Ontario Liberals to foot bill for southern LRT extension

Update | On Thursday afternoon, the provincial government made the announcement to fund a $50-million extension to the Trillium Line.

The Ontario Liberal government is expected to announcethat it will fund a $50-million additional extension of Ottawa's Trillium Line that will see the light rail system stretchto the future site of Riverside South's town centre at Earl Armstrong and Limebankroads.

Liberal MPPswill join members of council and Mayor Jim Watson athis office Thursday afternoonto make thefunding announcement.

Although the event is not technically a campaign pledge, presumably the Liberals would have to win the upcoming provincial election to make good on thepromise.

While an earlier estimate put the price tag of the Riverside South extension at $30 million, sources familiar with the deal told CBCthe amount is now $50 million.

Closer to residents

The $3-billion second phase of LRT, already in the planning phases,will see light rail extended to the west, east and south ends of the city. The original plan for the southern extension included a spur line to the airport, butsaw the track stop in the middle of an open field on BowesvilleRoad, just south of LeitrimRoad.

However, last Julythe city announced it would extend the southern alignment by 800 metres to the edge of the urban boundary south of Earl Armstrong Road on the existing rail corridor before connecting withBowesville.The city expected to be able to make this adjustment to the line within its existing Stage2 budget.

The city was also hoping to then extend the line westbound track by threekilometres to Limebank, which is the location of a new planned town centre in the burgeoning community of Riverside South. Even without the new development, the Limebank location is closer to more residents than the older plan.

The southern extension is scheduled to be completed by 2021. It's unclear if this new extension could be built within the same time frame.

The Liberals have already pledged about $1 billion to Stage 2 of the LRTproject, including an extension to Trim Road and the airport link.