Ontario Line Coming This Way?

The following message is from Metrolinx to the SLNA:

Dear St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association,

We are writing on behalf of Metrolinx and its Community Relations team to share some information about the Ontario Line project and to find out how we can support your organization as the project moves along. 

Metrolinx is working to transform the way people move by building a seamless, convenient and integrated rapid transit network across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. The four priority subway projects will deliver more service, create new connections to transit lines and ultimately make it easier for customers to access our services. 

The proposed Ontario Line will bring 15.5 kilometres of much-needed rapid transit service to Toronto to make it faster and easier for hundreds of thousands of people to get where they need to be each day. The line will stretch across the city, from the Ontario Science Centre in the northeast to Exhibition Station/Ontario Place in the southwest with 15 potential stations, including six interchange stations, and 17 new connections to GO train lines and existing subway and streetcar lines.  

Today, Metrolinx released the second segment of a series of neighbourhood updates that look at progress on the Ontario Line as teams have been studying how to speed up delivery, reduce building costs, minimize community impacts and improve connections for customers. This update focuses on the downtown segment of the Ontario Line, from Osgoode station through Don Yard. We invite your members to read our blog and visit our website.  

Last week, we also released the Ontario Line Draft Environmental Conditions Report for public review and feedback. This report includes studies on existing conditions along the line and will be the baseline from which we will conduct further studies to determine anticipated impacts of constructing and operating the Ontario Line as well as how to best mitigate these impacts. This is open to public feedback until October 17th.

Typically, we would be conducting open houses in neighbourhoods along the proposed alignment to meet with the public and discuss these details. However, this round of public engagement will be conducted virtually, following advice from Public Health Ontario on COVID-19 and large gatherings. We would welcome the opportunity to join any planned meetings your group is hosting over the next few months to meet with your group virtually, share more about the Ontario Line and answer any questions you may have. Given that major construction is not anticipated to begin until after the financial close is reached for the Southern Civil, Stations and Tunnel procurement package (projected for 2022), we will have many opportunities to connect and look forward to continuing to engage with your group.

In the meantime, please encourage your members to subscribe to our e-newsletter to stay updated on the latest Ontario Line developments. The form to subscribe is located here.  

Finally, we wanted to introduce ourselves. Our names are Bismah and Daryl and we are members of the Ontario Line Community Relations Team. Daryl is the lead for the Moss Park, Corktown and East Harbour Station areas. Bismah is the lead for the Osgoode and Queen Station areas. To keep consistency and simplicity for the community, our team all works from one email address: ontarioline@metrolinx.com. 

We look forward to connecting with you soon.
​
The Ontario Line Community Relations Team