Crews are celebrating a turning point in the construction of one of the multiple large-scale public transit projects underway in Toronto after the second of two tunnel boring machines completed its underground journey this week.
On Wednesday, the colossal piece of equipment helping create the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension — known as “Renny,” thanks to a naming competition in 2022 — pushed through the final wall and into its extraction shaft after digging from Renforth Drive and Scarlett Road.
This comes nearly a month after its partner, Rexy, likewise made it to the exit point on April 26, meaning that the basic tunnelling work for the underground portion of the project has now wrapped.
Renny the tunnel boring machine has broken through the final wall to complete a two-year tunneling journey! 👏 pic.twitter.com/jyom0W6A99
— Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (@EglintonWestEXT) May 22, 2024
Metrolinx shared the news on X on Wednesday evening with a time-lapse video of the special moment, writing that Renny had finally finished what was a two-year tunnelling journey.
Like Rexy, Renny will now be dismantled and removed from the area so crews can continue work on the line.
The Crosstown West Extension will add seven more stops to the main Eglinton Crosstown LRT — whenever that line opens, that is — reaching from Mount Dennis Station westward to Renforth Station, with a potential future connection with Pearson Airport.
As progress is made on this extension and other new transit routes, like the Finch West LRT and the Ontario Line subway, many are wondering if these projects that started many years after the seemingly cursed Eglinton Crosstown did in 2011 will end up actually being ready to ride before it is.
A new poll suggests that hardly anyone believes that line’s initial segment will open this year, which is when details had suggested it may, though Metrolinx refuses to provide a date until closer to the time.
