There’s new light even outside of the tunnel on the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) line But before we get to that construction development on the Toronto transit project where all structural work has been completed within the cavern for the Leaside stop crews have completed installation of the steel roof deck at the Berwick portal allowing them to reinforce the concrete roof and finalize the building’s architectural finishings Give us shelter – The new roof at Eglinton crews are installing light poles which will illuminate the street-level stop which is located on the west side of the intersection of Eglinton Avenue East and Ionview Road And while we have you, did you see this recent Crosstown story about work at one of Toronto’s busiest transit intersections Using LiDAR technology to scan beneath the surface of work sites Guideline enhanced following engagement with Indigenous communities Building a career in ecology – and transit We’ll help you find your way to YYZ from downtown Toronto Personal information is collected under the authority of the Metrolinx Act Personal information you provide will be used add you to an e-mail list that may send promotional messages or otherwise provide you with a personalized experience president of the Rainbow Village I condominium community says residents weary of the Crosstown Light-Rail-Transit line were shocked this year to hear the size of a CreateTO project proposed opposite their building Intensification is expected as the Kennedy Road-Eglinton Avenue area becomes a more significant transit hub Eglinton Crosstown looking east from Ionview Road July 30 Crosstown Communities is a series looking at how the Crosstown Light-Rail Transit line will affect Toronto neighbourhoods it passes through and the information within may be out of date Crosstown is a series looking at how the Eglinton Light Rail Transit (LRT) line will affect the Toronto communities it passes through we explore the potential impact of this project on the community at the end of the line around Kennedy and Eglinton a condominium and townhouse community of perhaps 3,500 on Eglinton Avenue east of Kennedy Road shocked Rainbow residents with plans for 926 housing units in a 2.8-acre triangle of land used for TTC parking across the rail corridor from Rainbow I Complex residents and homeowners from Treverton Park told an online meeting the proposal was too high and too dense but several later said city officials and housing advocates at the meeting gave locals the impression their concerns didn’t matter that bureaucrats had already decided where to build the project and how “There’s absolutely no say in it for us,” said Khalid Ali They pointed out that the area is already a place of incredible traffic especially south of the Kennedy-Eglinton intersection where buses enter and exit day and night presented the vacant site as perfect for such density: it’s beside a transit hub and the Crosstown will make Kennedy-Eglinton even busier and more important Though the obsolete Scarborough Rapid Transit line from Kennedy Station closes in 2023 the Bloor-Danforth subway line is extending north where the Crosstown light-rail-transit line ends and the Kennedy GO Station will soon handle more passenger traffic a Crosstown extension unfunded but still proposed by Toronto may wind its way east and north as far as Malvern Though the Golden Mile Secondary Plan ends at Birchmount Road giving way to apartment blocks and smaller plazas west of Kennedy Station the crush of development expected on Golden Mile will travel east Eglinton Crosstown looking east from Ionview Road on July 30 a “predominately immigrant” community with many families sits on a liaison committee of the provincial transit agency Metrolinx He’s glad Crosstown is near completion — “It’s really going to raise the profile of the area,” Ali said — but called the subway impractical a way politicians can “buy votes” rather than build another LRT line as was originally planned which includes the have-not Neighbourhood Improvement Areas Ionview and Kennedy Park Apartment tenants in Ionview and Kennedy Park aren’t speaking up about development because they’re “working hard to survive,” he said aware communicating with these communities is difficult assume whatever they’re doing on development is in the area’s interests; CreateTO’s consultations are “a total sham,” however because local people aren’t being heard CreateTO is proposing a possible community centre in one proposed building; Kennedy-Eglinton has a public library branch and Don Montgomery Community Recreation Centre is nearby but Ali said few Rainbow residents go there also said the loss of a Tim Hortons for subway work removed a key gathering spot He sees others disappearing for condo projects “I don’t want (Rainbow) to be a place for people just living in condos STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Reporter Mike Adler wanted to find out how the Crosstown LRT might impact Scarborough residents in the already crowded Kennedy-Eglinton area Read the entire Crosstown series here.  is a reporter with toronto.com and Metroland Media Toronto who covers Scarborough and other overlooked parts of Toronto He worked previously for Metroland in York Region Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Metrolinx has completed all structural work within the cavern for the Leaside stop inside Lair Station electrical