Eglinton Crosstown West Extension LIVE - April 27, 2022

The station naming will certainly be a part of a future update. It’s great to see the interest and excitement for this! Stay tuned and be sure to sign up for the e-newsletter to stay on top of engagement opportunities. We look forward to getting the community’s feedback on proposed names as we are further along in the process!

This work is still in progress. Since the 2021 arborist report was drawn up with preliminary data, we've had several design changes in terms of project footprint. As a result, we were required to do further tree inventory and fieldwork. We have this work continuing through the next couple of months. Once this work is complete, we will update the arborist report with more accurate numbers in terms of how many trees are likely to be impacted by the project. We will be sharing the results with the community. We will also be communicating with TRCA and City of Toronto who we have been working closely with on tree impacts. We are also working closely with Indigenous Nations - we've asked them if they would be in interested in participating in our fieldwork. We will continue to do this to try and get as much feedback as possible from our stakeholders including the community. We understand the importance of the trees and greenspace for this community and it is one of our top priorities to minimize the number of trees we are impacting when we are making design decisions.

We strive to keep tree removals to a minimum and only remove trees that are absolutely necessary. Our goal is always to plant more than we remove and all tree removals will be compensated in accordance with the Metrolinx Vegetation Guideline and the City of Toronto’s permitting process. Our approach goes above and beyond what’s required by local environmental regulations. Metrolinx follows municipal bylaws for compensating for trees removed outside of Metrolinx lands and provides additional compensation for trees located in designated natural areas. In addition to the compensation required by the City of Toronto for ECWE, Metrolinx has an agreement with the TRCA to plant additional  trees along the route as early as we can. Advance planting under this agreement began last fall, with 400 trees planted to date. More plantings are scheduled for later this year.  By planting trees now, they will have ten years to grow before the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension opens, which will help preserve and strengthen tree cover in the community. Metrolinx will continue to work with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the City of Toronto on new planting initiatives.

We are also looking to incorporate robust plans for restoration, vegetation and landscape into our project agreements with our construction companies so they can appropriately restore the land back to the condition it was received, or better once construction is complete.

The portals at these two locations serve two different functions. The Scarlett portal will serve as the extraction shaft for the duration of construction where the tunnel boring machines will be extracted from the ground piece by piece once they arrive in the area. The Jane portal will serve as the launch shaft for the tunnel boring machines for the duration of construction. The nature of the two portal serve different purposes. The sizes are dependent on the functions of extraction and launching activities. The dimensions of the extraction shaft/portal at Scarlett are 112 meters long by 20 meters wide. The dimensions of the launch shaft/portal close to Jane are approximately 101 meters long and 17 meters wide. These dimensions are an approximate number and subject to change based on the proponents plan. 

We inherently understand and appreciate the value of connecting the ECWE to Pearson airport. There is an overall commitment from Metrolinx and the government to deliver upon that work. Recently there have been funding commitments from the Federal government with respect to furthering the planning and design stage for that project. Transport Canada recently announced some initial funding for the Pearson connection through the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program. Metrolinx is currently working with our partners at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the Province and the Federal government on how and when we can take the project forward. 

The elevated stations have two entrances and therefore passengers do not need the cross Scarlett or Jane Street. The eastern entrance is designed to minimize the impact to Humber Valley at Scarlett station and Eglinton Flats in Jane station and therefore only one elevator is dedicated to eastern entrance(s). The distance between the two entrances is less than 100m and in the case of redundancy passengers can use the other entrance

Thank you for the feedback! The pier design requirements have been defined as such to minimize the impact on Humber valley. It will also clear-span the river with support provided from either side of the bridge and no piers in the middle of the river. We understand that graffiti is an issue along our corridors and we'll do everything we can to deter it from the outset. We'll work with the community to review options that have worked well on other projects and then explore opportunities that fit best with this project.

The elevated stations are designed to have entrances on each side of the road. We are working with TTC to plan this extension project and as part of that process we are considering bus stop locations that provide optimal connections to entrances.

