Ontario Premier Doug Ford was joined on Monday by federal and municipal politicians to signal the start of construction work on a new transit system that will connect Toronto and Mississauga.
Ford stood wearing a hard hat in front of a backdrop of construction vehicles alongside federal Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra and Toronto Mayor John Tory, among other elected officials, to mark the occasion.
The Eglinton West LRT extension will connect the Eglinton Crosstown LRT to the Transitway in Mississauga. Metrolinx did not confirm a completion date, but the 2019 provincial budget estimated the line would be finished by 2030-2031.
When both Eglinton lines are open, rapid transit will run from Mississauga through Toronto along Eglinton Avenue to Scarborough. The extension will add 9.2 kilometres to Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
It will support as many as 4,600 jobs per year during construction and 37,000 daily boardings by 2041, the province said.
“We are getting shovels in the ground for this historic project and building world-class transit that will make life easier for the people of the GTA, while supporting the creation of thousands of jobs and spurring economic growth for decades to come,” Ford said.
The project will begin with two tunnel-boring machines at Renforth Drive in Mississauga. The machine will dig more than six kilometres of twin tunnels under Eglinton Avenue to Scarlett Drive, the province said.
“I want to thank both the federal and provincial governments for investing in transit in Toronto and for helping us create a more liveable city for generations to come,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said the project would make it “easier for residents to travel across Mississauga and beyond.”
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