Item - 2018.EX34.1

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to include a tunnelled alignment through the Kingston-Lawrence-Morningside intersection with a single stop in the project scope and for further consideration through the project's updated cost estimate and Business Case Analysis.

 
2.  City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Metrolinx, to include an at-grade alignment through the University of Toronto, Scarborough along Ellesmere Road and a realigned Military Trail consistent with the proposed University of Toronto, Scarborough Secondary Plan and as described in this report, in the Eglinton East Light Rail Transit (EELRT) project's Environmental Project Report Addendum.

 
3.  City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Metrolinx, to include an extension to Malvern via Sheppard Avenue East and Neilson Road with up to six stops including a terminus stop in the vicinity of the Malvern Town Centre, in the project scope and land use study, and for further consideration through the project's updated cost estimate and Business Case Analysis.

4.  City Council request the Ministry of Transportation to include provision for the Eglinton East Light Rail Transit (EELRT) trains in future rehabilitation work on the Morningside-401 overpass.

This report has been prepared in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Metrolinx. It seeks direction on findings of technical work on the Eglinton East Light Rail Transit (EELRT) project concept:

- Inclusion of grade separation at the intersection of Kingston Road, Lawrence Avenue East and Morningside Avenue;

- Integration with University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC); and

- Extension of Eglinton East Light Rail Transit to Malvern.
 

This direction will enable City staff to proceed to the project's Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP) Addendum, and focus the project's cost estimates and business case analysis (BCA) on phasing of the project. Staff anticipate reporting results of the project's business case analysis to City Council in first quarter of 2019.

Inclusion of a grade separation (Light Rail Transit in a tunnel) is recommended at the intersection of Kingston Road, Lawrence Avenue East and Morningside Avenue. Analysis of this potential grade separation at a constrained intersection shows that strategic factors based on the City's Rapid Transit Evaluation Framework (RTEF) and economic benefits of improved travel time outweigh the capital costs to the project. These economic benefits are largely due to removing the impact that Eglinton East Light Rail Transit trains turning through this busy intersection would have on the transportation network in an at-grade alignment scenario.

After careful consideration of three alternative alignments through the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), including two different grade separations, an at-grade alignment similar to the 2009 Environmental Assessment approved alignment is recommended. The stops included in this alignment best serve University of Toronto Scarborough and best align with the planned growth of the campus. A pedestrian underpass below Ellesmere Road and the Light Rail Transit track is included in the project concept to connect the south campus and north campus, and to remove pedestrians from the busy Ellesmere-Military Trail intersection.

This report further recommends the inclusion of an extension of the Light Rail Transit from University of Toronto Scarborough to Malvern, via Sheppard Avenue East and Neilson Road, in the project's scope. Inclusion of this extension in the planning, preliminary engineering and analysis of the full project concept will enable City Council to consider the entire project, and how it could be funded and phased, in the upcoming business case analysis.

This report also recommends that City Council request Ontario's Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to accommodate the Light Rail Transit crossing the 401 via Morningside Avenue in all upcoming rehabilitation work on that structure. City staff have consulted with Ministry of Transportation and determined that a scope change to planned rehabilitation work may be required to accommodate 90-metre long Eglinton East Light Rail Transit trains crossing the overpass.

This report also provides City Council with updates on related work, including

- the alignment through the Eglinton Avenue East and Kingston Road intersection; and

- the Durham-Scarborough Bus Rapid Transit line (DS-BRT) currently being planned by Metrolinx.