A downtown Toronto councillor is accusing Metrolinx of keeping plans for the Ontario Line secret, after learning the provincial agency has discussed alternative routes and station locations for the major transit project with developers behind closed doors.

Metrolinx, the Ontario Crown corporation in charge of transit planning for the GTHA, has in recent weeks been conducting public consultations on the $11-billion project that forms the centrepiece of Premier Doug Ford’s $28.5-billion transit expansion plans.

While the Ontario Line proposal has attracted plenty of response from residents and elected officials, Metrolinx has said the prospective route the agency has published to date is “representative” and subject to change.

In an interview, Coun. Joe Cressy (Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York) said during a briefing Metrolinx gave to councillors and City of Toronto staff last month, he pressed the agency on what changes it was considering.

According to Cressy, Metrolinx staff confirmed “they do have other alignment options that they have shared with some stakeholders,” which he took as a reference to developers and landowners.

Cressy said Metrolinx staff refused to reveal at the Jan. 21 meeting what potential changes they had discussed, a decision the councillor described as “deeply concerning.”

“It concerns me greatly if decisions are being made on the location of stations not by the city, not by the public, but rather stakeholders in private,” he said.

Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins confirmed to the Star the agency has discussed alternate routes and station locations for the Ontario Line with developers, but declined to provide details.

“Any discussions we have with developers and landholders at this stage are exploratory only and are part of our due diligence,” she said in an email.

“There are existing development plans for some of the lands along the proposed alignment, and upfront work must be done to understand how those plans might impact the project — and vice versa.”

Aikins said Metrolinx is committed to getting feedback about the Ontario Line from “community members, city partners and the development community,” and plans to present a final proposed alignment at a second round of public meetings in the spring.

Cressy agreed it was appropriate for Metrolinx to examine different options for the Ontario Line, but argued the agency “should not be consulting with some and not others,” and “certainly should not be doing it in private.”

Describing Metrolinx’s Ontario Line planning as a “secretive exercise,” he said that “all potential alignment options that are being shared with some stakeholders should be shared with all stakeholders, and that includes the City of Toronto and the public.”

Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13, Toronto Centre), who was also at the meeting, echoed Cressy’s concerns.

She said it wasn’t right that private developers would receive information about a major transit project “ahead of the general public or even local elected officials.”

“Who is truly driving the transit file in Toronto? Is it the government of Ontario? Is it big land developers?” she asked.

Metrolinx has previously said it plans to deliver the Ontario Line using a transit-oriented development approach, which would require working closely with developers.

According to the strategy, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario would enlist the private sector to build stations or other infrastructure required for the Ontario Line in exchange for valuable assets such as development rights above new stops or on properties along its route.

The goal is to offset the provincial government’s capital costs by having the developers construct transit infrastructure, while also increasing transit ridership by creating high-density commercial and residential complexes close to new stations.

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City of Toronto spokesperson Kris Scheuer declined to answer specific questions about whether municipal staff are concerned about Metrolinx’s private discussions with developers.

She said in an email the province has committed to “to engage with the city” on transit oriented development, and “the city’s expectation is that as project planning and design advances,” Metrolinx will share information about the Ontario Line “in a timely manner.”

Ford unveiled the Ontario Line in April 2019. The plans Metrolinx has released so far indicate it would have up to 15 stations and stretch roughly 16 kilometres between Exhibition GO station and the Ontario Science Centre via Queen Street downtown, with some sections running above ground.

The line, which the province anticipates would be funded by the provincial and federal government, is intended to take pressure off of the TTC’s overcrowded Line 1 (Yonge-University-Spadina) subway and replaces previous plans for a relief line subway.

Metrolinx has set 2027 as the target date to open the line, although many experts believe that’s unrealistic.

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