Toronto: The start of tunnel construction on two rail tunnels under Highways 401 and 409, was announced yesterday by Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation.
This may be an indication that the GO Transit expansion east to Bowmanville may similarly cross Highway 401 via a tunnel rather than a bridge.
Yesterday’s start of work will make way for more GO train service on the Kitchener corridor.
“The Ontario government is keeping its promise and building better public transit for commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area,” said Surma. “The new rail tunnels under Highways 401 and 409 will allow us to add more trains and more service to the Kitchener Line, bringing us one step closer to two-way, all-day service along the Kitchener GO line.”
The project includes construction of two rail tunnels under Highways 401 and 409 to accommodate two additional tracks, future signaling and communications infrastructure. The twin tunnels are being constructed underneath 21 live lanes of Highways 401 and 409, one of the busiest sections of highway in North America.
Completion Late 2021
Toronto Tunnel Partners is the project consortium building the tunnels. The project is expected to be completed by late 2021. The value of the contract is approximately $116.9 million.
“Constructing under one of the busiest stretches of highway is no easy task, but by working with Toronto Tunnel Partners, we are excited to use innovative engineering techniques for tunnelling that will allow us to bring more trains and more service to customers faster, giving them the service they need to get them to where they need to go,” said Stephanie Davies, Executive Vice President, GO Expansion at Metrolinx.
“We are pleased that Toronto Tunnel Partners is making great progress to build an additional tunnel underneath a 21-lane section of Hwy 401,” said Ehren Cory, President and CEO, Infrastructure Ontario. “Collectively, these infrastructure upgrades are helping to increase capacity for the GO Transit system and move more people in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.”
This project is part of the work already underway to support the Province’s GO Rail Expansion program that will improve and expand GO train service into a two-way, all-day rapid transit service every 15 minutes on core segments of the GO Rail network.
“Expanding and improving public transit helps connect people with jobs and businesses with customers in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Halton Region and Kitchener so that our region can grow and prosper together,” added Minister Surma.
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