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The Ontario government has officially announced the start of excavation for the main tunnel of the Ontario Line subway near Exhibition Station.
Construction for the tunnel’s launch shaft began on Nov. 22, according to the news release, marking the start of the first major subway tunnel project through downtown Toronto in more than 60 years.
“Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’re getting the Ontario Line done to tackle gridlock and increase access to fast, reliable and affordable transit for millions of people across the GTA,” said Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria in the release.
The 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line will connect Exhibition Place to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Don Mills Road. The province says that this will reduce travel times from an average of one hour and 10 minutes to 30 minutes or less, featuring 15 stations and providing close to 230,000 people with better access to transit.
Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma wrote in the release that the Ontario Line will also create new “transit-oriented communities with more housing, jobs, and amenities.”
Despite this progress, many TTC commuters feel frustrated by ongoing delays with existing transit projects left unfinished around the GTA.
“They want to reduce gridlock, yet they’re actually creating more of it by adding more construction—starting things they can’t finish,” said Christian Linares, a Seneca college student who travels around the Don Mills area to get to campus.
Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown began in 2011, yet remains incomplete 13 years later. Similarly, all stops and stations for the Finch West LRT have been announced to be completed as of Sept. 20, but no opening date has been set. The Ontario Line was announced more than five years ago.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation told On The Record News that constructing the Ontario Line “has no impact on the work on other transit lines,” and that progress on those transit lines continues to move forward.
“The fact is, travel times are getting worse now… and I get that they’re going to get worse before they get better, but how long do we have to wait before they get better?” said Jorel Chim. As both a driver and a transit rider, he feels the impact from every angle.
According to the news release, the Ontario Line will provide long-term benefits, including reducing crowding by up to 15 per cent during peak hours between Bloor-Yonge and Wellesley on Line 1: the TTC’s busiest subway stretch. Additionally, the province expects this project to support 4,700 jobs annually over the next decade.
However, with a projected 2031 completion date, Linares and Chim fear history may repeat itself.
“There’s no way,” said Linares. “At this rate, we’re going to have to wait another 20 years.”
Nicole is a Toronto-based reporter for On The Record.
