Officials unveil Eglinton tunnel boring machines

TORONTO – The first four boring machines that will help construct the tunnel for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT were unveiled Tuesday.

The huge machines will begin digging the 11 kilometres of tunnel underneath Eglinton Avenue from Black Creek Drive to Allen Road tunnel in May.

The approximately $5 billion project is being funded by the province’s $13 billion annual infrastructure budget.

The Eglinton LRT is just one part of Metrolinx’s “The Big Move” initiative, which seeks to expand transit throughout the region.

While the crosstown LRT is fully funded, the second phase – including a possible downtown-relief-line – is not, creating the need for new revenue tools.

“If we don’t do this, we are looking at billions of dollars of more loss,” Transportation Minister Glenn Murray said at the Tuesday event.

Metrolinx recently unveiled a host of possible funding tools which the province could use to pay for its transit infrastructure including road tolls and fuel taxes – much to the chagrin of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Murray says the heavy construction work will not only ease congestion for Torontonians, but will help heavy construction companies in Ontario.

“Our heavy construction, our construction, our workforce and our companies are an important part of our economy,” Murray said. “The more work we do here in Ontario the more they can compete in China, they can compete in Dubai, they can compete… on projects around the world.”