Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is still demanding that the Eglinton Crosstown light rail project be buried completely underground, despite the fact that construction has already begun.

The $5 billion, 19-kilometre Eglinton Crosstown LRT was approved by city council in May 2014. It will stretch from Weston Road to Kennedy Station with 10 kilometres of the rail line already underground. It rises above ground at the eastern and western extremities to run on dedicated lanes.

But Ford says he has received thousands of calls from people saying they do not want to see “streetcars” above ground on Eglinton Avenue at all. He says the reduced lanes of traffic will aid congestion for motorists.

“We don’t want the tracks freezing up,” Ford told reporters at a press conference Friday. “Again last night, I saw four streetcars backed up on Dundas Street. These people here, I just knocked on doors, they need a subway system.”

Eglinton Avenue will have four lanes of traffic for most of the distance where the LRT will run. The stretch between Avenue and Mount Pleasant roads will have three lanes.

Ford says he will have the financial backing of both the provincial and federal governments to convert the LRT to a subway. He inaccurately claimed that the provincial government won a majority by campaigning on a platform for subways when in reality, Premier Kathleen Wynne campaigned for a mix subways and LRTs.

Ontario’s Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid said Ford will have no choice but to raise taxes if he forges ahead with burying the line.

“Let’s just build these damned subways. Let’s just build these damned transit lines,” Duguid said. “Get them built so people can use them. Enough talk.”

John Tory, who is leading in Toronto’s mayoral race according to the latest Forum Research poll, said Ford is desperate and making promises he cannot keep in order to win votes.

“I think Mayor Ford is showing more signs of desperation frankly,” Tory said, while he was out at the Taste of the Danforth festival Friday afternoon. “He’s promising all over the place without a word on how to pay for them. He’s going to cancel streetcars of which we just bought a billion dollars worth of without any word of how he’s going to pay for that. This is not leadership. This is politicking at its worst and I think it’s the sign of a failed leader who’s desperate to try and say anything to win votes.”

Rival mayoral candidate and former chair of the Toronto Transit Commission Karen Stintz said the cost of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT would double if the entire line had to go underground.

But Ford is confident that the provincial and federal governments will pitch in the required funds.

“There’s no money being squandered or wasted with the Eglinton Connects,” he said. “Yeah, you know what, whatever staff time was spent on that which was debated for hours, it happens all the time as you know. We’re going to build a subway underground.”

The Eglinton Crosstown project is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

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