Breaking ground on second Ontario Line tunnel launch shaft

Metrolinx is digging out the starting point for subway tunnelling underneath Pape Avenue.

Aug. 18 – Major construction is underway on a key piece of Ontario Line subway infrastructure in the city’s east end.  

A second tunnel launch shaft near Gerrard Street and Carlaw Avenue is now under construction, which will serve as the starting point for the second underground section of the Ontario Line that will run below Pape Avenue.  

In addition to serving as the starting point for tunnelling work, the launch shaft will become a future tunnel portal, where Ontario Line trains will move from above-ground tracks to underground tunnels. Crews have started building deep foundations that will support future excavation for the launch shaft.  

The launch shaft is being built on the west side of the existing GO tracks. The north tunnels will run underneath Pape Avenue up to a tunnel portal at Minton Place, where trains will transition from underground onto a bridge that will run over the Don Valley. 

This work builds on the steady progress crews have been making to prepare for tunnelling in the southern section of the route. Excavation recently finished on the first tunnel launch shaft for the project just east of Exhibition Station, where two tunnel boring machines will dig the southbound tunnels from Exhibition, through downtown Toronto, to just west of the Don River.  

Two new tunnel boring machines will make their way to Canada to dig three kilometres of twin subway tunnels in the north, and the public will have another opportunity to help choose their names in the future. 

Once complete, the Ontario Line will bring subway service directly to the Gerrard and Carlaw community and surrounding neighbourhoods for the first time. 

The future Gerrard Station, located just south of the portal, will provide convenient access to neighbourhoods in the city’s east end and reduce travel times, with a trip from one end of the Ontario Line to the other taking less than 30 minutes compared to the 70 minutes it currently takes on transit.  

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