Finch West LRT likely won’t be operational until 2024 even as construction progresses

As construction continues to progress on the Finch West LRT project, Metrolinx officials say it’s likely the line connecting Finch West station and Humber College won’t be open to the public until the first half of 2024.

The latest news of the likely opening scenario for the 18-stop, 10-kilometre Finch West LRT comes after years of planning to have the LRT line done by the end of 2023.

However, there could be a bit of a positive note for those impacted by traffic delays. Officials told CityNews they’re confident heavy construction work will be done before the end of the year.

“In an ideal world, we’d like to get through the majority of the testing (and) commissioning throughout the fall and get that wrapped up, but the unknown when you do testing (and) commissioning is what are you going to find? What issues do you need to address? It’s never perfect. These are really complicated projects,” Andrew Hope, the chief capital officer for new rapid transit projects with Metrolinx, said during an interview with CityNews on Tuesday.

“We’re going to push to have it open as early as we can in 2024, but we’ll see what the next few months are going to be crucial. Construction is in a good place, testing commissioning is beginning to progress now, and then we’ve got to get the drivers trained.

“It’s going to be transformational for the northwest corner of Toronto, an area that’s not had the level of transit service in other parts of Toronto have had, and so we’re really excited about this line coming into service.”

CityNews recently toured the entire Finch West LRT route to assess the progress of the project compared to a past visit months ago.

There are areas that are fully complete such as the maintenance and storage facility, where all the trains have arrived or are nearly completed. At Finch West and Humber College stations, the two end stations for the line, work is close to finishing, as is work at street-level station platforms like at Driftwood.

RELATED: Advocates highlight best of Jane and Finch as community changes with future LRT, new homes

“We’ve got about 95 per cent of the track bed installed as you would have seen, but 75 per cent of the rails are now installed … right now, we’ve got about two-thirds of the stop platforms installed,” Hope said.

As you move away from the end terminals and the storage facility, progress isn’t as far. Many road segments for cars and trucks are still under construction, while at spots, makeshift ramps force drivers to zig-zag across Finch Avenue West.

The area most behind right now is west of Weston Road. A large segment of the street either doesn’t have a train track bed, or excavation for one is just beginning.

“We had some really major utilities that had to be relocated. There’s everything there from really deep water and sewer lines, gas mains and oil pipelines. It all had to be relocated in that section, so it’s trailed a little behind on the utility relocation, but we’re just about wrapping up that work now,” Hope said when asked about the delays in the area and how it’s impacting the projected timelines.

Compared to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which has been plagued by multiple delays and has carried on for more than a decade, the Finch West LRT has moved quicker since almost all of the line runs above ground except for at Finch West and Humber College stations. When asked to contrast work between the two projects, Hope said the scale is different.

“Every project is different. It’s hard to compare them and sort of make an apples-to-apples comparison, but Finch is definitely a much … simpler project. It’s on the surface. We only have two stations to build, the rest are surface stops. It’s 18 vehicles, Crosstown has 76, so quite a different magnitude of the project that we’re talking about here,” he said.

Construction began under the current PC government in 2019, but the project was announced by the previous Liberal government.

Traffic issues biggest challenge facing Finch West LRT corridor businesses, BIA staff say

As we have seen with other major construction projects, small businesses bore the brunt of the impacts. Along Finch Avenue West in the Emery Village Business Improvement Area, the situation isn’t different.

“The delay and traffic are our number one, obviously, you know, it’s kind of a ripple effect … the delay in getting to their place of work, delay and deliveries,” Sandra Farina, the BIA’s executive director, said.

“(Businesses) are hurting a bit for the pedestrian traffic, but there’s also a light at the end of the tunnel where they realize this is also going to be positive at the end where it’ll encourage new development.”

When asked how it has been to work with Metrolinx and Mosaic Transit Group, the consortium building the line, Farina said staff have been responsive to concerns being raised, seemingly the opposite to criticisms levelled by small business operators on Eglinton Avenue.

“They work very closely with us … be it additional signage, not blocking certain driveways or not keeping them closed for long periods of time when it’s not really being utilized, or storage of construction materials to help the visibility of the project, right, to help the visibility for the business or the strip malls, things like that and also timing on lights,” Farina said.

Al Ruggero, who acts as a business liaison with Metrolinx and Mosaic, said communication has been key.

“One of the reasons we did what we did is to get in early so that they understand and work out the means to communicate and hear those voices,” he said.

As construction continues along Finch Avenue West, Farina encouraged people to return to shop in the retail portions of the massive area the BIA represents.

Finch Avenue West, intersecting corridors need improvements: community advocate

Butterfly Gopaul is a community advocate, working with such organizations like Jane Finch Action Against Poverty. She said she regularly takes the TTC. For Gopaul and other commuters, transit in the area is a struggle.

“To move around the city is a huge challenge. I mean, I don’t even think people like to go to the east end of the city because it is such a two hours minimum to get there, to move around the city to get downtown,” she said during an interview.

“Being a passenger of TTC … it’s not reliable. You can be waiting at the bus stop for you know three buses will be loaded full, and we’ll leave you there in the winter. It’s horrible.”

When asked about the Finch West LRT, Gopaul said it will provide valuable service, but there are broader concerns in the community about what’s to come in the future. She said redevelopment that could come with the LRT it will mean those with lower incomes could be forced away.

Another concern is proposals to limit local TTC bus services on Finch Avenue West, potentially leaving people to walk long distances between stops — something that’s problematic for seniors or people with mobility issues.

“There’s not enough communication. I don’t think there are enough consultations, so a lot of the work is going to be doing door to door in these neighbourhoods that are possibly losing these spots,” Gopaul said.

“You keep raising the cost of the fares, cutting the services, cutting workers from this public transit system. It needs to be robust, but it shouldn’t be on the back of people who are using it elsewhere.”