Metrolinx will mark another milestone this week in the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) project as the tunnel boring machines just east of Yonge and Eglinton will make their departure from the construction site.
After three years of digging out a 10-kilometre underground section, the huge machines will be dismantled in the next two months, which will see large pieces loaded onto trucks and transported offsite.
Each machine removal will require about a week of overnight work. Starting Monday, commuters can expect nightly closures on Eglinton Avenue East between Yonge Street and Dunfield Avenue from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. until Saturday.
Removal of the Humber tunnel boring machine will happen in April.
Although most of the work is to take place overnight, Metrolinx says some of the dismantling could happen east of Yonge St. which could cause traffic delays during daylight hours.
The Eglinton Crosstown is the first transit project in a plan Metrolinx has dubbed as “The Big Move” — a 25-year, $50 billion system for integrated transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. The Crosstown represents $5.3 billion of the total investment.
The 19-kilometre light rail system will run across Eglinton Avenue between Mount Dennis (Weston Road) and Kennedy Station with the 10-kilometre underground portion running between Keele Street and Laird Drive.
The Eglinton Crosstown is expected to be in service in 2021.