and lighting works at the station crews have completed installation of the steel roof deck at the Berwick portal allowing them to reinforce the concrete roof and finalize the building’s architectural finishings crews are installing light poles which will illuminate the street-level stop located on the west side of the intersection of Eglinton Avenue East and Ionview Road near Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue East Toronto police are asking for the public’s help to locate a 29-year-old man who has been missing for almost two months He is described as about five feet eight inches tall and 160 pounds with a light brown complexion short black hair usually worn slicked back or curly and a star tattoo on the right side of his neck DeSouza was last seen wearing blue casual shoes Investigators are concerned for his safety and are asking anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-4100, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or online at 222tips.com Toronto police are reminding the public that a person can be reported missing at any time noting there is no mandatory 24-hour waiting period “If you are concerned for someone’s immediate safety, call 911. Otherwise, you can report a person as missing to the Toronto Police Service by calling the non-emergency number, 416-808-2222,” they said in a news release bilingual journalist with more than a decade of diverse experience A graduate of Ryerson University’s Journalism Program she is a breaking news reporter for toronto.com Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account For all the maddening construction caused by the creation of the upcoming Eglinton Crosstown LRT the consolation for many condo owners along the transit line is that their properties have drastically increased in value Real estate platform Strata.ca has released a report that examines how condo values have changed since first phase of construction of the Eglinton Crosstown began back in 2011 While condo values have increased significantly throughout Toronto in the past decade (regardless of the Eglinton Crosstown) with an appreciation rate of 72% from 2016-present date and 117% from 2011 to present most of those along the transit line are outpacing these figures “Any difference in values can certainly be attributed to the luxury of being near a new transit line,” says Strata.ca's Broker of Record The perpetually delayed transit line stretches 19 kilometres across Eglinton Avenue from the new Mount Dennis station at Weston Road all the way to Kennedy station in Scarborough the Strata.ca team calculated the average cost per-square-foot (PSF) for all condominiums within a 900-metre radius around all future 25 stops They also identified every new condo development since 2011 within the same radius the condos clustered around the stations furthest east and west on the transit line have seen the highest appreciation rates since 2016 and Keelesdale station (+103%) saw the largest price surges Property values began to creep up five years ago when the transit line had slowly but surely began to materialize The average cost PSF around Scarborough’s Kennedy station it’s sitting at $500; a stunning increase of 135% condo values have skyrocketed in the same time period by 134% properties surrounding Mount Dennis station have seen a relatively modest increase of 67% (notably less than the city's average) since 2016 Despite the new real estate opportunities typically offered by the introduction of new transit infrastructure developers have focused predominantly on Line 5’s most central stations ones located closest to the existing Yonge line of the TTC a total of 44 new condos have taken shape have along the new transit system more than half were concentrated around just two midtown stations: Yonge-Eglinton (16 new condos) and Mount Pleasant (13 new condos) property values near both of these stations have risen 63% – a relatively modest figure compared to the appreciation rates seen elsewhere along the system it’s a very different story when it comes to new condos no new developments have been built so far and Caledonia stations have seen just three new condos appear in the past 10 years.“Many homebuyers want to live near this new transit line and being further from Yonge is no problem if you can now get to the core quite easily But the housing supply hasn’t been able to keep up with this new demand and the data certainly illustrates that,” explains Robert Van Rhijn The new transit line makes places like Scarborough and York Crosstown seem less dauntingly far from the Toronto core – something that’s clearly reflected in their over 100% increase in property values will benefit the most from the rise in property values “If you own in an area that has yet to be gentrified but the Eglinton Crosstown will breathe new life into these traditionally overlooked pockets,” explains Liu Not everyone is as excited about the LRT – rising real estate prices or not. Just ask some Leaside residents and some of them aren’t thrilled about having an LRT run through their neighbourhood It makes their community more accessible to the masses and they worry this may actually bring their property values down,” says Liu This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page \"our\") of the service provided by this web site (\"Service\") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts Content submitted express the views of their author only This Service is only available to users who are at least {age} years old you represent that you are this age or older or otherwise make available to the Service (\"Content\") may be reviewed by staff members All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory You are entirely responsible for the content of We may remove or modify any Content submitted at any time Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion We may terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service These terms may be changed at any time without notice If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use the Service. 