Eglinton Crosstown line

Eglinton Crosstown Line

Starting construction on the underground portion
Overview
Type Light rail
Status Under construction
Locale Toronto, Ontario
Termini Mount Dennis
Kennedy
Stations 25
Operation
Opened 2021[1]
Owner Metrolinx
Operator(s) Toronto Transit Commission[2]
Depot(s) Black Creek Carhouse
Rolling stock Flexity Freedom
Technical
Line length 19 km (12 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Electrification 750 V DC overhead [3]
Operating speed 80 km/h
Route map

The Eglinton Crosstown line is a light rail line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It will be owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The line was conceived in 2007 by then Toronto Mayor David Miller and then chair of the TTC Adam Giambrone as part of Transit City, a large-scale transit expansion plan consisting of other proposed light rail transit lines. It is expected to be completed in 2021.[4]

The Eglinton Crosstown Line will run for 19 km (12 mi) from Black Creek Drive to Kennedy Station.[3] There will be up to 25 stations, with an estimated 100 million trips annually in 2031.[5]

History

Concept

See also: Transit City

The Eglinton Crosstown Line was conceived as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, a partially underground light rail line, announced in 2007 by Toronto Mayor David Miller and TTC chair Adam Giambrone. It was part of the Transit City plan, which included the implementation of six other light rail lines across Toronto. The original version of the line would have run from Pearson Airport along Silver Dart Road to Convair Drive. The line would have then turned southwest, to a bridge over Highway 401 to reach Commerce Boulevard on the other side, where it would run south to reach Eglinton Avenue and the east end of the Mississauga Transitway. The rest of the line would run east along Eglinton Avenue, including a portion along which the proposed Eglinton West subway line would have been built. The line would then cut across the city, connecting with the Yonge-University and Bloor-Danforth subways, and with the Scarborough RT.

There were 43 stops planned for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, 13 of which would be underground.[6] Surface stops would be spaced on average 500 metres (550 yd) apart and the underground stations would be 850 m apart on average, as constructing numerous underground stops would be costly. The average speed would be 28 kilometres per hour (17 mph),[7] compared with the existing bus routes along Eglinton that have an average speed of 16 to 18 km/h (9.9 to 11.2 mph).[8] The line would terminate at Kennedy Station to the east in Scarborough where it would meet Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, the proposed Scarborough Malvern LRT and the Stouffville GO train line. The expected cost was $4.6 billion.[9] As a result of provincial funding cuts, construction of the line was divided into two phases: Phase One would end at Jane Street, and Phase Two would terminate as had been planned at Pearson Airport.

Redesigns

Miller's successor, Rob Ford, announced the cancellation of Transit City on 1 December 2010, the day he took office.[10] He proposed an alternative titled the "Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line", which put the 19-kilometre line along Eglinton Avenue completely underground. The line would then follow new route of the Scarborough RT, thus forming a single line continuously from Black Creek Drive to McCowan. The cost would almost double to $8.2 billion and, compared to the original plan, 18 fewer stops were planned, including the elimination of the connection to Pearson Airport. Most of the additional cost would have come from putting 12 additional stations underground and for converting the Scarborough RT.

On 8 February 2012, in a special meeting, Toronto City Council, led by Karen Stintz, voted 25–18 to override Mayor Ford's modifications to the project.[11] The vote reinstated the original proposal to only construct the portion between Laird Drive and Keele Street underground while the remainder of the line is built along the surface.[11] On 30 November 2012, the environmental assessment was revised, such that the east tunnel portal location would be moved from east of Brentciffe to east of Don Mills,[12] however this was reversed in May 2013 after receiving community feedback.[13] In January 2013, Toronto City Councillors from Scarborough put forward an alternative plan to proceed with the construction of the Eglinton Avenue portion of the line as planned, but to exclude the Scarborough RT from the line. In July 2013, plans for an "Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown" line were abandoned, thereby reverting the entire line back to the plan that had been conceived under Transit City.[14][15]

Construction

The Eglinton Crosstown line will run underground for 10 km (6.2 mi) from Mount Dennis to just east of Brentcliffe Road before rising to the surface to continue another 9 km (5.6 mi) to end at Kennedy Station.[16]

Timeline

2010

On July 28, 2010, Metrolinx ordered four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) at a cost of $54 million.[17] The TBMs were named Dennis, Lea, Humber, and Don. The names were chosen by Jason Paris, a moderator of the Urban Toronto blog and forums. Dennis is named after Mount Dennis, Lea is named after Leaside, Humber is named after the Humber River, and Don is named after the Don River. The names Dennis and Lea combined allude to the poet Dennis Lee.[18][19] By the time all four machines reach Yonge Street, enough dirt will have been removed to fill the Air Canada Centre to the height of the CN Tower.[20]

2011

In October 2011, the first part of tunnel construction began with the construction of a launch shaft for tunnel boring machines (TBMs) at Black Creek Drive.

