Metrolinx has settled a challenge from builders of the Crosstown LRT — at least for now — which it says will get the enormous project finished by the target date of late 2021. In July, the consortium of companies working on the LRT filed a legal notice of action seeking more money and time for the $5.3 billion project. In a statement Friday, Metrolinx says it has achieved “a revised production schedule and accountabilities” with the companies. It also says the details are “commercially confidential,” a limitation that is raising eyebrows on social media. The Eglinton Crosstown was first scheduled to be completed by 2020 with that date later pushed backed to September 2021. In its statement, Metrolinx said that the construction consortium “has the ability” to finish its work and meet that deadline. ”The paramount objective for the Province and Crosslinx Transit Solutions is to open this new and exciting transit line for customers in September 2021, on time and on budget,” the statement says. The murky circumstances of the legal action and its settlement relate to events beyond the control of builders including delays in the completion of work by utility companies and in the issuance of “permits, licenses and approvals.”
