After more than a decade of dusty and noisy construction, people who live and operate businesses along Toronto’s Eglinton Avenue were looking forward to the new Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line that finally opened this fall. .
However, just over a week ago, Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of regional transit in the GTA, announced in a blog post that the completion of the $5.5 billion project is being delayed yet again. They said the consortium contracted to build the line “has fallen behind, (cannot) finish construction and testing.” A definitive timeline for when the new LRT will open was not provided.
“It’s disappointing, but people weren’t surprised. There are building materials on the street and hoarding everywhere. There was no way they were going to meet their schedule,” said Louroz Mercader, who manages the York-Eglinton Business Improvement Area (BIA), which is home to the hard-hit Little Jamaica neighborhood.
“There is no end in sight. It is difficult for us as a business community to plan ahead. We cannot look into the future. It is a disaster. We can’t plan anything.”
The new transit line was initially scheduled to be completed in 2020, but construction has been plagued by delays.
In October 2020, the consortium responsible for the line’s construction, Crosslinx Transit Solutions, filed a lawsuit against Metrolinx and Infrastructre Ontario arguing that they should not be held liable for delays or cost overruns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A judge sided with the consortium, and the two parties renegotiated a deal in December 2021 that would have seen the line substantially completed by September 2022 and operational several months later.
The project, however, has been delayed and once again the patience of the people who live nearby has evaporated.
“We’ve been dealing with this for 12 years,” said Sophie Milman, a longtime area resident of the newly formed Cedarvale and Upper Village Community Association. CP24.com.
Milman said that in addition to the noise and clutter, people are driving unsafely through construction zones in their area and traversing already narrow side streets to avoid slower-moving main roads.
Lora Sloan, who founded the new community group, said last week’s news, while not a surprise, was “unexpected” as community members, local politicians and even Metrolinx representatives had walked just two days before the LRT delay was announced.
“So we were told that the construction would be out of the neighborhood by the end of the year,” he said.
“Community trust has been eroded by Metrolinx’s lack of communication. Even the city was not aware of what was happening as no updates were provided. We feel in the dark and our councilors are equally disoriented.”
Metrolinx did not respond to multiple requests for comment from CP24.com.
Equally frustrated by ongoing delays and what they both call a “lack of transparency,” Councilmembers Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) and Josh Matlow (Toronto-St. Pauls) said they intend to table a motion at the first meeting. of the city council after the October 24 municipal election that would ask the province to conduct a public inquiry into why the Eglinton LRT is taking so long to complete and what can be done to ensure that the myriad of delays and problems encountered during the construction of this new transit line will not be repeated
Colle said a public consultation is the best way for the city to get answers.
“(Metrolinx) obviously has something to hide, that’s for sure. … (People) have suffered enough already,” she said.
“This is the largest public transportation construction project in North America and we have a group of incompetent people who are not telling the truth about it.”
Colle said that he and Matlow are working with several local BIAs and resident groups to gain support for the investigation so that the city council supports it.
“We really want Metrolinx and the province to be held accountable,” he said.
Matlow said the impacts of this LRT project, which have been exacerbated by numerous delays, are unbearable for area residents and unsustainable for local businesses.
“This isn’t just a little bit of traffic, it’s horrible. And for small businesses, every month this is delayed is another month hanging in the balance. Many have already gone under,” he said, noting that a public inquiry would serve two purposes: to provide those directly affected with the information they deserve, and to ensure that a “mismanaged and incompetently executed project” does not happen again elsewhere. .
“There needs to be a real understanding of why this project has gone so far wrong and not do it again,” Matlow said, adding that communities along the line are being treated as “collateral damage.”
“There needs to be a plan to support both residents and businesses that are negatively impacted by these important transit projects. … Enough is enough.”
Toronto-St. Paul’s MPP, Jill Andrew, said people on his trip, especially those who live in Little Jamaica and Midtown, are “dismayed to learn of another (LRT) delay.”
“It’s especially hard on Black-owned small business owners and store owners throughout Eglinton. Many businesses have closed, employers have been unable to keep staff on payroll because customers simply cannot access many of the businesses they once had due to more than a decade of construction promises and the double devastation of the COVID pandemic. -19”. she wrote in a statement provided to CP24.com.
Andrew said that the Province must pass it immediately movement to provide “financial support for Little Jamaica and the small businesses in the inner city that are disproportionately affected by these delays.”
First introduced in late 2020, it calls on the Ontario government to implement a ‘Little Jamaica’ Small Business Economic Health and Community Wellness Strategy that, among other things, provides $30,000 in compensation for struggling local businesses.
The motion also proposes a mandatory task force to ensure transparent communication between Metrolinx, the Ministry of Transportation and businesses in Little Jamaica, and the historic designation of the neighborhood to “recognize its unique contributions to the arts and culture and ensure that include affordable housing in all new builds.”
The NDP also requires the Ford government to defer HST payments for a specified period of time to help struggling local businesses in the meantime and commit to a commercial eviction ban.
Like his municipal counterparts, as well as area residents and local business owners, Andrew said Metrolinx and the Province must provide immediate response and accountability for the continued delays in LRT construction.
He also said he is in favor of a public inquiry, stressing that it should not “become another stalling tactic or reporting dust on the shelves.”
“(A public consultation) should express what went wrong and what will be done to correct this for the people of Toronto-St. Paul’s and beyond and the community needs to be on board,” said Andrew.
“Many members of the community have contacted me frustrated by the unbearable noise pollution and traffic jams caused by these construction delays. The government must give our community concrete answers by the deadline for this construction, create and deploy immediate grants designed to cover losses, keep staff on the payroll and cover rent.”
Mercader, of the York-Eglinton BIA, said the local business community has long called for a public inquiry.
“It could set the standard for how these projects are handled. … It is in everyone’s best interest that these (major transit) projects get done right,” he said.
“I think it is important that we learn from the mistakes that have happened and continue to happen. … We can’t be doing the same thing over and over again.”
Mercader also said that a compensation plan should be implemented to support companies directly affected by major transit projects.
“By the time the Eglinton LRT opens, most of these businesses will no longer be there,” he said, pointing to an initiative in Montreal where the province has set aside $25 million to help local businesses survive during transit construction.
Area residents Milman and Sloan, who “cautiously supported” a public inquiry, also want comprehensive construction impact mitigation efforts put in place now, especially as Eglinton Crosstown has been delayed indefinitely.
“A public consultation should not replace real compensation and support. … Something needs to be done to make things more manageable for the community until the job is done,” Milman said, noting that the city also needs to play a stronger role and have a stronger voice in supporting older communities. affected by this project.
Sloan added.
“This (query) should not be a way for Metrolinx to say that it is doing something. We are asking for immediate relief or a pardon now,” he said, adding that a public consultation is a good way to inform those working on future transit projects, in particular the Ontario Line.
-with files from Joshua Freeman of CP24