Portion of Eglinton closed throughout weekend for emergency work on tunnel

A section of Eglinton Avenue — from Keele to Glenhaven streets — will be closed throughout the weekend while crews work to secure a tunnel on the Eglinton LRT construction site.

Workers noticed water and soil leaking on Wednesday night in a passage way connecting the two tunnels dug for the Metrolinx construction project.

Work was stopped and the road above was closed from Richardson Avenue to Glenhaven Street, near Keele Street, over fears a weak tunnel could collapse and trigger major flooding.

The source of the water has been found and secured. The crews are now shoring up the road and soil and monitoring for potential sinkholes.

There is no estimate for when the work will be completed, Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said.

“It’s going to take us a good day to fix it and then we want to make sure that the road is completely secure,” she said.

“We’ll have to do a full investigation as to the cause, but oftentimes in the spring where we have thaws and wet weather and sand — It’s very sandy soil here — it could’ve gotten a soft spot from that.”

If the ground shifts, there is concern a high-pressure watermain could break, sending water down to Black Creek Drive.

The tunnel is about 15 to 30 metres underground.

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