Mayor Rob Ford is refusing to compromise when it comes to his plan to bury the entire Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line underground.
In an appearance in front of a busy Scarborough intersection late Wednesday afternoon, Ford said he remains committed to building subways.
This, despite a proposal from TTC chair Karen Stintz to leave part of the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line above ground, freeing up about $2 billion to put towards extending the Sheppard subway line and building some sort of above-ground rapid transit on Finch Avenue.
"I campaigned on building subways and I stand behind that commitment 100 per cent because it is the right thing to do," Ford said. "It is right for Scarborough, it is right for Toronto, it is right for everybody that lives in this community."
Ford was joined by like-minded councillors Michelle Berardinetti, Gary Crawford, Michael Thompson, Mike Del Grande and Norm Kelly on Friday afternoon. The news conference was held just two days after Coun. Joe Mihevc told CP24 that he received a legal opinion stating Ford didn't have the power to unilaterally cancel David Miller's Transit City mass transit plan and replace it with his subway-based plan upon taking over as mayor.
On Friday, Ford defended those actions, suggesting the future of the city depends on subways.
"Subways are fast because they don't run on a street and they don't have to cross intersections at street level and when you make transits faster than cars people will use it," he said. "Putting trains down the middle of congested jammed-up streets like the one behind us is not the answer. It is wrong."