Provisions for future transit connections in and around the area are always considered as part of planning for the projects. Please call us at 416-202-8001 or email us at [email protected] for any further questions.

Provisions for future transit connections in and around the area are always considered as part of planning for the projects. Please call us at 416-202-8001 or email us at [email protected] for any further questions.

During construction (~2023 to 2031), the multi-use path (MUP) and sections of sidewalk on the north side will be decommissioned. To ensure mobility and safety for cyclists, a continuous south side bi-directional bike path separated from traffic will be provided temporarily between Jane Street and Black Creek Drive. A continuous cycle track will be provided all the way to Black Creek Drive. To ensure pedestrian safety, the sidewalk on the south side will be maintained during construction.

After construction, a new MUP and sidewalk would be reinstated on the north side. 

The arborist report that includes the number of trees that are likely to be impacted is still underway. Field work for this report is ongoing. We will be sharing the results with the community. We will be communicating with TRCA and City of Toronto who we have been working closely with on tree impacts as well. We understand the importance of the trees and greenspace for this community and it is one of our top priorities to minimize the number of trees we are impacting when we are making design decisions. Our goal is always to plant more than we remove and all tree removals will be compensated in accordance with the Metrolinx Vegetation Guideline and the City of Toronto’s permitting process. Our approach goes above and beyond what’s required by local environmental regulations. Metrolinx follows municipal bylaws for compensating for trees removed outside of Metrolinx lands and provides additional compensation for trees located in designated natural areas. In addition to the compensation required by the City of Toronto for ECWE, Metrolinx has an agreement with the TRCA to plant additional  trees along the route as early as we can. Advance planting under this agreement began last fall, with 400 trees planted to date. More plantings are scheduled for later this year. By planting trees now, they will have ten years to grow before the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension opens, which will help preserve and strengthen tree cover in the community. Metrolinx will continue to work with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the City of Toronto on new planting initiatives.

We are also looking to incorporate robust plans for restoration, vegetation and landscape into our project agreements with our construction companies so they can appropriately restore the land back to the condition it was received, or better once construction is complete.

Thank you for the feedback. We have heard from the community on other stations as well that they would like to see the stations blend into the context of the neighbourhood they are located in. In the case of elevated stations, we have an overall design language and vision where we are trying to ensure consistency through the whole Eglinton line. The ECWE is approximately 10 years younger than the ECLRT and that is something we consider through our design process as well. A balance between the both is necessary. The design team is aiming to use colours intentiaonally such that the public will understand where these stations are located, relate to them and get a feeling of belonging. Metrolinx will explore how best to incorporate all your feedback in the design of the stations. 

Thank you for expressing your support and sharing your feedback with us! Elevated rapid transit is a proven solution around many cities in Canada and across the world. We also understand and value that these are beautiful areas and places of pride for the community and a place where people come from all over the city to play and walk and take in the beauty. We will continue to work closely with the community to ensure that this project fits well into the fabric of the neighbourhood!

This work is still in progress. Since the 2021 arborist report was drawn up with preliminary data, we've had several design changes in terms of project footprint. As a result, we were required to do further tree inventory and fieldwork. We have this work continuing through the next couple of months. Once this work is complete, we will update the arborist report with more accurate numbers in terms of how many trees are likely to be impacted by the project. We will be sharing the results with the community. We will also be communicating with TRCA and City of Toronto who we have been working closely with on tree impacts. We are also working closely with Indigenous Nations - we've asked them if they would be in interested in participating in our fieldwork. We will continue to do this to try and get as much feedback as possible from our stakeholders including the community. We understand the importance of the trees and greenspace for this community and it is one of our top priorities to minimize the number of trees we are impacting when we are making design decisions.

