Local officials took part in a sign unveiling ceremony on Friday to kick-off construction of the new Lakeshore East GO expansion in Courtice.
A parking lot will be installed at the Courtice Road site by the end of the year, with construction expected to begin in the next week. The new lot will provide 109 parking spaces, park-and-ride services, and three bus bays.
Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster said that while planning for the Courtice station officially began over two years ago, the municipal government’s work to get trains into the area took “many, many years.”
He says other municipalities helped get approval for the station.
“We had a conference maybe six years ago with the minister (of transportation),” said Foster. “I had the mayors of Cobourg and Port Hope in front of me pitching to the minister for this expansion. They know if it doesn’t come here, it won’t come to them.”
Durham MPP Granville Anderson said the station will ease the burden of commuter traffic on Oshawa’s GO station.
“We have thousands of residents commuting from Clarington every day. It’s become very difficult to obtain parking (at the stations) in Oshawa or even in Whitby,” said Anderson.
He added that background work on the station has already began, and trains could be moving through the area for the first time in “the next two or three years.”
Foster says the expansion benefits Clarington residents in several ways.
“People are going to spend more time with their families and less time commuting,” said Foster.
It states Courtice road right in the article.