Eglinton Crosstown LRT delayed and people don't believe it will ever be finished

The latest news about the Eglinton Crosstown LRT has people more confused than ever.

The project has been plagued with delays and become the subject of memes.

Toronto is really feeling this Eglinton construction meme https://t.co/3UoSdxbOuX #Toronto pic.twitter.com/YVo5SfVLM9

— blogTO (@blogTO) February 12, 2020

The latest delays blamed on lockdowns, moved the date of opening from September of 2021 to sometime in 2022.

There was promising news this fall as Metrolinx invited media for a test run showing how close the line is to completion — it will have 25 stops and stations along Eglinton Avenue from Mount Dennis in the west and Kennedy Station in the east.

But this week, news broke that, once again, the project date is in flux. Metrolinx and the company building the Eglinton Crosstown LRT have reportedly agreed to a new opening date, according to the Toronto Star.

The date of opening is vague — just some time in "late 2022" but many people, frustrated by over 10 years of construction, don't believe this could even be true.

Big suprise!! As a person who has to deal with the LRT construction mess this what I observe: 1. Always seems like the entire construction crew is on break 2. Blocking off lanes for construction always looks like blocking off lanes so the crews can park 3. No way 2022

— K (@eastofmidnight3) November 25, 2021

"It won't be operational until 2023 then. Training of all staff, commissioning of the vehicles, still need to occur. It will be 12 years then for this to open up to the public," wrote one person on Twitter.

The 43rd of Novembuary. Classic Metrolinx!

— 5151 (@5151photography) November 25, 2021

Despite the recent confusion over the opening date, Metrolinx says nothing has changed recently.

"We've been saying towards the end of 2022, for a number of months now – including on our most recent media tour," Matt Llewellyn, spokesperson for Metrolinx told blogTO.

Whatever will prove true in the end, people have definitely had enough and the project needs to be finished already.

The delays have impacted communities on Eglinton for years.

"The Eglinton Crosstown LRT has been under construction for over 10 years, a time that has been especially hard on my community in Little Jamaica, where Black-owned businesses have been severely hit by construction delay after delay, and the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the scourge of systemic racism," said NDP MPP for Toronto-St. Paul's Jill Andrew.

"The Ford government must step in now and get this project built, provide hard-hit communities with a concrete completion date, and give small, local businesses like those in Little Jamaica direct financial support to make it through this long, frustrating construction period."