As work continues building out a suite of provincial transit expansion projects in the Toronto area, it appears the massive machine responsible for tunnelling the future Scarborough subway extension hasn’t moved from the Highway 401 area in months.
At the end of November, CityNews reported on how then-Metrolinx president and CEO Phil Verster said during a quarterly board meeting that unexpected soil conditions were affecting the $757-million advance tunnel contract being carried out by Strabag Inc. He said the soil conditions “hampered the progress of the tunnel-boring machine (TBM),” adding Metrolinx staff were working with Strabag “on a technical solution and the schedule solution.”
In a recent follow-up inquiry by CityNews to check in on the project’s progress, officials said the second of two “planned stop(s)” is happening on the south side of Ontario’s busiest highway.
“Scheduling periods of thorough inspection and maintenance work allows crews to pre-emptively address wear and tear and optimize the overall functioning of the machine,” Metrolinx media relations officials said in a statement on Wednesday, echoing previous messaging.
“The TBM’s maintenance period is close to complete and we expect tunnelling to resume in the coming weeks.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if additional shutdowns of the TBM would be needed in the future to address maintenance concerns.
However, it appears the machine has been in the same general area since September at the very least. A reply on the Scarborough subway extension X account dated Sept. 18 in response to a resident’s question said the tunnel-boring machine travelled more than a kilometre to date and was south of Highway 401.
When CityNews inquired about the project in late November, officials said tunnelling updates “will continue to be shared publicly through the project’s social media channels.” A review of posts on the project’s X and Instagram accounts since that time doesn’t contain any specific updates on the issue, and officials in the statement didn’t address questions about public updates.
Ontario residents and the board of directors that oversees Metrolinx typically receive updates in some form on major projects such as the Scarborough subway extension during public meetings held several times a year. However, there hasn’t been a public meeting since the end of November, and the next one isn’t scheduled until the end of June.
In early 2023, when tunnelling began, Metrolinx staff described the TBM as being roughly the length of three GO Transit train cars and how it would create a tunnel diameter the width of more than three TTC subway cars. Officials previously said the machine would move around 10 to 15 metres daily. The whole journey was expected to take a little more than two years to complete.
Officials said on social media in February that a public tracker to follow the tunnel-boring machine’s location and progress would be “launching shortly,” but a link to such a tracker couldn’t be found on the Metrolinx project’s website.
Questions involving a link to the promised TBM tracker, specifics on soil issues, the difference in distance travelled versus the earlier projected timeframe for completion and potential budgetary impacts weren’t directly addressed when asked about in late November.
Despite ongoing questions surrounding the tunnel, work appears to be continuing on other elements of the project.
Crews can be seen along McCowan Road and Eglinton Avenue East. Officials said work on piling, headwalls and emergency exit structures is ongoing. The Progress Avenue bridge over McCowan Road was demolished in September and a new intersection is in the process of being built. Work zones have also been setup in the areas of the three future stations.
Authorities previously said the Scarborough subway extension is scheduled to open for service in 2030.
