Major part of light-rail transit route moves forward in Mississauga

Project leaders behind a major new light-rail transit line being built in east Mississauga have reached another milestone with the awarding of the contract to complete a main component of the 9.2-kilometre above ground/underground route.

The contract to design and build the elevated section, or guideway, of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension was awarded on Dec. 15 to Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc., which is headquartered in Toronto.

Officials with Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of the huge transit undertaking, said in an online project update this week that building the ECWE guideway “is critical to moving forward on the project, which will extend the Eglinton Crosstown LRT another 9.2 kilometres farther west and bring much-needed rapid transit to Etobicoke and Mississauga.”

When completed in roughly eight years, the ECWE will link east Mississauga and likely Pearson Airport as well with parts of west Toronto. With project completion anticipated by 2030-31, the new route will bring the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line from Toronto west to Renforth Dr. in east Mississauga.

A proposal to extend the ECWE an additional 4.7 kilometres from Renforth Dr. to Pearson Airport in Mississauga is also being strongly considered.

The 1.5-kilometre guideway segment of the route (see video below) will run from just east of Jane Street along the north side of Eglinton Avenue West to west of Scarlett Road before heading underground again, officials say.

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“The work under this contract will be focused on the structure of the guideway, including piers and foundations, and connections to the tunnel portals that will bring the line underground at either end of the guideway,” Metrolinx officials said in their online update, adding major construction on the guideway is expected to start later in 2024.

“The design and construction of the two stations along the elevated section – Scarlett-Eglinton Station and Jane-Eglinton Station – will be delivered under a separate contract. Procurement of that package of work – the stations, rails and systems contract – is expected to start in the months to come.”

In the meantime, project leaders say, work has already started to prepare areas along the elevated route for construction.

“That includes collecting soil samples that will help advance planning and design work for the guideway and elevated stations. Installation will begin in the weeks to come of a temporary two-way cycle path on the south side of Eglinton Avenue West that will help keep cyclists moving safely during construction.”

When construction of the ECWE is complete, a new multi-use path and sidewalk will be installed on the north side of Eglinton Avenue West and the temporary cycle track on the south side of the street will be removed, officials add.

Map shows the extent to date that the two tunnels have been dug out (green line) and the extent of the route that still needs to be tunnelled (black line).

In terms of ongoing work taking place underground, officials say “tunnelling work is moving forward quickly.”

Two huge tunnel-boring machines, earlier dubbed Renny and Rexy, went into the ground in early and mid-2022 and are expected to complete their work by end of this year or early 2024.

Tunnel work, which began in April of last year, is expected to take about 20 months, according to Metrolinx, with the two tunnel-boring machines travelling eastward at a rate of 10 to 15 metres per day.

Officials say the TBMs “are entering the final leg of their journey before they are brought to the surface at the extraction shaft at Scarlett Road.”

Updates on Renny and Rexy’s progress can be found on the ECWE’s TBM tracker.

When finished, the ECWE will operate underground from Renforth Dr. in Mississauga to just west of Scarlett Rd. in Toronto, where it will then transition to a 1.5-km elevated section that runs east of Jane St. before heading underground again and connecting to the future Mount Dennis Station.

The new LRT line is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by some 39,000 tonnes each year, project leaders say.

Rendering shows part of the ECWE guideway. (Image: Metrolinx)