We strive to keep tree removals to a minimum and only remove trees that are absolutely necessary. Our goal is always to plant more than we remove and all tree removals will be compensated in accordance with the Metrolinx Vegetation Guideline and the City of Toronto’s permitting process. Our approach goes above and beyond what’s required by local environmental regulations. Metrolinx follows municipal bylaws for compensating for trees removed outside of Metrolinx lands and provides additional compensation for trees located in designated natural areas. In addition to the compensation required by the City of Toronto for ECWE, Metrolinx has an agreement with the TRCA to plant additional  trees along the route as early as we can. Advance planting under this agreement began last fall, with 400 trees planted to date. More plantings are scheduled for later this year.  By planting trees now, they will have ten years to grow before the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension opens, which will help preserve and strengthen tree cover in the community. Metrolinx will continue to work with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the City of Toronto on new planting initiatives.

We are also looking to incorporate robust plans for restoration, vegetation and landscape into our project agreements with our construction companies so they can appropriately restore the land back to the condition it was received, or better once construction is complete.

The processing time depends on what is being submitted. The team aims to acknowledge all inquiries received within five business days. You may reach out to us at [email protected] to share more details.

The key consideration is that the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. Tunnelling would require building underneath three flood-prone waterways (under the Humber River) and present significant environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. To tunnel under the Humber River Valley, you need to go approximately 100 ft or nine storeys below ground level to get sufficiently under the Humber River. For context, that is 10m deeper than any of the excavation happening at the Eglinton West for Crosstown at Cedarvale station or at Yonge and Eglinton. There would be a lot more construction impacts from those really deep station constructions at Scarlett and Jane. Through the business case, the mixed option also provided the best travel time, highest ridership, most travel time savings and most increased access to jobs.

Thank you for your feedback. We anticipate that this line will be using the same type of vehicles used on the Crosstown LRT because they’ll be running from end to end across the line and stored in the same facility at Black Creek/Eglinton.We are able to take advantage of the most modern technology and thinking in terms of design to address the sound of new transit in a community. The noise and vibration modelling that has been done to date does not anticipate any significant rise in levels compared to what exists today along Eglinton. Noise and vibration from electrified service like this is mainly from the wheel on rail contact and there are several ways to address that at the track level, through the design:

• Continuously welded rail – eliminates joints that cause clanking
• Resiliently supported rail ties – plastic pads between the rail and the track bed
• High-grade rail fasteners and rail dampers – attach to the rails and compress the tracks parts to absorb vibration
• Automated trains – allow for much more precise braking, which reduces the sound associated with a train slowing as it approaches a station
• Regular wheel maintenance – to take care of wheel flats and other structural wear and tear that can cause a thumping sound

As part of the work we are doing, we are also conducting a climate assessment to determine resilience to climate mitigation which is connected to the federal funding on this project. We will do a lifecycle assessment of the project as well.

The tunnel runs under the right of way while passing through these intersections. It then goes upwards to the northwest side at Royal York.

We considered a number of configurations in the Initial Business Case, including a fully tunneled option. The mixed alignment we’re moving forward with provides the highest ridership increase, travel time savings, and increases rapid transit access to the most jobs. There are challenges to fully tunneling, since the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. While all solutions are technically feasible, tunnelling would require building underneath the Humber River, which presents environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. Underground stations at Scarlett and Jane would require excavating approximately 30m under the Humber which is twice the depth of the other underground stations. This would cause more intense and longer local community construction impacts. For context, it would be 10+m deeper than the excavation that’s happened for stations at Yonge Station and Cedarvale Station (Allen Road) on the ECLRT.  Elevating the ECWE over the Humber River eliminates these challenges, and the potential for unforeseen conflicts with such deep underground conditions, while delivering more benefits. The business case is available on our website here. 

