Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Ontario government is one step closer to getting shovels in the ground on part of the largest subway expansion in Canadian history with the planned release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) tomorrow to advance tunnelling work on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.
The announcement was made by Premier Doug Ford, Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation, and Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA) the day after the announced an RFP for the Scarborough Subway extension.
“Today marks another step forward in delivering modern underground rapid transit to connect people from across Toronto and Mississauga to one of the country’s largest employment centres,” said Premier Ford. “Working with our partners, we will reduce travel times for riders and get more vehicles off our roads, so people can spend more time with their families.”
On August 20, the province invited the selected teams from the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process to respond to an RFP that details how they plan to design and deliver the tunnelling work for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. Upon evaluating the proposals received, Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx expect to award this tunnelling contract in mid-2021.
“We are making smart, long-term transit investments to address congestion, and give the people of Etobicoke, Mississauga, and the rest of the Greater Toronto Area more options to get where they need to be,” said Minister Mulroney. “Our government is committed to ensuring that our vital transit projects empower people and provide additional benefits for the communities in which they are being built.”
To expedite work on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, tunnelling will begin first, followed by separate contracts for the balance of the work.
“Today’s announcement gets us one step closer to closing the transit gap along the Eglinton corridor and to connecting communities and families to urban growth centres and employment hubs in Toronto and Mississauga,” said Associate Minister Surma. “But we can’t build projects of this magnitude alone. We need the federal government to come to the table and fund at least 40 per cent of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and our other three nationally significant subway projects.”
On August 5, 2020, Ontario announced three teams of bidders per project were shortlisted to advance tunnelling work on two of the four priority transit projects, the Scarborough Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, included in the Subway Transit Plan for the GTA.
In April 2019, the province announced its historic new transportation vision, with a preliminary estimated cost of $28.5 billion. In addition to the Scarborough Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, this plan includes the all-new Ontario Line and the Yonge North Subway Extension. Planning is underway for all four priority projects and procurements will be staged to ensure each project is delivered successfully.
The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) will expand the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit project, currently under construction, by 9.2 kilometres from the future Mount Dennis Station to Renforth Drive. The extension will create convenient connections between different transit systems throughout the region ― UP Express and Kitchener Line GO train service at Mount Dennis, TTC bus services at transit stops in Toronto, and MiWay and GO bus services via the Mississauga Transitway at Renforth Drive. The province is also committed to establishing connectivity to Pearson International Airport.
“Once complete, this will serve as Mississauga’s newest east to west regional transit link and fully connect our transit system to Toronto and the GTA. It will allow for more frequent and rapid service to the Airport Corporate Centre and, eventually, Pearson Airport, which will one day be Mississauga’s Union Station West,” said Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie.