Metrolinx & Transit Expansion: How To Engage With The Community

Walking along Pape Avenue to my campus seems a lot different. Construction dominates the area as cranes and equipment occupy the subway station and surrounding areas. Businesses that once occupied the block are either gone, relocated, or remained there. It’s part of the Ontario Line, the future Line 3 that connects the Ontario Science Centre to Exhibition.

It got me thinking about how much planning it takes to go from Point A to Point B, how engineers carefully construct the line through various methods, and how a subway line can transform a city. While the city is in the midst of a transit expansion boom thanks to historic investments from all three levels of government to build not just the Ontario Line. There’s the Scarborough Subway Extension, Finch West LRT, Eglinton Crosstown, Eglinton Crosstown Western Extension, and the Yonge North Subway Extension.

It takes years to fully plan and fund a transit project from environmental assessments, drafting a business case, seeking requests for proposals from construction consortiums, etc. Beyond that, there’s a matter of informing the public on how extending or adding new transit can benefit their lives through public consultations and interacting with the community via street festivals and community offices.

Public consultations

Like any transit expansion project, it starts with public consultations to explain what the project is, how it will benefit communities in desperate need of public transit, and how it will create jobs. Take, for instance, the Ontario Line. As mentioned in the introduction in the article. This complex and intricate project requires a lot of moving parts, from utility work to the actual construction. The transit agency will provide construction notices in neighbourhoods that will highlight:

• Scope of work
• Traffic impact and mitigation
• Project phase duration
• Construction length

The public will ask questions about how construction will impact their day-to-day routine and ask for transparency from Metrolinx regarding project completion. As transit expands, so does the need for housing (Transit-oriented communities). TOCs are designed to build housing near a transit station that connects riders from Point A to Point B without relying on cars.

Stakeholders

Small, medium and large businesses are impacted by construction. Be it a reduction in foot traffic and lane and road closures for a period of time. Even businesses have been expropriated to make way for tunnelling, critical utility work, and station construction. Metrolinx and business improvement areas (BIAs) have teamed up to support local businesses impacted by construction through a contest giveaway of gift cards or a social media campaign to show love to local businesses. It’s a similar campaign to support local businesses during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Community offices

Community offices are there to answer any questions relating to transit projects in the community. Residents can ask questions, and the agency will provide answers and handout materials regarding the project. Metrolinx representatives will work with small businesses, elected officials, and stakeholders. As well as giving back to communities such as tree planting, building new parks, art installation, etc.

Street festivals

Metrolinx’s representatives attend street festivals at their respected future transit project, taking questions from the public and providing answers and information. It’s a way to represent the community by doing good and telling people about it.

All of this to say…

Toronto has two seasons: winter and construction. As the population grows, the city is playing catch-up to build world-class transit. At the same time, transit agencies should always inform the public as the project progresses and be transparent about when the transit line will open.