Toronto's new elevated transit line just crossed a huge milestone
Only a few months have passed since the long-awaited opening of the TTC's Line 5 Eglinton.
The new LRT line, which took just about forever to finally cross the finish line earlier this year, took such a preposterously long time to enter service that its western extension is already well under construction, and just surpassed a pretty momentous milestone.
Under construction since July 2021, the new Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) will stretch the line another 9.2 kilometres west of its current terminus of Mount Dennis Station to Renforth Drive, just south of Pearson International Airport.
Metrolinx announced on Tuesday that the ECWE project recently reached an important construction milestone in the completion of the first bridge span for its 1.5-kilometre-long elevated guideway.
The bridge span now in place marks the first of 35 such spans that will form this lengthy elevated guideway traversing the Humber River and its vast floodplain.
Upon arriving at the east end of the guideway, trains will continue their path along the north side of Eglinton Ave. W. east of Jane St. before heading back underground to connect with Mount Dennis Station.
A future extension of the line north from the ECWE terminus to Pearson International Airport hangs in the balance, because Toronto is the only city where anyone would conceivably think it makes sense to build a transit line that gets you 95 per cent of the way to a major travel hub, only to dump you stranded at a pointless terminus amid eight-lane suburban arterials.
But I digress.
The ECWE will extend Line 5 with another seven stations, including four underground stops, two stops on the elevated guideway, and one below street-level in an open trench.
The tunnelling phase of the project launched in 2025, while work continues on the line's elevated segment.
The Line 5 extension is currently scheduled for completion in 2031.
Metrolinx
