METROLINX has selected Aecom to act as delivery partner for the 9.2km Eglinton Crosstown West Extension light rail project in Toronto. The transport authority has also selected Aecon Infrastructure Management to construct the 1.5km elevated section of the line.
The extension will run from the future Mount Dennis station, the western terminus of the Eglington Crosstown project, west to Renforth Drive. The complete 28.2km Line 5 will run west-east from Kennedy via downtown Toronto to Renforth.
The extension will include two underground sections totalling 7.7km and a 1.5km elevated section, which will run from east of Jane Street along the north side of Eglinton Avenue West to the west of Scarlett Road. Work under Aecon Infrastructure Management’s $C 290m ($US 217m) contract will focus on the structure of the guideway, including the piers and foundations, and connections to the tunnel portals at either end of the section.
Metrolinx reports that work has already started to prepare the elevated section of the route for construction with major work expected to start in early this year for completion by 2028. Aecon will subcontract early work to Aecon Six Nations (A6N), an indigenous-owned and operated general partnership between Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation (51%) and Aecon (49%).
Future contracts
Design and construction of the two elevated stations - Scarlett-Eglinton and Jane-Eglinton - will be delivered under a separate contract, which will also include track and systems. Metrolinx says procurement of this package will begin in the “months to come.”
The first package of tunnelling work on the western portion of the extension is progressing quickly, according to Metrolink, with the two TBMs, Renny and Rexy, in the final stages of their drive east from Renforth to Scarlett Road. Progress of the TBMs can be viewed here.
Procurement for the second tunnelling contract, covering the section from east of Jane Street to Mount Dennis is also advancing following the issuing of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the work. The contractor is expected to be named within the next few months.
Aecom says its personnel will become “an integral part” of the Metrolinx delivery team across the full breadth of infrastructure for the project. It says this will include a global and multi-disciplinary service offering, integrating the company’s programme management, advisory, commercial management, procurement and supply chain management, and project supervision services.
The extension will interchange with UP Express and GO Transit rail services as well as TTC MiWay and GO Transit bus services. Metrolinx says the line is expected to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 5800 tonnes, and combined with the Eglinton Crosstown project, will result in 6.5 million fewer car journeys in Toronto every year.
Metrolinx is also working with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority on a proposal to extend the line to Toronto Pearson Airport, which is approximately 6km north of Renforth Drive.
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