The elevated station at Scarlett is located on the north west side of the Scarlett-Eglinton intersection. There is an entrance on the east side as well. Slide 9 in this presentation depicts an example of an elevated station cross section for reference. If you have any further questions, please call us at 416-202-8001 or email us at [email protected] 

The key consideration is that the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. Tunnelling would require building underneath three flood-prone waterways (under the Humber River) and present significant environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. To tunnel under the Humber River Valley, you need to go approximately 100 ft or nine storeys below ground level to get sufficiently under the Humber River. For context, that is 10m deeper than any of the excavation happening at the Eglinton West for Crosstown at Cedarvale station or at Yonge and Eglinton. There would be a lot more construction impacts from those really deep station constructions at Scarlett and Jane. Through the business case, the mixed option also provided the best travel time, highest ridership, most travel time savings and most increased access to jobs.

We considered a number of configurations in the Initial Business Case, including a fully tunneled option. The mixed alignment with 7 stations that we’re moving forward with is estimated to cost $4.7billion. The fully tunneled option with 9 stations is estimated at $5.8B. The mixed alignment we’re moving forward with provides the highest ridership increase, travel time savings, and increases rapid transit access to the most jobs. There are also challenges to fully tunneling, since the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. While all solutions are technically feasible, tunnelling would require building underneath the Humber River, which presents environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. Underground stations at Scarlett and Jane would require excavating approximately 30m under the Humber which is twice the depth of the other underground stations. This would cause more intense and longer local community construction impacts. For context, it would be 10+m deeper than the excavation that’s happened for stations at Yonge Station and Cedarvale Station (Allen Road) on the ECLRT.  Elevating the ECWE over the Humber River eliminates these challenges, and the potential for unforeseen conflicts with such deep underground conditions, while delivering more benefits.

We will be sharing more on the elevated section in a future engagement later this year. Stay tuned! 

We continue to engage with our project partners like City of Toronto Transportation Services and TTC to be sure that the project is considering all users of the corridor and all community members.This includes not just transit users travelling by subway or bus but also pedestrians and cyclists. A lot of input into the design with respect to bus stop locations and turn channels are subject to the requirements of those stakeholders. That being said, safety and accessibility are always at the center of our design thinking and process at Metrolinx. There are roadway improvements at the major north-south intersections that we are exploring with the City of Toronto to upgrade them in line with the vision zero requirements that the City of Toronto has a mandate to deliver through City of Toronto Council. We will continue to those discussions and will keep the community informed on project updates. 

The elevated section runs along the north side of Eglinton Avenue West. The elevated section will be built on the boulevard, as close as possible to Eglinton Avenue West while meeting the City of Toronto requirements, preserving as much existing vegetation as possible, maintaining access to Fergy Brown, Eglinton Flats and Pearen parks, and ensuring a good pedestrian experience in this area. The infrastructure being built will not impact the active spaces of the park.

The mixed alignment we’re moving forward with provides the highest ridership increase, travel time savings, and increases rapid transit access to the most jobs. There are also challenges to fully tunneling, since the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. While all solutions are technically feasible, tunnelling would require building underneath the Humber River, which presents environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. Underground stations at Scarlett and Jane would require excavating approximately 30m under the Humber which is twice the depth of the other underground stations. This would cause more intense and longer local community construction impacts. For context, it would be 10+m deeper than the excavation that’s happened for stations at Yonge Station and Cedarvale Station (Allen Road) on the ECLRT.  Elevating the ECWE over the Humber River eliminates these challenges, and the potential for unforeseen conflicts with such deep underground conditions, while delivering more benefits. 

The key consideration is that the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. Tunnelling would require building underneath three flood-prone waterways (under the Humber River) and present significant environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. To tunnel under the Humber River Valley, you need to go approximately 100 ft or nine storeys below ground level to get sufficiently under the Humber River. For context, that is 10m deeper than any of the excavation happening at the Eglinton West for Crosstown at Cedarvale station or at Yonge and Eglinton. There would be a lot more construction impacts from those really deep station constructions at Scarlett and Jane. Through the business case, the mixed option also provided the best travel time, highest ridership, most travel time savings and most increased access to jobs.

