"The tentative opening date of the much-delayed Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line will be revealed by the end of the summer, the head of Metrolinx announced Thursday.

Phil Verster, the chief executive officer of the Crown agency, was asked during an unrelated news conference about the status of the LRT, which will be the future Line 5 of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).

“There’s been a huge amount of work to figure out what a credible schedule looks like,” he said.

“(I’m) keen to give you by the end of the summer a clear indication of when that Line 5 would be in service.”

It will be the first time that Metrolinx will provide a possible date of completion for the transit line that was initially set to open in 2020.

Construction on the $5.5 billion Crosstown began in 2011.

Since then, it has been plagued with issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain problems, leading to its opening date being pushed back several times.

The construction and ensuing delays have also caused headaches for residents and businesses along Eglinton Avenue.

  • ebits21
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    1 year ago

    Next announcement? “We have a delay to our announcement”.

  • deltatux
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    1 year ago

    Haven’t they been saying that the LRT would be opened for the past 5 years? The project just keeps getting delayed…

    • Echo71Niner@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Yes, and by the end of summer season for 2023 they will announce, that, it will be announced by the end of spring 2024.

  • chellewalker
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    1 year ago

    Oh man, I’ve been seeing signage for this all the time during my commute; this will apparently cut out a whole half hour from it, so I’m glad that it’s finally reaching this point.

  • Cobrachickenwing
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    1 year ago

    Watch as all the PC MPPs line up in the press conference for an opening date and be MIA when that deadline is missed again.