After nearly 20 years of talks, planning, construction and commissioning, it’s the news TTC riders have been waiting a long time to hear: The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is finally ready to open to the public.

After an unrelated news conference at Queen’s Park Monday afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford appeared to confirm a plan to open the line on Feb. 8. As he left, Ford told reporters that he was advised of the opening date by the TTC.

680 NewsRadio can also confirm via sources that the line will indeed open on Feb. 8. The TTC is set to officially announce the date later this week. 

When CityNews asked Ford about the Feb. 8 date during the news conference, he expressed some relief.

“We inherited (the line), we took the responsibility. Thank God it’s opening. They’ve done hundreds of thousands of kilometres of testing, and it’s going to finally get finished,” Ford said.

“I’m happy it’s done, that’s all I can tell you, because it’s been a nightmare for all of us I’m first to admit, but it’s going to be incredible.”

He went on to thank City of Toronto and Metrolinx officials for their involvement in different aspects, saying there will be collaboration.

A TTC information page on Line 5 Eglinton doesn’t list an opening date yet, but said it is “coming soon.”

News of the official launch of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT came less than two months after “substantial completion” was declared, which happened when independent engineers certified that the 19-kilometre, 25-station line was built as designed.

Since that declaration, the TTC had full operational control of trains along the corridor and staff were conducting their own assessments. CityNews learned a major test was held with transit personnel across the line on Thursday in an effort to assess readiness.

The path to realizing the beleaguered Eglinton Crosstown LRT line hasn’t been an easy one after various delays, errors and issues.

The Eglinton Crosstown was first proposed under former mayor David Miller’s Transit City plan in 2007. Contemplated as part of a larger network of new LRT lines, the Eglinton Crosstown would connect Mount Dennis in the west with Kennedy subway station in the east along Eglinton Avenue.

It wasn’t until 2011 that construction formally began under the previous provincial Liberal government.

The mammoth project was supposed to be done by 2020. However, that finishing date was repeatedly pushed back due to various legal, construction and testing issues along with COVID-19-related delays.

As CityNews reported over the past several years, there have also been issues with poor construction, the signalling system that has required multiple software upgrades, and a small collision during the final testing and commissioning phase. At one point, provincial officials confirmed there were around 260 deficiencies that needed to be addressed.

Prolonged construction and road closures also took a toll on many small businesses in Little Jamaica and elsewhere along the corridor, sparking calls for financial support from the provincial government.

There have been multiple calls from opposition parties, municipal politicians, and community members for a public inquiry into the whole Eglinton Crosstown project, but the Ford government hasn’t agreed to call such an inquiry.

With files from Tina Yazdani and Richard Southern