A day after it announced the release date for the request for proposals document for early stage work on the Scarborough Subway Extension, the provincial government has made a similar announcement for the $4.7-billion Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) project.

Premier Doug Ford, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA) Kinga Surma announced on August 19 that the province would release the RFP document for advance tunneling work on the Eglinton project on August 20.

"Today marks another step forward in delivering modern underground rapid transit to connect people from across Toronto and Mississauga to one of the country's largest employment centres," said Ford. "Working with our partners, we will reduce travel times for riders and get more vehicles off our roads, so people can spend more time with their families."

The ECWE will extend the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit project, which is currently under construction, by 9.2 kilometres from the future Mount Dennis Station to Renforth Drive. The extension will create connections among several transit systems throughout the region, including UP Express and Kitchener Line GO train service at Mount Dennis, TTC bus services at transit stops in Toronto, and MiWay and GO bus services via the Mississauga Transitway at Renforth Drive.

During construction, the ECWE is expected to create as many as 4,600 construction jobs annually over six years. Once completed, the extension is expected to bring 31,000 jobs to within a 10-minute walk to a station and attract 37,000 daily boardings by 2041.

On August 5, three teams were shortlisted to bid on the advanced tunning works for the extension. Team teams include Fast Eglinton Group, which is being led by FCC Construccion S.A., Astaldi Canada Enterprises Inc., and Salini-Impregilo S.p.A.; North American Tunnel Partners, which is being led by EllisDon Capital, Inc. and Barnard LP; and West End Connectors, which includes Dragados Canada Inc., Aecon Infrastructure Management. Inc., and Ghella Canada Ltd.

Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx will evaluate all proposals, and expect to award a contract for the works in the middle of next year.

"We are making smart, long-term transit investments to address congestion, and give the people of Etobicoke, Mississauga, and the rest of the Greater Toronto Area more options to get where they need to be," said Mulroney. "Our government is committed to ensuring that our vital transit projects empower people and provide additional benefits for the communities in which they are being built."

"Today's announcement gets us one step closer to closing the transit gap along the Eglinton corridor and to connecting communities and families to urban growth centres and employment hubs in Toronto and Mississauga," added Surma. "But we can't build projects of this magnitude alone. We need the federal government to come to the table and fund at least 40 percent of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and our other three nationally significant subway projects."