Thank you for your feedback. We absolutely want to hear what elements of the project excite you and what elements concern you so we can work together to incorporate the community's feedback into our decision-making process, and address concerns appropriately and well in advance. The presentation material shared as part of our April virtual open house captured a lot of feedback from our communities and reflected how we were able to incorporate it into some of the decisions that were made. We also recieved some great feedback for the elevated section survey with over 700 responses. We will continue to do this throughout the lifecycyle of the project. We need the community's input into the design elements to ensure that we are building a system that will fit well into the fabric of the neighbourhood and communities it will serve. If you would like for us to set up a meeting with you 1:1 or have a group in mind who would like to share their feedback with us, please let us know at [email protected]. We are happy to set something up!

The elevated section runs along the north side of Eglinton Avenue West. The elevated section will be built on the boulevard, as close as possible to Eglinton Avenue West while meeting the City of Toronto requirements, preserving as much existing vegetation as possible, maintaining access to Fergy Brown, Eglinton Flats and Pearen parks, and ensuring a good pedestrian experience in this area. The infrastructure being built will not impact the active spaces of the park.

The mixed alignment we’re moving forward with provides the highest ridership increase, travel time savings, and increases rapid transit access to the most jobs. There are also challenges to fully tunneling, since the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. While all solutions are technically feasible, tunnelling would require building underneath the Humber River, which presents environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. Underground stations at Scarlett and Jane would require excavating approximately 30m under the Humber which is twice the depth of the other underground stations. This would cause more intense and longer local community construction impacts. For context, it would be 10+m deeper than the excavation that’s happened for stations at Yonge Station and Cedarvale Station (Allen Road) on the ECLRT.  Elevating the ECWE over the Humber River eliminates these challenges, and the potential for unforeseen conflicts with such deep underground conditions, while delivering more benefits. 

A Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment Report was prepared in support of the 2020 Environmental Project Report (EPR) Addendum for the ECWE project. In this report, a three-dimensional model was used to calculate operational and construction noise and vibration levels at the most impacted level of multi-story buildings.  For buildings such as 75 and 85 Emmett Avenue, the impact assessment considered bedroom windows on the second floor or higher to account for worst-case impacts to avoid underpredictions. The worst case impacts for 75 Emmett Avenue were identified at a height of 54m and for 85 Emmett Avenue, at a height of 60 m. For additional information, please refer to Appendix D: Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment Report of the 2020 EPR Addendum on Metrolinx’s ECWE project website: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/aboutus/publications/environmental_assessment.aspx#eglinton-west.

We have also been exploring opportunities to engage with the residents at Emmett regarding this project. If you have any ideas in mind, please let us know at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to set something up. We can make ourselves available virtually as well as in-person to talk to the residents and address any concerns or questions.

Provisions for future transit connections in and around the area are always considered as part of planning for the projects. We continue to engage with our project partners like City of Toronto, TTC and TRCA to be sure that the project is considering all users of the corridor and all community members and offering seamless connections. Please call us at 416-202-8001 or email us at [email protected] for any further questions.

There have been many discussions on how to deliver rapid transit along Eglinton West over the years. The mixed alignment moving forward for  provides highest ridership increase, travel time savings, and increases rapid transit access to the most jobs; it outperforms all other options in offering the best network connectivity and travel experience for people living and travelling along the corridor. Decisions on alignments take into account a number of factors, including integration with other transit, community benefits and impacts, deliverability, operations and costs, and topography, which are unique to each project.

In our business case and broader analysis of benefits, there are technical reasons and local considerations as to why we are proceeding with this option. In our IBC published in February 2020, we looked at a number of options which included the current option (mixed) as well as the fully tunneled option with nine stations. That was approximately 1.1 billion dollars more, partly because to tunnel under the Humber River Valley you need to go approximately 100 ft or nine storeys below ground level to get sufficiently under the Humber River. For context, that is 10m deeper than any of the excavation happening at the Eglinton West for Crosstown at Cedarvale station or at Yonge and Eglinton. There would be a lot more construction impacts from those really deep station constructions at Scarlett and Jane.

