The transit project that a new poll says is top priority for Toronto voters is the one least likely to come to fruition any time soon.

According to the Forum Research poll, 29 per cent of respondents picked the proposed Downtown Relief Line as the city’s most urgent priority, out of six projects presented. Results for the other five projects were: Scarborough subway (19 per cent), Eglinton Crosstown (12 per cent), SmartTrack (11 per cent), the Union-Pearson Express (8 per cent) and the Finch LRT (5 per cent).

Aside from SmartTrack, an important part of Mayor John Tory’s campaign platform, and the DRL, the named projects are already in the works. SmartTrack is being studied, while there is neither a formal plan nor a funding source for a DRL.

Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said support for the DRL was strongest in old Toronto — where a relief line would likely cover the most ground — with 41 per cent supporting it, while only 8 per cent said the Scarborough subway is the number one priority. In Scarborough, 47 per cent of voters made the three-stop subway extension their top priority.

“The big thing is that, while people aren’t transit experts, there’s a sense of overcrowding on the subway, so there’s a huge number that say you should be working on a downtown relief line, and that’s not what they’re going to get,” said Bozinoff.

While voters in Etobicoke and North York indicated that the DRL would be their main priority, they labeled the Scarborough subway as their second, despite the slim chance that residents of those areas would regularly use the subway extension.

“I think it’s because they are suburban locations, and I think they just feel some identification with Scarborough as another suburban location,” said Bozinoff.

The bulk of Doug Ford voters (39 per cent) picked the Scarborough subway as number one, while John Tory voters (35 per cent) and Olivia Chow voters (42 per cent) prioritized the DRL.

The poll also found that almost half of respondents, or 44 per cent, support SmartTrack, while 31 per cent disapprove of the proposal. One-quarter of voters said they didn’t know enough about the plan to express an opinion. If approved, the above-ground SmartTrack line would run mainly on existing GO Transit tracks from Mississauga through Union Station and north to Markham. Earlier this month, city council approved spending $1.65 million to study the idea.

Voters were also asked for their take on the traffic situation on St. Clair Ave. W., following construction of a controversial streetcar right-of-way. More than half of voters, or 57 per cent, said they’ve travelled on the street in the past year, with the majority (51 per cent) saying that traffic moves either “very well” (12 per cent) or “well” (39 per cent). About four voters in 10 said traffic does not move well.

“St. Clair remains a divisive issue,” said Bozinoff.

The poll’s results are from an interactive voice response telephone survey of 807 randomly selected voters in Toronto conducted on Feb. 20 and 21. Results are considered accurate plus or minus 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro

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