Scarborough subway extension project tunnelling begins

Early construction work on the Scarborough subway extension has been underway for the past year, but officials say tunnelling on the 7.8-kilometre expansion of TTC Line 2 is now underway.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney’s office confirmed the tunnel-boring machine began its journey south from Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road Tuesday morning.

Staff with Metrolinx, the provincial transportation agency overseeing the project, said the machine — roughly the length of three GO Transit train cars that will create a tunnel diameter the width of more than three TTC subway cars — will move around 10 metres daily. The whole journey will likely take slightly more than two years to complete.

As it moves south along McCowan and Danforth roads before turning west below Eglinton Avenue East, soil and rocks will continuously be removed through a conveyor as tunnel liners are put in place.

The tunnel-boring machine will eventually be removed at Midland Avenue and Eglinton Avenue East. Construction crews have already begun work to move Eglinton Avenue East north of where it currently meets Midland Avenue since the machine will need to be removed from where the current road is.

It’s estimated the extension will open in 2030 and both Mulroney’s office and Metrolinx staff said it’s estimated more than 100,000 people will move through the three new stations.

RELATED: TTC staff recommend converting part of Line 3 Scarborough RT into busway after closure

The Scarborough subway extension stations will be at the following intersections: McCowan Road and Lawrence Avenue East, McCowan Road and Progress Avenue beside Scarborough Town Centre, and McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue East.

Meanwhile, later this year, the TTC will shut down the Scarborough RT (Line 3) due to increasing difficulty maintaining the trains and the associated systems.

A TTC report recommended converting the portion of the rail line between Kennedy and Ellesmere stations with stops at Tara Avenue (halfway between Eglinton Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue East), Lawrence Avenue East and Ellesmere Road into a dedicated busway (tenatively set to be finished in 2025). Buses would then head east along Ellesmere and north on Brimley Road before ending at Scarborough Town Centre.

As part of the busway plan, it was also recommended shuttle buses operate northbound on Kennedy Road and east on Ellesmere to Scarborough Town Centre while southbound buses would go on Midland Avenue until construction is completed.

GO Transit buses were moved to Borough Drive in order to make create extra space for TTC shuttle buses.

The Scarborough subway extension is one of four subway and light rail transit projects initiated by the Ford government in 2019.

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