The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
There are two topics you can talk about with anyone in my west Toronto neighbourhood. The first topic is the weather and the second is the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, the long-promised, much-delayed new TTC line through the middle of the city.
“When do you think they’ll open the Eglinton Crosstown?” one person will ask.
“When pigs fly,” my older neighbours will say.
“When I’ve paid off my mortgage,” my millennial neighbours will say.
“When the sun explodes,” I’ll say.
Why? Because as someone who lives near Mount Dennis Station, a future transit hub and the western end of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, the whole Metrolinx project has been a maddeningly slow thing to watch, and every update has me asking the same question.
WTF is taking so long?
In the five years since I’ve lived here, I’ve seen the planned opening date pushed back more times than I can count, from “early 2020” to today’s stalemate, which is basically “we’ll let you know, but don’t hold your breath.” It's like waiting for the next Game Of Thrones book at this point.
The end goal remains pretty appealing: a new Line 5 running along 19 kilometres of Eglinton Avenue with 25 stations and links to the TTC, GO Transit and the UP Express. The problem is that the whole project has been kind of a nightmare for those living through it.
Over the years I've watched Metrolinx dig gigantic holes, shut down car lanes and basically create a dust cloud of construction along Eglinton, where many restaurants have closed amid the chaos. Those holes — including a giant one at Yonge and Eglinton — are gone now and the stations are built, but there's still no telling when the LRT will open. However, if you read between the lines of Metrolinx's latest update, it sounds like 2024 is a long shot.
So that's why this whole thing is a joke in my neighbourhood -- and that's why I could only laugh when Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster shared an update with reporters on Monday.
Metrolinx's latest update on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT
Verster declared that "all of the major construction is now complete" on the project and that work is proceeding "relentlessly" to finish it, per CP24 and Global News. However, there's still no telling exactly when it will be done.
Why? Verster says there are several challenges remaining, including:
- Software issues with signalling and train controls
- Training staff and operators on the software
- Getting construction certificates to say the work's been done right
- Testing critical systems
"What concerns me most is the software defects in the signalling and train control system and the rectification of those defects by CTS and Alstom," Verster told reporters on Monday. "They're making good progress with it, but it's not as fast as we would like it to be."
He added that Metrolinx just started testing a new version of the software and another version is expected out in June. Assuming that software is good, the next step will be to train TTC staff so they can train the train operators.
Verster said another major challenge is getting dozens of construction certificates to certify that the job has been done properly. He said that effort is going well, although there's room to be skeptical. Verster admitted last year that there were about 260 quality control issues with the project, including "millimetres of error" with lining up many of the tracks, per CBC News.
"It is unfortunate this didn't get done right," Verster said at the time, while blaming Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS) for the problem. CTS is a combo of four construction companies that are actually building the LRT.
He says they've been working on those problems for months but did not give an updated number of issues. However, he did say they have only one of the 46 construction certificates they need right now. They've also got 36 of the 41 occupancy certificates they need.
Verster also said the critical systems tests are 50% complete. That progress was at 15% when he last updated the public in December.
When will the Eglinton Crosstown LRT open?
The Metrolinx CEO still has not set a concrete date to open the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Instead, he says they'll give Toronto a three-month heads up when the whole thing is ready.
What I can tell you is that things look pretty good at Mount Dennis Station. The station is fully built, the UP Express stop has all of its outdoor TV screens and they’ve even widened the roads to get ready for more traffic. I've also seen the new trains running on the tracks for months as they test the whole thing out.
However, I've also seen this mess cause havoc with real estate in the neighbourhood. I have several friends with houses near the new line and developers have been courting them for years, trying to buy up their land for condos and then backing out amid the delays.
And can you blame them? Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT began in 2011 and is now into its 13th year. That's pretty rough for a major construction project, especially when you compare it to a few other big projects. Montreal's Metro subway system, for instance, was built in six years in the 1960s, while New York's first subway line was completed in four years from 1900-1904.
Yes, those projects were completed in a different time and place, but you'd think we'd be better at subways in the 21st century, right?
Metrolinx gets sassy
If there's one thing that Metrolinx has done that they didn't do in Montreal or New York, it's get sassy with the city about their delays.
Earlier this year, Metrolinx dropped ads that seemed to mock people for complaining about all the construction and delays. The videos showed two conversations in which one person complains about construction and then the other gets sh*tty and sarcastic about how it'll be worth the pain.
Redditors ripped the videos as "sanctimonious," prompting Metrolinx to defend the ads as an attempt to "generate debate and discussion." Metrolinx also told the CBC it has the "utmost respect" for those affected by the construction.
Thank u, next
Here's hoping that Metrolinx does a better job with its next project, which they've actually started into before finishing the last one.
That next project is the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension that'll extend the line from Mount Dennis to Renforth Drive. More lanes have been shut down along Eglinton on the way to Etobicoke for the project, so you can expect a construction mess if you take that route to the airport in the years ahead.
As for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, perhaps it'll be a Christmas present at the end of the year or — if we're being realistic — sometime in 2025.
And then, at long last, Torontonians will have another transit line to enjoy — and my neighbourhood will move on to complaining about the Eglinton West Extension for the next 20 years.
