Metrolinx updates metro Toronto LRT plan
Written by Douglas John BowenThe route now is considered Metrolinx’s priority transit project, one which Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has allowed to proceed even as he has worked to halt the extensive “Transit City” light rail plan, citing conflicts with automobile users. Ford’s replacement plan, a subway along Sheppard Avenue, remains unfunded, but the province of Ontario is going ahead with the Eglinton line, now to be placed underground, driving up capital costs and drawing criticism from various pro-rail sources. Construction is slated to begin later this year, with completion expected in 2020.Officials from Greater Toronto’s Metrolinx Thursday provided an update of the planned Eglinton Avenue light rail line—now primarily to be placed in a subway tunnel—which includes renaming the route the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown.
The route traverses Etobicoke, York, Toronto, North York, and Scarborough, which Metrolinx officials said prompted the change in nomenclature.
