It’s amazing to me that it takes from 2011 to 2023 (or 2024?) to build a partially underground LRT line when we can build dozens of condo towers across this city. No apples to apples I know, but surely ten years, Covid or no is realistic?
Actually, the bulk of the project did execute fairly smoothly. The thing that hurts is how so much of the line is now sitting ready to use, but is held up by non-completion in some specific places.
Covid may have had effects, but it would be interesting to know how well the labour supply held up at other times. Over the last decade, construction labour has been in a shortage situation in the GTA at various points.
The decision to bore deep tunnels is certainly a factor.... in complexity, this was a major subway scale project. It only looks like an LRT because the easier parts are on the surface. In hindsight, was that decision the right one? This project was never destined to be completed in a few short years.... those deep station excavations (some mined, at that) were always going to take a long time to finish.
The Yonge crossing is the most complex part of the project, so no surprise that it would take the longest.... and there was discovery work. One wonders several things - was the original engineering given sufficient priority considering it was the trickiest task? Was the engineering completed on time (ie, leaving enough time to execute the construction and still finish on time) ? Was there redesign or rework to that design? How much redesign was required once the water problems with the original caissons was discovered? How much did the response to that discovery extend the construction? Should the caisson problems have been anticipated or detected in the original site examinations?
The really, really disgusting part is how the P3 process prevents any possibility of a proper forensic audit or public investigation to determine where things got off the rails. I marvel at how well it prevents accountability and enables political spin and theatre.
- Paul
