Toronto city council to ask province for public inquiry into Eglinton Crosstown

Toronto city council will ask the Ontario government to hold a public inquiry into the repeatedly delayed Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit line. 

The east-west line, which will have 25 stops, was set to open in 2020, but a series of technical problems have plagued the project. Last week, Premier Doug Ford conceded that the line may not be in operation until the new year. 

At a meeting on Thursday, council passed a motion moved by Coun. Josh Matlow and seconded by Coun. Mike Colle to ask for the inquiry. Both councillors represent wards, Toronto-St. Paul's and Eglinton-Lawrence, respectively, that have been impacted by the line's construction.  

According to the motion, the inquiry would look at the causes of ongoing delays, the "fractious" relationship between provincial transit agency Metrolinx and its consortium building the line, Crosslinx, as well as increased costs of the project.

Council decided it will also formally ask Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster to make a presentation to the mayor's executive committee at its November or December meeting.

There, Sarkaria and Verster will be asked questions about the current status of the line, reasons for the delays, its expected completion date, estimated additional costs and whether additional supports will be provided to affected residents and businesses.

Communities can't be 'collateral damage': councillor

Matlow said in an interview after the vote that he is thrilled that his motion passed on Thursday.

"I'm absolutely feeling supported by the vast majority of my colleagues here at city council in our request of the province and Metrolinx to finally provide some transparency and accountability for the Eglinton Crosstown fiasco," Matlow said.

"This has been going on for far too many years — many years of delays, budget overruns and such an impact on businesses and residents alike. I think it's really important that, when the residents of this city are being impacted by decisions, by anybody, including the province and Metrolinx, that city council take a stand and fight for them. And that's what we're doing now."

Matlow said the aim of the inquiry is not only to get answers, but also to ensure that Metrolinx learns from errors it has made with the Eglinton Crosstown so that it doesn't repeat those mistakes with other transit projects, including the Ontario Line and Scarborough Subway Extension.

"We want the transit to be built, but businesses and communities can no longer be collateral damage," Matlow said.

Construction caused businesses to close, councillor says

Work on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT began in 2011 with an estimated price tag of $9.1 billion to build and maintain the 19-kilometre line. In 2022, documents obtained by CBC Toronto showed the project costs had jumped to at least $12.8 billion.

Colle has said the project has caused local businesses to close and traffic chaos because quiet midtown neighbourhoods were flooded with vehicles trying to bypass construction. Even with those impacts, the city has still struggled to understand why the line has yet to be completed, he has said.

Coun. Jennifer McKelvie, who represents Scarborough-Rouge Park, said she supports the call for a public inquiry because she believes transit needs to be built efficiently in Toronto.

"I think we need lessons learned on how we can do things better going forward," she said. 

"We need to build transit and we need to build it on time and on budget. We have not with the Eglinton Crosstown. It is important that the lessons learned are brought forward to the other projects that are being managed by Metrolinx."

Metrolinx spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks said the agency continues to make "significant progress" on the project. A range of tests and inspections have been underway in recent months, including a four-day 28-train test in July, which was intended to mimic the line's service pattern. 

"A second important series of operational emergency tests with operations, maintenance and emergency services personnel was also completed successfully in early September," Ernesaks said in a statement. 

"We need to have confidence that key milestones are being met, and once we have an opening date, we will share that with the public," she said.