Estimates that it would cost almost $1 billion more to convert the aging Scarborough RT to a subway rather than light rail have Scarborough councillors shaking their heads.

“Unbelievable,” said Councillor Michael Thompson, who, along with other Scarborough councillors, has been pushing for a subway alternative to LRT from Kennedy station to Scarborough Town Centre.

Officials met Tuesday to go over the numbers and the issue is expected to be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of the executive committee, chaired by Mayor Rob Ford.

Ford has long championed subways but has never unveiled a concrete plan to fund them.

The cost of converting the SRT to light rail is $1.8 billion, an amount the provincial transit agency Metrolinx has agreed to cover. Going to a subway would add $923 million on top of that, Metrolinx says.

That’s almost double the Toronto Transit Commission’s own estimate of $500 million extra.

“Even with inflation and what have you, that’s a huge jump,” Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) said Tuesday.

“I want to understand how this increase has come about,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the best option for replacement of the SRT is a subway connection.

“I hope this isn’t fear mongering by Metrolinx.”

After meeting Tuesday with city and TTC officials, Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said more discussions are scheduled over the next few days.

However, McCuaig said Metrolinx has already spent $85 million on the initial stages of the LRT project and will suspend work by Aug. 2 unless council confirms it still supports a master agreement signed last November to convert the elevated RT to an LRT running in its own right of way.

Despite November’s master agreement, city council sent mixed signals in May when it asked the province to consider a subway, McCuaig said. Metrolinx wants to clarify the situation before going any further.

“We would prefer that they (council) affirm their support for the master agreement so that we can continue on with the project as previously agreed,” McCuaig told reporters.

“We think the LRT is a great solution,” he added. “We think it will be great service for the residents.”

The city would be on the hook to pay the extra cost of a subway, but council hasn’t supported any type of taxes or tolls for transit, said Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s).

“Some councillors want a subway that would cost about $1 billion more than an LRT, yet without any plan to actually pay for it, which makes no sense,” Matlow said.

Councillor Michelle Berardinetti (Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest) was taken aback by the higher estimate.

“I think the original cost ($500 million) was accurate,” she said. “If they’re coming back with changes, I would think they’re just throwing those numbers out to kibosh the issue.”

Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) said he warned Scarborough councillors they could be courting trouble by holding out for a more expensive alternative.

“I think council made a very big mistake … to signal to the province that we were having cold feet about the LRT. Several of us on council said, ‘Watch out what you wish for, because you might get nothing,’” Perks said.

His advice to Scarborough councillors: Give up the subway dream.

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“I’m saying to my colleagues, ‘You better wise up here. No one has between $500 million and $1 billion to convert to subway. Take the signed deal. Take the transit improvement you know you can get, because there’s nothing else on offer.’”

Thompson said he’s looking for transit improvements for Scarborough that are long overdue and will last for generations.

“I know that Scarborough has forever been shortchanged with respect to transit,” he said. “What we need to do is look at the future of the city.”

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