Metrolinx promises building over DVP won’t lead to ‘multi-week, multi-month’ closure

Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay is promising commuters won’t face a “multi-week, multi-month full closure” of the Don Valley Parkway when work gets underway on a new overpass for the Ontario Line subway.

The Ontario Line was first announced in 2019 as an alternative to the downtown relief line, with a current completion estimate in the early 2030s and an estimated cost of just over $27 billion.

Part of the construction work will include building a new bridge for Ontario Line trains to cross above the Don Valley Parkway, which means traffic on the highway below may need to be interrupted.

“No transit project comes without disruptions,” Lindsay told Focus Ontario. “But trust me — I think I’m right when I say it — the scale of the disruption often predicts the total duration of construction.”

To minimize construction, Lindsay said, most of the Ontario Line work would be co-ordinated in “white zones” – overnights and weekends when traffic volumes are at their lowest.

“By making those choices and dealing with that kind of disruption, I know that these projects ultimately get delivered faster.”

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While Lindsay warned that drivers might see “restricted access to the DVP” on the weekends during construction, the project won’t add to the already overburdened weekday commute.

“The most important thing that I can confirm for you is there’s no multi-week, multi-month full closure,” Lindsay stressed.

Lindsay acknowledged during his interview with Focus Ontario that Metrolinx is being “evasive” and “non-specific” about the opening date for the Ontario Line – delayed from 2027 to the “early 2030s.”

Lindsay stressed, however, that the agency learned a harsh lesson from the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown: the testing phase can be unpredictable.

“I have real confidence, from a civil infrastructure perspective, that we’re trending to finish civil construction of the Ontario Line along the 2030 timeline, then it’s about testing and commissioning,” Lindsay said.

When pressed about whether Metrolinx was afraid to provide a date that it could be held accountable against, Lindsay pushed back.

“I don’t think it’s from a place of fear. I think it is about expectations.”

Lindsay pointed to Pape Station, which he called the “hinge of the Ontario Line,” as a primary example of construction work that could delay the opening.

While Metrolinx and the City of Toronto are still in the early stages of getting the area ready for major construction, the big question arises of when boring machines begin their work.

“What we find when we actually start serious digging at that station site will refine our understanding of what the delivery timeline is going to look like,” Lindsay said.

The Metrolinx head said offering the public constant updates on the line will help ease the tension over the opening date.

“One of the things that I think we want to do as an agency is we want to say out loud when we know a thing. I think we want to say out loud when we don’t know a thing,” Lindsay said.

“There are clearly known unknowns that still factor into the final work.”

The one known fact, Lindsay said, is that “every part of the Ontario Line is now under construction.”