On November 9, 2011, in Keelesdale Park, Mayor Rob Ford and then-Premier Dalton McGuinty officially broke ground on the new project.[21]

2012

In May, 2012, TTC staff released a report saying that completion of the Eglinton Crosstown was unlikely by 2020 and that a more realistic in-service date would be 2022-2023. The main reason given was that the project management had been transferred from the TTC to Infrastructure Ontario which uses the Alternative Finance and Procurement strategy. That strategy would use a private contractor to complete the project, effectively requiring that contractor to redo all design work already completed by the TTC.[22] The TTC also warned that Metrolinx’s aggressive timeline would lead to severe construction-related disruptions to communities and traffic because large stretches of the Eglinton Avenue would have to be torn up concurrently to meet deadlines.[1]

2013

In January 2013, Infrastructure Ontario issued a request for qualifications to shortlist companies to construct the line. A request for proposal was expected in the summer of 2013.[23]

On February 22, 2013, TBMs Don and Lea arrived in Keelesdale Park.[24]

In June 2013, the TBMs Don and Lea began tunnelling on the line. Traffic on Eglinton Avenue near Keele Street was reduced to one lane in each direction.[25]

On November 12, 2013, MetroLinx awarded a contract to construct the eastern portion of the Crosstown to a joint venture between Aecon Group Inc. and ACS Dragados Canada Inc. to construct the eastern portion of the line between Yonge Street and Laird Drive.[26]

2014

In March 2014, work began to clear utilities and trees on the south side of Eglinton Avenue just east of Brentcliffe Road in order to set up the eastern launch shaft. For two and a half years, traffic around the excavation site will be reduced from two to one lane in each direction. West of the site, more lane restrictions will go into effect to construct head walls (below-ground walls that form the ends of each subway station) at the future Laird, Bayview and Mt. Pleasant stations. There will also be lane restrictions for two years near Hanna Road to build an emergency exit near Leaside High School.[20]

By April 2014, the TBMs had arrived at Caledonia LRT station.[27] In April 2014, The Globe and Mail reported that the two western tunnel boring machines were excavating "approximately 1,000 cubic yards of spoil", per day.[28]

For the year prior to May 2014, the two TBMs Dennis and Lea had been excavating and installing concrete tunnel liners at a rate of approximately 10 metres (33 ft) per day.[29] The tunnels are lined with precast concrete liner segments. Six 2.5 tonne-segments form each ring.

In early December 2014, Dennis and Lea arrived at Eglinton West station.[30] Dennis stopped to allow Lea to catch up, so that they would arrive at Eglinton West station at the same time.

2015

On the weekend of April 18–19, 2015, the boring machines, Dennis and Lea, were lifted out of a shaft west of Allen Road and moved about 100 metres to a shaft just east of Allen Road.[31]

In April 2015, merchants along Eglinton Avenue West were complaining of lost revenue (up to a 35% dip in sales), because construction was discouraging customers with snarled traffic, limited parking options, reduced foot traffic and dusty sidewalks.[32]

By September 2015, the TBMs Don and Humber arrived for assembly in the shaft at Brentcliffe Road before starting to drill the 3.25-kilometre (2.02 mi) section west to Yonge Street.[1][20]

On September 24, 2015, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca issued a statement saying the Crosstown would not operate until September 2021, in order “to mitigate disruption to the local community and infrastructure as much as possible.” The earlier plan had been to open in 2020 with tunnelling and station construction to start in 2012.[33] Infrastructure Ontario has awarded the Crosstown construction contract to Crosslinx, a consortium led by SNC Lavalin. It will take about four years to build the stations, 15 of which will be underground.[1]

On September 29, 2015, TBM Don started to bore the north tunnel from the Brentcliffe Road launching site westward towards Yonge Street. TBM Humber will start boring the south tunnel approximately one month later.[34]

On November 3, 2015, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that the contract awarded to Crosslinx Transit Solutions to complete the Crosstown and maintain it for 30 years will cost $2 billion less than originally estimated.[35]

