Watch the video above: See what business owners on Eglinton Avenue say about the coming congestion. Mark McAllister reports.
TORONTO – Drivers traveling along Eglinton Avenue East between Leslie Street and Laird Drive will continue to face increased commute times as construction intensifies later this summer on the Crosstown LRT east section.
Lane restrictions on the heavily congested route have already begun in order to make way for the large excavation shaft needed to insert two tunnel boring machines.
The underground tunneling project involves drilling a 3.25-kilometre section west to Yonge Street and is expected to last nearly three years.
READ MORE: Drilling begins for Eglinton Crosstown LRT
Lanes along that portion of the Eglinton route will be reduced to one direction each side for the duration of the project.
The machines work in pairs and each are about 81 metres long, weighing 511,000 kilograms. They were given the nicknames Don and Humber representing the rivers nearby.
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Traffic in the area will also be heavily congested as the walls are built for the underground stations at Laird, Bayview and Mt. Pleasant.
The Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit system is a 19-kilometre corridor that includes a 10-kilometre underground portion, between Keele Street and Laird Drive.
The Ontario government has invested $5.3 billion into the project which will be comprised of 25 stations linking 54 bus routes, three subway stations and various GO Transit lines.
The project is expected to be complete by 2020.
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