Parks, other natural areas a big part of major Mississauga LRT line, officials say
Published November 1, 2023 at 2:07 pm
As work continues on a major new light-rail transit line being built in east Mississauga, project leaders assure residents that preserving and restoring natural areas is near the top of their priority list.
The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension LRT line is a 9.2-kilometre above ground/underground route that when completed in roughly eight years will link east Mississauga and likely Pearson Airport as well with parts of west Toronto.
Project leaders at Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of the huge undertaking, say they’ll provide residents with the latest updates on the LRT line at a virtual open house to take place Nov. 9 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
A key focus at the meeting will be to let the public know of plans “for restoring parks and natural areas along the future route of the ECWE,” Metrolinx said in an online update this week.
Other topics to be covered at the open house include:
- recent construction milestones
- progress to date on tunnelling work
- updated plans for mitigating potential environmental impacts
- next steps for the project
When completed by 2030-31, the ECWE will bring the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line from Toronto west to Renforth Dr. in east Mississauga.
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A proposal to extend the ECWE an additional 4.7 kilometres from Renforth Dr. to Pearson Airport in Mississauga is also being strongly considered.
The second of the two tunnels being dug out for the ECWE route recently passed the halfway mark to being completed.
Tunnel work, which began in April of last year, is expected to take about 20 months, according to Metrolinx, with the two tunnel-boring machines travelling eastward at a rate of 10 to 15 metres per day.
That puts completion of both tunnels on target for late this year or early 2024.
When finished, the ECWE will operate underground from Renforth Dr. in Mississauga to just west of Scarlett Rd. in Toronto, where it will then transition to a 1.5-km elevated section that runs east of Jane St. before heading underground again and connecting to the future Mount Dennis Station.
The new LRT line is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by some 39,000 tonnes each year, project leaders say.
