Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Scarborough Subway and Eglinton Crosstown West extensions have reached a significant milestone, say Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario.
On Tuesday, a request for qualifications (RFQ) was to be issued for the tunnelling work on the two Toronto transit projects. It’s essentially an official call-out to interested bidders to step forward to do the project that will require the expertise to go below neighbourhoods.
The RFQ is the first step in the procurement process to prequalify project teams that have the required design and construction capability and experience to undertake projects of this size and complexity. Once the prequalified teams are in place, a Request for Proposals will be issued.
The next phase of both the Scarborough Subway Extension and Eglinton Crosstown West extension have been started, as officials start the search for experts who will take care of the tunnelling needed. A similar public-private partnership, called a ‘P3’ model, is being used on other Metrolinx projects.
The new RFQ asks for teams that will have to bore through almost eight kilometres for the Scarborough Subway Extension, and about six kilometres of subterranean digging needed for the extension of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.
Once complete, the Scarborough Subway Extension will see as many as 105,000 daily boardings while the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension will log an estimated 37,000 boardings every day.
Tunnelling is just one phase of work for these projects. Separate contracts will be issued in the future for the rest of the work, which includes building the stations, fitting out the tunnels and installing and commissioning the systems to put the lines in service. Consultations will take place in between these milestones and beyond.
Last month, Metrolinx released business case for both projects, saying substantial project benefits include:
- congestion relief on roadways by getting more people on transit
- improved connections to other major transit systems throughout the network
- creation of transit-oriented communities where people can live, work and play
- better connections to jobs, which will help spur more business investment
“We are building a modern, efficient rapid transit system that provides benefits for all transit riders and taxpayers,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation. “These subway projects in Scarborough and along Eglinton will strengthen our transit network and better connect us as a world-class province, region, and city.”
Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA), said the projects are ready for the next phase.
“Now it’s time to get shovels in the ground and place orders for tunnel boring machines to expand our subway system by more than 50 per cent.”
The RFQs outline the scope of work to design, build and finance the construction of tunnels for the three-stop Scarborough subway and Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. To expedite work on these projects, tunnelling will begin first, to be followed by separate contracts for the balance of the work on each project.
Quick facts:
- The Scarborough Subway Extension is a nearly 8-kilometre extension of TTC’s Line 2 (Bloor/Danforth), from the existing Kennedy Station northeast to McCowan Road/Sheppard Avenue, with an expected service date by 2029-30
- The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is a 9.2-kilometre extension of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT (future TTC Line 5) from the future Mount Dennis station to Renforth Drive, with an expected service date by 2030-31. The extension will run underground, westward from Scarlett Road to Renforth Drive. Through future phases of this project, the Province is committed to establishing connectivity with Pearson International Airport
- Companies interested in bidding on these tunnelling contracts must register with merx.com to download the respective RFQs. IO and Metrolinx will evaluate RFQ submissions and shortlist teams to be invited to respond to a Request for Proposals in summer 2020
- On Feb. 18, Minister Mulroney introduced the Building Transit Faster Act, which would provide the province with the tools to expedite the planning, design and construction process of the four priority transit projects
- In November 2019, the Ontario-Toronto Transit Partnership was achieved between the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto, confirming support for the advancement of the four priority transit projects. The Partnership also unlocked billions in state of good repair investments to make immediate improvements to the existing subway network.
- In April 2019, the province announced its historic new transportation vision, with an estimated cost of $28.5 billion. This includes four priority transit projects: the all-new Ontario Line; a three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension; the Yonge North Subway Extension; and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension
- These projects, featured in the recent winter market update, are part of the largest commitment to P3 infrastructure in Ontario’s history.