Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty announce funding

May-June 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty jointly announced $950 million to build the Sheppard East LRT at the TTC's Harvey Shop on May 15.

The Sheppard East LRT is the fourth of eight Transit City projects to receive funding (Eglinton Crosstown and Etobicoke-Finch West LRTs and SRT Expansion were announced on April 1), but the first to be built. Construction starts this year with a completion date of 2013.

“This investment is good for Toronto, good for Ontario and good for Canada,” Harper said. “This major building project will create hundreds of jobs for local workers right away and ensure Toronto has the expanded and improved transit services it needs to compete for the jobs of the future.”

The LRT is 15-km long and will be built on Sheppard Avenue East on a dedicated right of way running from Don Mills Station to Meadowvale Road in the east. Once completed, the line will replace the heavily travelled Sheppard East bus routes and provide a rapid transit service to the commuters in the far end of Scarborough.

The Sheppard East LRT will connect to Don Mills Station where commuters will have access to the Sheppard Subway, the future Don Mills LRT and YRT/VIVA bus services, which run out of the inter-regional bus terminal at Don Mills Station.