When soil testing machines were first rolled out on Eglinton Avenue around 2008 to prepare for a potential light rail line, local business owner Anita Dimitrijevic found them “pretty scary.”
But they were only the start. Work on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT would continue until early this year, spanning political parties, governments, construction firms and local mayors.
For more than 15 years, the key east-west road entered a funk, where local businesses closed, traffic snarled and the transit project at the centre of it struggled from one controversy to another.
Dimitrijevic’s business, Di Moda European Lingerie, is one of many along the route now ready to emerge blinking from the construction chaos when the Eglinton Crosstown LRT officially launches on Sunday.
They are ready for the prosperity the new transit line promised.
“Access to the area was more difficult, parking was limited. Many customers assumed that the whole street was closed and as a small boutique, we really rely on foot traffic,” Dimitrijevic told Global News.
“Seeing the LRT finally open feels like a reward, and we would like to enjoy that reward. We are expecting that our community will change. We’re expecting more people, we’re expecting more movement, more accessibility, more connections.”
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The idea of a major transit line on Eglinton Avenue predates even Dimitrijevic’s business, which has been in the area for 21 years. But it was former Toronto mayor David Miller’s Transit City vision in 2007 that breathed life into the plan.
Miller secured provincial funding for his plan to build light rail along Eglinton Avenue from the provincial government.
“It was our proposal, for the most part our design — our being the City of Toronto and the TTC — and we secured the funding,” Miller told Global News.
Then, his successor at city hall, Rob Ford, came to power in 2010 and scrapped the plan. Instead, he proposed an underground version of the route, kicking off years of debate and chaos.
Despite the wrangling at city hall, the route ended up being agreed upon in the image Miller had imagined, and it began to move forward. The TTC, however, was forced to release control of the plan, which would be led by the newly-created provincial transit agency Metrolinx.
Miller said taking control away from Toronto’s transit agency, which is accountable to residents, was a mistake. It made the Eglinton Crosstown LRT an Ontario-wide political hot potato.
“I’m very sad that provincial interference meant a decade delay and had some other pretty negative consequences, including massive cost overruns,” he said. “I’m angry about that, frankly. But it’s pretty exciting to have been there at the inception.”
The line was beset by lawsuits and delays, missing its target opening date. By 2023, it was three years delayed and Metrolinx had stopped even trying to predict when it might open to the public.
That dynamic continued until December 2025, when the provincial transit agency finally accepted the Eglinton Crosstown LRT as complete and handed it to the TTC. The TTC then took its time assessing the line itself, eventually confirming it would open on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Miller said, despite the long and winding road, it would be a momentous day for Toronto.
“It’s massively frustrating how long it’s taken. And I think people should be justifiably angry,” he said.
“But people should also be really pleased that we finally have rapid transit across an incredibly important avenue in Toronto. That connects so many neighbourhoods, rich and low-income people, into the fabric of the life of the city. It’s pretty exciting.”
That excitement is beginning to bubble along Eglinton Avenue, where the potential of easy access is being relished by businesses.
“It’s only been 15 years, it’s a very exciting day. And we’re excited that this project is moving forward,” Maureen Sirois of Vicky’s Jewellery, and president of the Eglinton Way BIA, told Global News.
“Now we’re optimistic. Our street’s looking great, it’s going to look greater, and people are going to be able to access all these neighbourhoods on Eglinton.”
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