2016

Sometime in 2016, a segment of Eglinton Avenue East will be dug up to extract the TBMs Humber and Don, when they reach Yonge Street. However, the hole in the street there will be much smaller than the one near Leslie Street.[20]

2021

Expected completion.[36]

Crosslinx

Crosslinx Transit Solutions, a consortium of more than 26 companies, was awarded the contract to design, build and finance the Eglinton Crosstown line and to maintain it for 30 years. The contract, which excludes boring the tunnels, is for completing all other remaining work, including the stations and the finishing work within the tunnels. Some of the members of the consortium are SNC-Lavalin, Aecon, EllisDon, ACS Infrastructure Canada, Dragrados, IBI Group and the Bank of Nova Scotia. The contract defines a public–private partnership.[35][37]

The 30-year contract to build and maintain the line will total $9.1 billion. Capital costs will be $5.3 billion, with each of the 15 underground stations costing $80–$100 million to build and the ten street-level stops $3-$5 million each. The remainder will be for financing, lifecycle and maintenance costs.[35]

Route

The TTC subway/LRT network as it will likely appear in 2023, with completion of the Eglinton Crosstown. The LRT line crosses Line 1 Yonge–University at two spots and the eastern terminus will connect with Kennedy station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, which will extend further northeastward into Scarborough (replacing Line 3 Scarborough (RT)). This map only includes projects that have been approved, funded, or are under construction.

Stations

The following is the list of stops proposed as of 2013.[38] Metrolinx is proposing changes to the names of seven of the line’s stops.[39] In a report to the TTC Board on 23 November 2015, it was recommended that stations on Line 5 Eglinton LRT should be given unique names.[40]

Stop Type Notes
Mount Dennis Underground Connection to Kitchener line, potential stop for Union Pearson Express
Keelesdale Underground Originally called Keele.
Caledonia Underground Connection to Barrie line
Fairbank Underground Originally called Dufferin.
Oakwood Underground
Cedarvale (Eglinton West) Underground Connection to Line 1 (University segment) at the current Eglinton West station. The station's name is to be changed to Cedarvale upon opening of the Eglinton Crosstown.[41]
Forest Hill Underground Originally called Bathurst.
Chaplin Underground
Avenue Underground Metrolinx proposes changing name to Oriole Park.
Eglinton Underground Connection to Line 1 (Yonge segment)
Mount Pleasant Underground
Leaside Underground Originally called Bayview.
Laird Underground Easternmost station of the underground central section.
Sunnybrook Park At grade Westernmost of the at grade stops. Side platforms east of Leslie Street.[42] Originally called Leslie.
Science Centre Underground Originally called Don Mills.
Aga Khan Park & Museum At grade Side platforms west of Don Valley Parkway.[43] Originally called Ferrand.
Wynford At grade Side platforms on opposite sides of a new pedestrian crosswalk, which will cross Eglinton west of the bridge over Wynford Drive.[44] GO Transit's Richmond Hill line crosses under Eglinton a short diatance to the east, but no contingency has been made for a connection.
Sloane At grade Centre platform east of Bermondsey Road/Sloane Avenue.[45] Originally called Bermondsey.
O'Connor At grade Side platforms east from Victoria Park Avenue to O'Connor Drive.[46] Originally called Victoria Park.
Pharmacy At grade Side platforms east of Pharmacy Avenue.[47]
Hakimi Lebovic At grade Side platforms on opposite sides of Lebovic Avenue/Hakimi Avenue.[48] Originally called Lebovic.
Golden Mile At grade Side platforms on opposite sides of Warden Avenue.[49] Originally called Warden.
Birchmount At grade Side platforms east of Birchmount Road.[50]
Ionview At grade Side platforms west of Ionview Road.[51]
Kennedy Underground Connection to Bloor–Danforth and Kennedy GO Station for Stouffville line

Operations

Operating characteristics of the line include:

Future expansion

Crosstown West

In a later phase, Metrolinx had planned for the Eglinton Crosstown to be extended westward from Mount Dennis along Eglinton Avenue West to Toronto Pearson International Airport. However, during the 2014 Toronto mayoral election, John Tory proposed SmartTrack, which would have included a heavy rail transit line established along this section of Eglinton Avenue.[54][55] In 2016, the City of Toronto released a feasibility report that found this proposal would have significant capital costs ranging from $3.6 billion to $7.7 billion. In comparison, extending the Eglinton Crosstown as approved would cost $1.3 billion. It was also found that a light rail transit line had higher ridership than a heavy rail line.[56]

