Doug Ford promised to build a new local train station. Metrolinx says it’s a bad idea

A Ford government plan to physique a caller GO presumption beside a marquee improvement successful Mississauga, archetypal announced past year, disregarded proposal from the province’s ain transit readying agency, Global News has learned.

Last spring, the authorities revealed it was granting a Minister’s Zoning Order to supersize a improvement connected Mississauga’s waterfront, bypassing section assembly plans and allowing the caller assemblage to leap person to reality.

As portion of the announcement, the authorities said the developer down Lakeview Village would assistance to present a scope of caller section benefits, including a caller bid presumption on the section GO line. The committedness has been repeated since by some the premier and section Progressive Conservative MPP.

Internally, however, enactment done by the provincial transit agency, Metrolinx, recommended against gathering the station. Documents obtained by Global News utilizing state of accusation laws said a caller presumption would bring excessively galore complications for excessively fewer benefits.

“Based connected the investigation completed with the accusation disposable astatine this time, a caller Lakeview GO Station is not recommended to proceed arsenic caller residents and jobs volition beryllium likewise good served by section transit archetypal and last-mile connections to existing GO stations and important impacts connected existing customers volition beryllium avoided,” the interior study said.

“Instead, a absorption connected section transit connections to existing GO Stations should beryllium prioritized.”

Metrolinx recovered that gathering a caller presumption would necessitate “significant investments” to alteration obstruction tracks successful the country and the operation of caller sound barriers. The study besides recovered existent GO bid customers would beryllium dissatisfied, peculiarly if the caller presumption resulted successful the closure of Long Branch GO, instantly to the east.

In effect to questions, the authorities refused to accidental whether it would support the committedness it had made oregon heed the proposal of its adept readying bureau instead.

“We’re ever looking astatine ways to bring transit to increasing communities, including Mississauga,” a spokesperson for the curate of proscription said successful a connection which did not code the questions sent astir outgo and timeline.

“Metrolinx did their archetypal survey which has provided important information, and we are exploring each options to amended link residents successful the area.”

The province’s archetypal notation of a caller GO presumption adjacent Lakeview Village, betwixt Long Branch and Port Credit connected the Lakeshore West line, came with the announcement of a arguable zoning order.

In May 2023, the authorities announced it was giving Lakeview Community Partners a zoning bid to accelerate the operation and readying of an 18,000-unit improvement connected the tract of an aged powerfulness generating station.

The caller bid — which was decried by the section council, past led by Bonnie Crombie — included a notation to infrastructure the developer would lend to. Among the “impressive nationalist benefits” the state promised was “new transit services and infrastructure, including a prospective caller GO Train presumption connected the Lakeshore West Line.”

The adjacent week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford repeated the committedness astatine an unrelated quality event.

“It’s going to beryllium adjacent to transit alongside important assemblage benefits and upgraded infrastructure with the outgo of these benefits to beryllium borne by the homebuilders, not the taxpayers,” Ford said erstwhile asked astir the zoning bid by reporters.

“New transit services and infrastructure, including caller GO bid presumption connected Lakeshore West Line.”

When Ford and his squad announced the program for a caller GO station, however, interior documents suggested small enactment to measure it had taken place. The thought was not included successful nationalist enlargement plans for provincial transit bureau Metrolinx, which had not studied the concept.

The state did not respond to a question asking if the projected presumption was a information of the zoning order, portion Lakeview Community Partners besides did not respond.

Sources with cognition of the MZO said they did not judge a caller presumption was portion of the agreement.

A fewer months aft the state began to publically advertise it was considering a caller presumption connected the Lakeshore West enactment beside the caller Lakeview Village development, Metrolinx completed interior enactment assessing the idea.

The transit agency’s main of unit told colleagues the study wasn’t an authoritative concern lawsuit but said the “planning squad has done a just spot of owed diligence” looking astatine the issue, according to an email seen by Global News.

The effect of that enactment was intelligibly spelled retired successful a July 20, 2023, report: “a caller Lakeview GO presumption is not recommended.”

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The interior study laid retired 3 options, suggesting adding a presumption would not beryllium needed due to the fact that the 32,000 caller residents and 9,000 jobs expected to travel from the improvement “would likewise good served by section transit archetypal and last-mile connections to existing GO stations.”

The study considered the presumption quo, adding a caller Lakeview GO presumption to the existing way oregon replacing the Long Branch GO presumption successful the westernmost extremity of Toronto, with a caller Lakeview station.

Changes to the existing Long Branch presumption — which acts arsenic a TTC terminus and is utilized by 10,000-plus passengers each time — were not recommended, nor was adding a caller Lakeview presumption and leaving Long Branch successful place.

“Although the precocious improvement enactment successful Lakeview country volition necessitate transit infrastructure to conscionable the demand, this appraisal concludes that Long Branch GO and its existent and planned section and determination transit connections are capable to service transit users from aboriginal developments,” the study said.

A spokesperson for Metrolinx sent Global News a wide connection astir transit planning.

“New transit stations and different important transit infrastructure projects are studied to guarantee operational feasibility and wide benefits to the network,” they said.

Despite the provincial bureau tasked with transit readying explicitly recommending against the Lakeview GO presumption successful July past year, the Ford authorities has repeated the promise.

At a Mississauga quality lawsuit connected the tract of the planned Lakeview improvement successful August, section Progressive Conservative MPP Rudy Cuzzetto reiterated the committedness that Metrolinx had warned against.

“Thousands of caller affordable and attainable homes wrong steps of transit, including a caller GO transit presumption connected the Lakeshore West Line to connection much transit options,” helium said connected Aug. 7, 2024, speechmaking from pre-written remarks.

How overmuch enactment has gone into the presumption — beyond a little appraisal by Metrolinx — remains unclear.

The premier’s bureau did not respond to a question from Global News asking if Ford remained committed to the committedness helium and his caucus had made and repeated.