Two huge tunnels built at the same time on Eglinton. One moves people. The other moves sewage. Which one is full of sh**?
The City is building a new sewer system. Its purpose is to prevent basements from being flooded with sewage backup during heavy rainfalls. When the tunnel is finished, stormwater will flow all the way to Black Creek. The project is on budget and on time.
The length of the Eglinton LRT is 19 km, about the same length of our new sewer system. Construction of the Eglinton LRT started in 2011, a decade before the city sewer tunnel. The Eglinton LRT has cost us $13 billion and has no end date in sight. The new sewer system is on schedule to be entirely complete in 2027 with a cost of $250 million to the city. And about $75 million to the feds.
No doubt the sewer project has created inconveniences for neighbours. The project took over half the park at Fairbank. Half the park at Kitchener and Caledonia. It created traffic obstacles on Oakwood. It had its fair share of issues for residents on its path. But the parks are coming back, and traffic is flowing again on Oakwood.
Meanwhile the pain of the Eglinton LRT is still being felt by local businesses today (and by pedestrians and drivers).
The difference between the tunnels is in who runs them. The sewer project is run by the City of Toronto. Not by Metrolinx. And not by the province.
Two huge tunnels built at the same time on Eglinton. One moves people. The other moves sewage. The real waste isn’t underground—it’s at Queen’s Park.