Metrolinx signed a tree compensation agreement with TRCA in 2021. This is a voluntary compensation planting initiative and through this agreement Metrolinx, in partnership with TRCA, completed a proactive tree planting (400 trees) last year and plans to plant additional trees this year. they were planted at Scarlett Mills Park - the location was defined by TRCA in consultation with the City of Toronto. Scarlett Mills Park is about 1.5 to 2 km from the ECWE project footprint.

The elevated section runs along the north side of Eglinton Avenue West. The elevated section will be built on the boulevard, as close as possible to Eglinton Avenue West while meeting the City of Toronto requirements, preserving as much existing vegetation as possible, maintaining access to Fergy Brown, Eglinton Flats and Pearen parks, and ensuring a good pedestrian experience in this area. The infrastructure being built will not impact the active spaces of the park.

The key consideration is that the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. Tunnelling would require building underneath three flood-prone waterways (under the Humber River) and present significant environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. To tunnel under the Humber River Valley, you need to go approximately 100 ft or nine storeys below ground level to get sufficiently under the Humber River. For context, that is 10m deeper than any of the excavation happening at the Eglinton West for Crosstown at Cedarvale station or at Yonge and Eglinton. There would be a lot more construction impacts from those really deep station constructions at Scarlett and Jane. 

We appreciate that this is a large piece of infrastructure and a big change in the community but we will continue working with the community on the design as well as opportunities for public realm improvements underneath. 

When construction of the elevated guideway begins the existing driveway will need to be closed permanently. That work is currently expected to begin in approximately 2024/25 but the schedule is still preliminary. We understand many residents in the buildings use the driveway today. We are working with the City of Toronto to fully understand the impact the closure will have on traffic in the area and map out a plan to address that. We are also in discussions with the owner/developer of the Richview buildings to discuss design and technical matters such as the driveway closure. We're looking at all options and we will keep the community updated as the traffic impact analysis work is completed.

Wildlife protection measures will be implemented during all phases of construction (i.e., pre-, during and post-construction). The contractor completing the construction activities is required to conduct work so as to avoid or minimize the potential for negative impacts to wildlife and in compliance with applicable federal and provincial environmental laws and regulations. Measures may include but are not limited to:

• Scheduling work outside of sensitive timing windows for wildlife (e.g. breeding, nesting, rearing periods) in areas where wildlife may be carrying out sensitive life processes.
• Wildlife sweeps in advance of vegetation removals, looking for wildlife that may be nesting or migrating.
• Installation of exclusionary fencing to minimize the potential for wildlife to enter work areas.
• Where wildlife are encountered in work areas, pausing work and allowing the wildlife to freely leave the area, or if required, safely relocating the wildlife to nearby suitable habitat.

These and other measures will be refined and detailed further by the contractor in advance of construction activities.

Open public spaces will have appropriate snow management mitigations. Currently heat tracing is not considered for platforms. We will come back to the community with more details and renderings for stations  - stay tuned!

We continue to engage with our project partners like City of Toronto Transportation Services and TTC to be sure that the project is considering all users of the corridor and all community members.This includes not just transit users travelling by subway or bus but also pedestrians and cyclists. A lot of input into the design with respect to bus stop locations and turn channels are subject to the requirements of those stakeholders. That being said, safety and accessibility are always at the center of our design thinking and process at Metrolinx. There are roadway improvements at the major north-south intersections that we are exploring with the City of Toronto to upgrade them in line with the vision zero requirements that the City of Toronto has a mandate to deliver through City of Toronto Council. We will continue to those discussions and will keep the community informed on project updates. 

Any open ramp and stairs to platforms will have appropriate snow management mitigations. We will come back to the community with more details and renderings on stations at a future engagement - stay tuned!

