As Mississauga dreams of a larger City Centre transit loop, cash for the project is nowhere in sight

Mississauga wants to extend the size of the proposed City Centre transit loop but still can’t find anyone willing to pay for the massive project.

At a Mississauga committee meeting today (April 26) councillors again heard of plans to increase the size of the proposed extension of the Hurontario LRT. While initially the plan called for the loop to essentially circle around Square One, now City officials want to expand it to include high-rise developments further beyond.

The problem is the City itself doesn’t want to put up the money for the loop and appeals to both Queen’s Park and Ottawa for funds have been ignored.

While Mayor Bonnie Crombie has said discussions with Premier Doug Ford have been positive, it was his government that cancelled the loop when it first came to power.

At yesterday’s committee meeting, councillors continued to press for the loop with calls to step-up lobbying efforts with senior levels of government.

“To what degree can we continue to advocate with our Provincial partners and the premier?” asked Ward 4 Councillor John Kovac. “We need to find a way to reinstate what will be the key feature of the LRT. We have all of these residents who live in the downtown core and it’s getting more and more dense each year.”

Some estimates indicate it will cost up to $400 million to add the loop to the LRT project and that was before plans to make it larger. That number is expected to rise significantly as time goes by and construction costs rise.

Mississauga believes that money will be well spent on a downtown population that is expected to double in the next 30 years and will need ways to move across the city and the rest of the GTA.

“Adding the loop back is critical to the growth of our downtown core,” reads a social media memo that was released by the City after today’s meeting. “The cost of this project is too much for the City of Mississauga to take on alone. We need the Provincial and Federal governments to pitch in. We have a plan and we are ready to get building, but we need support now.”