COVID-19 might have you stuck at home, but Metrolinx is helping you get involved in transit virtually.  

Over the past few months, Metrolinx has been having conversations with community members about how the Ontario Line will make it faster and easier to travel throughout the city, and how the project will fit into the communities it will serve.

Now teams are gearing up to host a round of community open houses across the entire route of the project to share some key updates, answer more questions, and collect more feedback as they continue to refine plans.

This follows the release of details on the confirmed location of the Ontario Line’s maintenance and storage facility last Thursday, April 8. This information will be discussed in greater detail at the first scheduled open house for the communities around Thorncliffe Park, Flemingdon Park and the Ontario Science Centre on Thursday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Communities remain at the centre of our planning for the Ontario Line, so gaining input and insights from the people who live in the neighbourhoods along the line is extremely important. Every conversation provides an opportunity to share updates, answer questions and collect feedback.

“We know people have questions and concerns, and we are eager to get out into communities and have these conversations,” says Metrolinx’s Ontario Line project sponsor, Malcolm MacKay. “Even though these conversations can be tough, it’s important to us that we keep up that two-way communication as early and often as possible to keep people informed. “

Here is the complete rundown of the upcoming virtual open houses, and the station sites they’ll be focussing on.

• Thursday, April 15 – North segment 1: Thorncliffe Park, Flemingdon Park, Science Centre
• Monday, April 19 – North segment 2: Pape, Cosburn
• Thursday, April 22 – East segment: East Harbour, Leslieville/Riverside, Gerrard
• Monday, April 26 – Downtown segment: Osgoode, Queen, Moss Park, Corktown
• Thursday, April 29 – West segment: Exhibition, King/Bathurst, Queen/Spadina

Metrolinx teams will provide an update on the project in each of the areas and participants will be able to ask questions in advance on the event registration page. Participants can also submit questions during the event and vote for questions they’d like to see answered.

A panel of Metrolinx technical experts will be on hand to give detailed responses.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to connect with people and share how we’re progressing and refining the project,” said Josh Vandezande, Metrolinx’s senior manager of community engagement for the Ontario Line. “Of course, we would much rather be able to be out in the community, talking with people face-to-face, but these large format events allow us to address questions and feedback from a lot of people at once while also helping them to stay home and stay safe.”

You can register in advance by visiting MetrolinxEngage.com/OntarioLine/Live. If you are unable to attend the live event, recordings of the discussion will be available to view on the event page.