With the changing nature of the pandemic, we continue to monitor the public health restrictions and opportunities for in-person community events. We have already started doing some in-person meetings with smaller groups. We were out in the community at Lemonwood Ave a few weeks ago and also hosted a community walk with MDCA and residents earlier this week. If there is a smaller group meeting you would like us to attend, please reach out to us at [email protected]. 

Thank you for your suggestion. When construction of the elevated guideway begins the existing driveway will need to be closed permanently. That work is currently expected to begin in approximately 2024/25 but the schedule is still preliminary. We understand many residents in the buildings use the driveway today. We are working with the City of Toronto to fully understand the impact the closure will have on traffic in the area and map out a plan to address that. We are also in discussions with the owner/developer of the Richview buildings to discuss design and technical matters such as the driveway closure. We're looking at all options and we will keep the community updated as the traffic impact analysis work is completed.

Maintenance costs are important considerations, and Metrolinx takes a holistic approach in its determination. We think about costs not just for the elevated stations but within the context of the whole ECWE project. 

When it comes to decisions related to transit planning and construction, the role of Metrolinx is to provide evidence, analysis, and advice to the Provincial government, who then makes decisions about how to allocate taxpayer dollars. This evidence, analysis and advice is communicated through the business case process, which is a comprehensive collection of evidence and analysis that sets out the rationale for why an investment should be made to solve a problem or address an opportunity. Metrolinx does business cases for all its big transit investments like ECWE. The business case looks at a number of options and tries to identify the costs and benefits of those different options (in terms of transit ridership, travel time savings, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and other economic benefits). 

The mixed alignment of underground and elevated guideway provides an optimal trade-off between the ease of local access and the speed of travelling, and outperforms all other alignment options in offering the best network connectivity, travel experience and therefore the highest ridership increase and access to the most jobs.  

We considered a number of configurations in the Initial Business Case, including a fully tunneled option. The mixed alignment with 7 stations that we’re moving forward with is estimated to cost $4.7billion. The fully tunneled option with 9 stations is estimated at $5.8B. The mixed alignment we’re moving forward with provides the highest ridership increase, travel time savings, and increases rapid transit access to the most jobs. There are also challenges to fully tunneling, since the area between Scarlett Road and Jane Street is in an identified flood plain zone. While all solutions are technically feasible, tunnelling would require building underneath the Humber River, which presents environmental and technical challenges to building and operating the line. Underground stations at Scarlett and Jane would require excavating approximately 30m under the Humber which is twice the depth of the other underground stations. This would cause more intense and longer local community construction impacts. For context, it would be 10+m deeper than the excavation that’s happened for stations at Yonge Station and Cedarvale Station (Allen Road) on the ECLRT.  Elevating the ECWE over the Humber River eliminates these challenges, and the potential for unforeseen conflicts with such deep underground conditions, while delivering more benefits. 

The federal funding was provided to the project as it is currently designed with the mixed alignment of tunnel and elevated guideway. 

We understand these are beautiful areas and places of pride for the community and a place where people come from all over the city to play and walk and take in the beauty. The elevated guideway will be built on the boulevard next to Eglinton Avenue West therefore the infrastructure being built will not impact the active spaces of the park.

This is a brand new line so we are able to take advantage of the most modern technology and thinking in terms of design to address the sound of new transit in a community. The noise and vibration modelling that has been done to date does not anticipate any significant rise in levels compared to what exists today along Eglinton. Noise and vibration from electrified service like this is mainly from the wheel on rail contact and there are several ways to address that at the track level, through the design. Metrolinx has a toolkit of mitigations that can be applied to address noise concerns through construction and operations. We also know that graffiti is an issue along our corridors and we'll do everything we can to deter it from the outset. We'll work with the community to review options that have worked well on other projects and then explore opportunities that fit best with this project. 

We appreciate that this is a large piece of infrastructure and a big change in the community but we will continue working with the community on the design as well as opportunities for public realm improvements underneath.