Yonge North Subway Extension Hits Excavation Milestone
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The province completes excavation of the launch shaft for a multi-billion dollar project extending Line 1 into suburban municipalities.
The Yonge North Subway Extension has reached a significant construction milestone with the completion of the excavation for the project's launch shaft, according to BlogTO.
Provincial officials reported that workers removed nearly 70,000 cubic metres of soil to a depth exceeding ten metres. The shaft, which utilized 860 tonnes of steel reinforcement and 11,000 cubic metres of concrete, will serve as the starting point for two tunnel boring machines. The machines will excavate two 6.3-kilometre tunnels that lengthen the TTC's Line 1 - Yonge University subway by about eight kilometres from Finch Station, pushing north to Vaughan, Markham, and Richmond Hill.
Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria described the investment as a way to protect the economy and alleviate gridlock. Local leaders echoed this sentiment, with Vaughan mayor Steven Del Duca calling the milestone an exciting step and Richmond Hill mayor David West stating the project realizes a vision the municipality has pursued for decades. The extension will introduce five new stations located at Bridge, High Tech, Royal Orchard, Clark, and Steeles.
While the milestone is a point of celebration, BlogTO notes that tunnelling cannot begin immediately due to required utility relocation work. The project's cost was initially estimated at $5.6 billion, though a 2025 request for qualifications indicated that the cost for rails, systems, and stations alone would reach $4 billion.