Resident worried he may lose part of backyard after ground collapse at Eglinton LRT site

The resident of a Toronto home that backs onto a construction site for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is worried that he may lose part of his backyard after a portion of the ground collapsed at the worksite.

In a statement, Metrolinx said the incident happened late Tuesday afternoon at the Brentcliffe location.

The transit agency said the “movement of earth” happened on a slope.

No injuries were reported, but resident Daniel Unruh said he has since been told to avoid using his backyard, which borders the site, until further notice.

“If I were to step on the other side of my fence, I would drop 50 to 60 feet,” Unruh told Global News.

He said back in March he was given a few days’ notice that construction would soon begin just beyond his backyard. Unruh said crews told him that they would carve about three metres away from his fence and his backyard wouldn’t be affected.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

He said around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials notified him about the collapse and told him to avoid using his backyard in case of further ground failure.

“The whole project has been devastating for my wife and I and our neighbours,” Unruh said.

“We are fully bracing for losing what could be quite easily 10 metres of our backyard … Every day we wake up and look out our backyard and just pray that it is still there.”

View image in full screen

Crosslinx Transit Solutions, a network of construction companies contracted by Metrolinx to build the transit line, sent an email Wednesday evening to Unruh who shared it with Global News that engineers are working to “stabilize the embankment, perform geotechnical monitoring and investigate the cause of the soil movement.”

“Fill has been added to the slope to stabilize it. We have also taken steps to reinforce areas of the slope that remain intact. More fill will be added over the remainder of this week,” a spokesperson for Crosslinx Transit Solutions said.

2:21 Toronto councillors demand province compensate businesses affected by Eglinton Crosstown construction

• Toronto councillors demand province compensate businesses affected by Eglinton Crosstown construction
• Toronto shop owners furious at Eglinton-Crosstown delay
• Metrolinx delays completion date of Eglinton-Crosstown LRT raising questions about future Toronto
• Metrolinx offers sneak peek at Eglinton Crosstown LRT vehicles
• Vehicle delivery for Eglinton Crosstown LRT delayed
• Work on Metrolinx’s Eglinton-Crosstown line coming along, but some businesses say not fast enough

Previous Video

Next Video