Mayor Rob Ford may think that downtown has enough subways.

But city planners are ready to move ahead in studying a relief subway to take some of the crowding off the Yonge and Bloor-Danforth lines.

They are hoping to gather public input into the study process early in the New Year, according to a report before Toronto’s Planning and Growth Management Committee on Wednesday.

Once council approves the study process, likely by next summer, transit planners would then being developing a “long list” of routes, terminus points and stations.

It will be 2015 before that is whittled into a short list and the preferred options are evaluated.

The first phase of the relief line is expected to begin somewhere along the east end of the Danforth line and travel south to connect with the Yonge subway between Dundas and Union.

In the future though, the line could be extended north to Eglinton Ave. around Don Mills Rd., and there’s the possibility of a western connection running through the downtown up to Dundas West or High Park stations on the Bloor line.

The need for the relief line is no longer under dispute, said Toronto director of Transportation Planning Tim Laspa.

The TTC has already reported that capacity-building measures that are underway now, including bigger trains, automated signaling and crowd management at busy Bloor-Yonge Station, are stop-gaps. By 2031, the crowding will again be pushing the Yonge line’s limits.

TTC CEO Andy Byford has warned that the recent decision to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway to Sheppard Ave. to replace the Scarborough RT, will only exacerbate crowding downtown.

Toronto has also told York Region that it can’t extend the Yonge subway north to Richmond Hill until there’s a relief valve elsewhere in the system.

Provincial agency Metrolinx is also studying relief options.

“They’re looking at options outside the city of Toronto. There could be solutions that involve the GO train service and various lines and types of service… We will be closely co-ordinating,” said Laspa.

Metrolinx announced last summer that it would be doing public consultations in the fall. Those were delayed, however.

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“Given the depth of the study, we have determined that more work was needed to facilitate a robust and meaningful discussion with the public,” said spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

In addition, she said, “We anticipate launching a project webpage in early 2014, where updates and study materials will be available, and the public can submit their comments to us.”