Toronto council has backed a push by Mayor John Tory and some Etobicoke councillors to ignore city staff advice and look at burying or elevating the light rail line planned for the west end of Eglinton Ave. W.

Council voted Tuesday to proceed with the next phase of Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan and, in a related vote, rejected by a 28-14 margin an attempt to stick to the original plan that would put the LRT between Mount Dennis and Mississauga alongside vehicle traffic.

Councillor Shelley Carroll called it “cruel” to authorize a working group to look at the alternatives to street-level transit when staff say tunneling or elevating six key intersections would add at least $881.9 million to $1.32 billion, with drawbacks outweighing benefits.

“It keeps the flame (of hope) alive simply because 2018 is an election year,” Carroll said, adding: “We’re not doing our communities any favours,” by authorizing the study of expensive transit options for which there is no funding source.

Councillor Joe Mihevc also urged his colleagues, unsuccessfully, to not “go down that rabbit hole of exploring tunneling . . . This is absolute lunacy to go down this road.”

Etobicoke councillors John Campbell and Stephen Holyday, however, won the day with Tory’s help. They argued residents are concerned about traffic impacts of an at-grade LRT and there is no harm in studying alternatives.

“People are really worried about it,” Holyday told council. “Let’s take a little bit of time and see if there are some great ideas that might come from that community.”

Campbell argued the cost might be less, suggesting only sections might go underground. Residents deserve meaningful consultations, he added.

“Councillors with subways in their wards don’t want to see it anywhere else in the city of Toronto,” he shot back at critics of his underground push.

Tory, running for re-election in next year's municipal election, said politicians must listen to worried residents. “We will do that (study), it will not be a delay, it will be responsive to the people that we represent, all of us collectively especially some of my colleagues from Etobicoke,” he said.

The entire line was earlier estimated to cost $1.5 to $2.1 billion. At the time eight to 12 stops and three grade separations — where track is routed above or below intersections — were considered.

Staff found building at-grade LRT would have better access for transit riders, would not reduce development potential, and would have fewer environmental impacts than tunneling or elevating the track, which would provide a small improvement in transit travel times.

Council also approved in principal SmartTrack station concepts, including Lawrence East despite the fact that a Star investigation of the approval process triggered a review by the board of the provincial transportation agency Metrolinx.

City staff have submitted their own analysis to Metrolinx as part of a review launched after the Star's reports.

But Toronto deputy city manager John Livey said of the ongoing review: “We have every reason to believe that station will be approved.”

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Earlier Tuesday, before council started, advocates for increasing supports to homeless people held a protest demanding two armouries be used to relieve overcrowding in city shelters, and that Toronto open an extra 1,000 spots to prevent more deaths on the streets.

Tory rejected the calls, saying city staff and outside experts back his proposal, which council will debate Tuesday, asking staff to find 400 new spaces for homeless Torontonians.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro

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