The ongoing construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT has become as permanent a part of Toronto as any landmark or attraction, serving as a sort of comforting — albeit extremely annoying — constant in our lives for the last decade.
Residents thus may not be all that surprised to find out that the completion of the massive transit project has been delayed yet again following countless other postponements of the original 2020 completion date.
Here's a sneak peek at the LRT construction happening at Yonge and Eglinton 🚇 #Toronto #Eglinton #LRT pic.twitter.com/Yx26SpKStr
— blogTO (@blogTO) May 5, 2021
Due to the results of a legal battle between the company building the new line and the Province of Ontario, the project will now be taking even longer and cost even more.
Crosslinx Transit Solutions managed to prove that the COVID-19 health crisis was enough to be considered an "emergency" as outlined by the terms of their contract, meaning that they no longer have to deliver by fall 2022, the most recent date the work had been pushed to.
The construction consortium is also eligible to receive financial relief from both the provincial government and transit agency Metrolinx to compensate for the impacts the pandemic had on the ongoing work — costs that the stakeholders were trying to put back onto Crosslinx.
Metrolinx wrote back, but did not declare an Emergency. The application judge found that at the time of its response, Metrolinx "had already concluded internally that there was an Emergency although they had not declared one."
— Jay Nathwani (@JN_Crosslinx) May 18, 2021
The parties will now need to convene to renegotiate the timeline, costs and other aspects of the 19 km-long, 25-station line, which was already well over $5 billion in the making.
The court filing from Crosslinx cites $134 million in unanticipated costs due to COVID-19 lockdown, necessary changes to on-site work practices and more.
In January, the teams hit the milestone of installing 75 per cent of the track for the line, while some stations and other parts of the project are already done or likewise near-completed.
A portion of the route was also energized for the first time ever earlier this month to prep for vehicle testing, at long last.
It’s funny because it’s true
— Caio Dias (@MrCaioDias) February 13, 2020
The Crosstown will run from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy in the east, with numerous connections to other transit routes and a plan for an extension westward to Pearson Airport and eastward to Malvern also in the works.
The federal government just last week offered up $12 billion in funding to go towards the Crosstown, along with the other new public transportation initiatives that are on the go for the GTHA, including the Ontario Line.
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