‘Major’ and ‘complicated’ part of Hazel McCallion LRT track gets set down in Mississauga

Project leaders overseeing construction of the $1.4-billion Hurontario Street light rail transit (LRT) line say a “major step” in the massive undertaking is now in progress.

Officials with Metrolinx, the provincial agency overseeing the Hazel McCallion Line project that will link Mississauga and Brampton via an 18-kilometre LRT route, said this week via social media that “key track work is happening” in north Mississauga (see diagram below).

“We’re building the complicated section of rail that will allow light rail vehicles to divert from the centre of Hurontario Street to Topflight Drive to get to the Operations Maintenance Storage Facility and vice versa,” Metrolinx officials said in an online project update. “The east side of the Topflight Drive intersection will be expanded to accommodate an increase in traffic.”

Project leaders noted that the latest track work represents “a major step for the Hazel McCallion Line,” which is, according to Metrolinx, on schedule for a fall 2024 opening to passengers.

Diagram shows the work to be completed near the Hazel McCallion Line’s Operations Maintenance Storage Facility in north Mississauga. (Image: Metrolinx)

The OMSF, located just south of Highway 407 on the Mississauga-Brampton border, will serve as the hub of the LRT route, officials say. The huge operations and maintenance site will house a repair shop, a vehicle cleaning facility and material storage space and will be able to accommodate 42 light rail vehicles at a time.

When open to passengers late next year, the Hazel McCallion Line will whisk riders from the Port Credit GO station in south Mississauga all the way north into Brampton, with 19 stops along the way.

In recent weeks, crews have also been working on a main part of the LRT line in south Mississauga, namely the building of an underground station at Port Credit GO.

Metrolinx officials said the recent completion of major work in Port Credit now allows room for the LRT station to be constructed.

Map shows location of the Hazel McCallion Line’s Operations Maintenance Storage Facility at Hurontario Street and Topflight Drive in Mississauga.