By Ben Spurr- Toronto Star
March 18, 2021
The Ontario government is seeking to contain the cost of the Yonge North subway extension by eliminating some proposed stations and building a portion of it above ground.
The extension of the TTC’s Line 1 from Finch Station to Richmond Hill Centre is one of the Ontario PC government’s priority transit projects and has strong support from political leaders in York Region.
Previous versions of the plan had the line travelling beneath Yonge Street and included up to six stations. A report released Thursday by Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, shows the province is advancing an eight-kilometre version that would have just four stations, and south of Highway 407 would veer east to emerge north of Holy Cross Cemetery and run above ground parallel to the existing Richmond Hill GO Transit corridor.
The Star reported last June that Metrolinx was considering an above-ground route for the extension in order to reduce costs.
The new version of the plan would include an underground station at Steeles Avenue, on Toronto’s border with Markham and Vaughan, and two above-ground stops: one wedged between Highway 7 and Highway 407 called Bridge station, and another near Richmond Hill Centre, at High Tech Road.
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