Thursday, March 28, 2024
  • CWRE 2024 - Leaderboard
  • IAPMO R&T Lab - Leaderboard
  • Procore - Leaderboard - Jan 2022
  • Dentec - Leaderboard - 2023 - Updated
  • Revizto - Leaderboard - March and April
  • Keith Walking Floor - Leaderboard - Sept 2021
  • Premier Leaderboard - updated Nov 19
May 19, 2021

Eglinton Crosstown LRT to cost more and take longer, after builder scores legal victory

The cost of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is set to increase and its official opening date be pushed back, after the company building the massive midtown transit project scored a legal victory against the province over the effects of COVID-19.

Crosslinx Transit Solutions took Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario to court last fall seeking a declaration the pandemic constituted an emergency as defined by the terms of the $5.5-billion contract for the LRT.

The declaration would trigger a clause that would allow Crosslinx to negotiate with the province for relief from the effects of the crisis, including financial compensation for increased costs and a later completion date.

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario, the provincial agencies overseeing transit expansion in the GTA, had refused to declare COVID-19 an emergency and argued Crosslinx was responsible for extra costs during the crisis. The agencies also wanted to be able to enforce financial penalties against the company for missing the opening date spelled out in the LRT contract.

In a written Ontario Superior Court ruling released Monday, Justice Markus Koehnen found in Crosslinx’s favour, and agreed that COVID-19 constitutes an emergency under the LRT agreement. The decision opens the door for the two sides to renegotiate the line’s schedule and construction costs.

The judge had harsh words for Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario in his 25-page ruling, writing that the agencies’ attempts amid the pandemic to penalize Crosslinx for missing the construction deadline gave the company incentive “to cut corners and imperil public health and safety.”

Keep reading in the Toronto Star


  • Premier Leaderboard - updated Nov 19
  • CWRE 2024 - Leaderboard
  • Procore - Leaderboard - Jan 2022
  • IAPMO R&T Lab - Leaderboard
  • Keith Walking Floor - Leaderboard - Sept 2021
  • Revizto - Leaderboard - March and April
  • Dentec - Leaderboard - 2023 - Updated