The City of Toronto's Chief Planner recommended the extension of the Eglinton Crosstown line (referred to as Crosstown West) to Peason Airport in lieu of establishing SmartTrack on Eglinton Avenue, based upon negative community impacts, higher costs, and lower projected ridership associated with a heavy rail corridor.[56] On January 19, 2016, Tory agreed with the analysis and supported Metrolinx's original plan of extending the Crosstown.[57] This extension may be subject to further optimization such as additional grade separations and fewer stops.[56]

Crosstown East

As part of the planned extension of Line 2, the City of Toronto has drafted a plan to extend the Eglinton Crosstown east into Scarborough, which would terminate at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus.[58] This follows the alignment of the Scarborough Malvern LRT, which was also proposed as part of Transit City.[59] In 2010, the Scarborough Malvern LRT was cancelled by then-Mayor Rob Ford, despite being approved by Toronto City Council and the Government of Ontario in 2009.[60][61]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tess Kalinowski (September 24, 2015). "Eglinton Crosstown to open a year later than expected". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  2. Consiglio, Alex (3 October 2012). "TTC to operate city’s new LRT lines". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
  3. 1 2 "Eglinton LRT 2012 update" (PDF). Metrolinx. February 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  4. "FAQs". Eglinton Crosstown: The Project. Metrolinx. Retrieved January 2016. Q: What is the timeline for the project? A:The project will be complete in 2021
  5. "Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown Update" (pdf). Metrolinx. 23 June 2011.
  6. "Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit stops and stations" (PDF). City of Toronto. November 2010. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Eglinton Crosstown Backgrounder". Metrolinx. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  8. Spears, John (9 August 2008). "Distance between LRT stops criticized". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  9. "Eglinton Transit City line may survive". CBC. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  10. D'Cruz, Andrew (1 December 2010). "Mayor Rob Ford: "Transit City is over"". Toronto Life. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  11. 1 2 Kalinowski, Tess; Dale, Daniel (9 February 2012). "Special transit meeting: Mayor Rob Ford dismisses council’s vote against his subway plan". Toronto Star (Toronto). Archived from the original on 2012-09-09.
  12. http://thecrosstown.ca/news-media/whats-new/Online-Consultation-Laird-Don-Valley
  13. Kalinowski, Tess (12 May 2013). "Metrolinx puts Leslie back on the Crosstown map". Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  14. Kalinowski, Tess (6 May 2013). "Scarborough councillors seek subway line instead of LRT: A group of Toronto councillors wants to replace the planned LRT for Scarborough with a subway. But a subway would cost $500 million more". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2013-07-03. An LRT would use the same route as the SRT. It would be 9.9 km versus 7.6 km of subway. The LRT would have seven stations, the subway, only three.
  15. Kalinowski, Tess (17 January 2013). "TTC report threatens to reopen Scarborough subway debate: One commissioner says it's proof Scarborough can have a new subway line under construction within the decade, but Metrolinx dismisses that". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2013-07-03. Glenn DeBaeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) said the latest TTC report gives him new confidence that there will be a subway underway in Scarborough within a decade.
  16. "City of Toronto: Get Involved > Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) > Frequently Asked Questions > Stations and Stops". City of Toronto. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  17. Kalinowski, Tess (28 July 2010). "Metrolinx orders tunneling machines". Toronto Star.
  18. http://thecrosstown.ca/news-media/whats-new/announcing-the-winning-names-of-the-tunnel-boring-machine-naming-contest
  19. http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2013/06/eglinton-crosstown-tbms-get-personality-and-send
  20. 1 2 3 4 Winsa, Patty (21 March 2014). "Metrolinx begins its big eastern dig on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT: Get ready for traffic". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Parts for the next two tunnel-boring machines to work on digging underground parts of the line — nicknamed Don and Humber — will arrive this summer and be assembled in the shaft, before they start drilling the 3.25-kilometre section west to Yonge St.
  21. Alcoba, Natalie (9 November 2011). "Ford, McGuinty get up-close look at Eglinton LRT construction". National Post. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  22. Chu, Showwei (29 May 2012). "Eglinton LRT unlikely to meet 2020 completion date: TTC report". Citytv News (Toronto). Archived from the original on 2012-09-09.
