 30 years to complete and cost about $50 billion. She said other levels of government would contribute funding, but didn’t say whether the city would be required to institute a special levy or tax increase to pay for its share.

Keesmaat also laid out conditions the city should “uphold” if the provincial government moves to take ownership of the TTC subway system.

She said she would welcome the $5 billion in transit funding the Conservatives have offered as part of the proposed upload, but argued the city should ensure council has authority to approve any new projects, the TTC remains publicly owned, and the transit agency continues to collect subway fare revenue and operate the entire network.

Keesmaat vs. Tory transit plans

Scarborough transit

Tory: stick with council-approved $3.35 billion, one-stop subway extension.

Keesmaat: withdraw city’s $910 million contribution to the one-stop extension and spend it elsewhere in the network, allow province to build more expensive three-stop project.

SmartTrack

Tory: build six new SmartTrack-branded stations on existing GO Transit lines.

Keesmaat: cancel Lawrence and Gerrard SmartTrack-branded stations, but proceed with remaining four.

Relief line

Tory: says city is moving as fast as possible to complete the subway by 2031, but will look for ways to accelerate it.

Keesmaat: says construction could begin by 2020, and be finished by 2028.

King pilot

Tory: supports making the pilot project permanent.

Keesmaat: supports making the pilot project permanent.

Correction – Aug. 30, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the council-approved one-stop Scarborough subway extension costs $3.35 million. In fact, the subway extension’s estimated cost is $3.35 billion.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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