The Ontario Government is celebrating what it calls a “major milestone” along the journey to building the Eglinton Crosstown West transit extension in Toronto.

It announced on June 24 that tunnelling work is complete on the western underground portion of the line.

“As the Greater Toronto Area continues to grow, families deserve to have access to fast and reliable transit options that connect them to good jobs, housing and other necessities,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Today’s milestone brings us another step closer to saving commuters time, increasing quality of life for residents and growing the economy for everyone.”

The two 6.3-kilometre tunnels along Eglinton Avenue West bring the extension from Renforth Drive to Scarlett Road, where the future line will come to the surface and transition to an elevated guideway. During the tunnelling process, two tunnel boring machines excavated 1.2 million tonnes of soil and rock, installed more than 7,400 concrete tunnel liner rings to support the tunnel walls and dug 93% of the underground portion of the line.

“Part of the largest public transit investment in the history of the Greater Toronto Area, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension will help to reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions, while supporting thousands of good jobs,” said Yvan Baker, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre. “Building strong, inclusive and affordable communities relies on a strong foundation of public infrastructure like LRTs and public transit routes that keep our cities moving. The completion of tunnelling on the western segment of this line extension is an exciting step towards a more seamless rapid transit experience for thousands of daily riders.”

During the next phase of the project, work will continue at the extraction shaft at Scarlett Road to build the structure where the trains will emerge from the tunnels and preparations will get underway to begin tunnelling the eastern underground portion of the line that will run from east of Jane Street to Mount Dennis Station.

Over its construction life, the project is expected to create as many as 4,600 jobs.

“Our strong partnership with the province is helping build more transit, more quickly, for the people of Toronto,” said Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto. “The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension will help more communities conveniently access rapid transit. Together, we can relieve congestion and give people more options to get to work, school or run errands.”

Once complete, the extension will bring 37,500 more people within walking distance of transit and attract 70,000 daily boardings by 2041. The project is being funded in part by the federal and provincial governments.