The next piece of the Scarborough Subway Extension has fallen into place.

On May 25, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney announced that Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx had awarded a contract worth $757 million to Strabag to design, build and finance the tunnel for the extension.

“For far too long, Scarborough commuters have unfairly dealt with outdated transit that couldn’t keep up with the growing and thriving communities in Toronto’s east end,” said Mulroney. “The Scarborough Subway Extension will create thousands of jobs during construction and unlock better access to employment spaces, schools and other key destinations throughout the city.”

The three-stop, 7.8-kilometre Scarborough Subway Extension will connect Kennedy Station in the south with Sheppard Avenue in the north. Once complete, the line is expected to serve more than 100,000 riders daily.

To deliver the project as quickly as possible, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario split up the delivery of the project into two contracts – the advanced tunnel contract and a stations, railway and systems contract.

The scope of work for the tunnel project includes tunnelling works for the 7.8-kilometre subway extension, from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road/Sheppard Avenue, design and construction of launch and extraction shafts, tunnel, as well as headwalls for emergency exit buildings and stations, supply of the tunnel boring machine and installing segmental precast concrete tunnel liners, and those activities needed to build the tunnel, including utility relocations, supports for shaft and headwalls, temporary power supply, lighting, ventilation, and drainage.

The Strabag team includes Strabag Inc. as constructors and financial advisors, and Arup Canada and Brian Isherwood & Associates Ltd as designers.

The Scarborough Subway Extension is a key pillar of Ontario’s $28.5 billion subway expansion program, which also includes the Ontario Line, the Yonge North Subway Extension, and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. Together, these projects will add more than 40 km of new subway service to the rapid transit network.

The award of the tunneling contract to the Strabag team follows on the May 20 announcement that the province had awarded the tunneling contract for the Eglinton Crosstown West project to a team led by Aecon.

“With two experienced teams – Strabag and West End Connectors – and the federal government’s new funding commitment of up to $10.7 billion, Ontario is pushing ahead with the successful delivery of our four priority transit projects,” Mulroney said.