  23. "Request for Qualifications Issued for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Scarborough LRT Lines". Infrastructure Ontario. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  24. Kalinowski, Tess (22 February 2013). "Eglinton Crosstown LRT tunneling a step closer". Toronto Star (Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.). Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  25. "Machines begin tunnelling for Eglinton Crosstown LRT". CBC. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  26. Jack Landau (2013-11-12). "Metrolinx Awards Contract for Crosstown LRT East Tunnel Section". Urban Toronto. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-10-12. As tunnel boring machines continue to etch their path eastbound underneath Eglinton Avenue from Keele Street for the western leg of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project, a winning bidder has been announced for the eastern section of tunnel, which will run from Brentciffe Road to Yonge Street, starting just east of the easternmost underground station at Laird Drive.
  27. Tim Alamenciak (2014-04-30). "Eglinton Crosstown LRT back on schedule, engineer says". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2014-08-03. Retrieved 2015-01-22. “It’s a seemingly simple process that’s actually very high tech,” said Kramer. The first of the two tunneling machines (dubbed Dennis) entered the ground June of 2013 and has made it to Caledonia Rd. from its starting point at Black Creek Dr. The other machine, Lea, is just behind.
  28. Oliver Moore (2014-04-29). "Underground for now, construction proceeds on Eglinton LRT". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2015-01-22. Headwalls that will form the box of the stations have been installed at Keele Street and Caledonia Road, and work is under way on one at Dufferin Street. The TBMs go right through headwalls after they have been built, in order to ensure a tight seal, and the two at work in this area are now on either side of what will eventually be the Caledonia LRT station.
  29. Rahul Gupta (2014-05-09). "Eglinton LRT: Construction activity well underway on both sides of Allen Road". Inside Toronto. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2015-01-22. Digging 50 feet below street level, the 81-metre long TBMs nicknamed Dennis and Lea are located in the vicinity of Caledonia Road, one of 12 underground Crosstown stations planned for the route. They are expected to reach the Allen later this year, when they will be redeployed beyond Eglinton West subway station to continue the dig east towards Yonge Street.
  30. Eglinton Crosstown TBM Tracker
  31. Olivia Carville (2015-04-19). "An exciting glimpse at boring machines on Eglinton". Toronto Star.
  32. Lauren Pelley (2015-04-19). "Eglinton businesses feeling sting of Crosstown construction". Toronto Star.
  33. Collins, Jack (May 19, 2010). "Achieving 5 in 10 - A Revised Plan for the Big 5 Transit Projects" (PDF). Metrolinx. Retrieved September 27, 2015. Complete and in-service by 2020
  34. "Launch of tunnel boring machines and tunnelling work in the east". Metrolinx. October 1, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  35. 1 2 3 Tess Kalinowski (November 3, 2015). "$9.1B Crosstown LRT mega-contract comes in under estimates". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  36. Crosstown Project FAQs 15 January 15 2016
  37. Oliver Moore (November 3, 2015). "Ontario government shaves $2-billion off Eglinton Crosstown LRT price tag". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  38. "Stations and Stops". Metrolinx. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  39. "Eglinton Crosstown Line Station and Stop Names". Metrolinx. 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  40. "Line 5 Eglinton Station Names" (PDF). Board Presentation. Toronto Transit Commission. 23 November 2015. Retrieved November 2015. TTC staff evaluated the initial report and the proposed names and provided feedback and recommendations. A primary TTC concern was to avoid replication and redundancy with existing TTC station names. The proposed names are unique and are not likely to be confused with existing station names.
  41. "Eglinton West station to become ‘Cedarvale’ because of Crosstown LRT". November 24, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  42. "Leslie Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  43. "Ferrand Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  44. "Wynford Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  45. "Bermondsey Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  46. "Victoria Park Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  47. "Pharmacy Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  48. "Lebovic Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  49. "Warden Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  50. "Birchmount Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  51. "Ionview Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved September 2014.
  52. Munro, Steve. "Metrolinx Announces Design Changes and Public Meetings on Eglinton LRT (Update 8)". Steve Munro. Archived from the original on 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  53. "Light Rail Transit Facts". Metrolinx. 2015-05-31. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  54. Steve Munro (2014-09-16). "John Tory’s "SmartTrack": Will That Train Ever Leave The Station?". Steve Munro.
  55. Steve Munro (2014-10-17). "SmartTrack: That Pesky Curve in Mount Dennis". Steve Munro.
  56. 1 2 3 SmartTrack Western Corridor Feasibility Review
  57. SmartTrack still on track despite changing plan, Mayor Tory says
  58. New proposal for Scarborough subway plan includes fewer stops
  59. Scarborough Malvern LRT Notice of Completion
  60. Request for Approval of the Scarborough-Malvern LRT Environmental Assessment Study - City Council Decision
  61. Minister's Notice to Proceed

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