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involves the removal of roughly 7 kilometres of concrete centre medians between Leslie Street and Rosemount Drive to create a flat surface to support construction of two dedicated transit guideways where the Crosstown's rails will be laid The work is being conducted with an aim towards minimal traffic disruption with only intermittent lane closures occurring during this stage of work Elsewhere on the Crosstown's eastern leg, work on utility relocation has either begun or been announced for several locations At various points along the surface section's alignment overhead hydro utilities and underground Enbridge gas distribution lines will be torn down and dug up respectively Leslie Street stop on the LRT's surface section the surface section will include 10 stops between Leslie Street and Ionview Road with brief underground sections for stations at Don Mills and Kennedy With the transit in the middle of the road this stretch of Eglinton East will be reconfigured with two through lanes of eastbound and westbound vehicular traffic plus cycle lanes and turn lanes where necessary Additional information and images can be found in the many related Database files or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct a caption for the first image which was originally identified as work on the surface section of Eglinton Avenue This article was published more than 10 years ago This screenshot from a dashcam video posted on Youtube July 21 shows a Toronto Transit Commission running a red light and nearly hitting a pedestrian at the intersection of Eglinton Ave The latest public relations problem for Toronto's transit system comes in the form of a YouTube video showing a TTC bus roaring through a red light and nearly striking a pedestrian The video was recorded by a dashboard camera and posted on July 21 by a user named BlueTeamPlayer It shows the bus approaching an intersection in the city's east end As the signal at Eglinton Avenue East and Ionview Road turn yellow and then red A woman steps off the curb to cross with the light swerves to avoid her but carries on without stopping TTC CEO Andy Byford said Wednesday that he was shocked when he saw the video TTC communications chief Brad Ross told CBC's Metro Morning radio show Wednesday that the operator could potentially lose their job as a result Images captured by the public have plagued the TTC in recent years a photo of a sleeping fare collector shared via Twitter provoked a storm of headlines turned out to be on heart medication – he died of a stroke later that year Report an editorial error Report a technical issue Editorial code of conduct Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. 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For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions Toronto's next transit line made substantial steps towards completion in 2021, and with the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) line preparing to enter service later this year, Metrolinx has shared a look back into the last year of progress and a preview of what's to come in 2022 Despite much-talked-about delays in construction, the last year saw plenty of project milestones, including the installation of the line's final section of track, the completion of all surface-level stop shelters, and most notably, the delivery of light rail vehicles for testing Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster is featured in a new video that looks back on the last year of progress while also touching on some of the upcoming milestones to look forward to for the new year Verster reports "significant progress made to the 19-kilometre rapid transit line Construction crews are nearing the completion of major works at a number of key locations and Science Centre stations have already finished all major construction work while several other stations will finish early in 2022." "We've already begun system testing work on the western portion of the line between Mount Dennis and Chaplin stations and the eastern portion between Brentcliffe Road and Ionview Road with testing happening between Avenue and Laird stations vehicles can run across the entire length of the Crosstown LRT corridor." Future milestones to look forward to include the imminent completion of other stations along the line allow the traffic-generating lane occupancies near stations to be eliminated the traffic nightmare that is Eglinton Avenue is expected to be cleared up before the line's opening roads and other infrastructure will actually improve from pre-Crosstown conditions "we've added 2.4 km of upgraded water mains built over a kilometre of upgraded sewer systems and added 800 meters of upgraded storm sewers." "That's in addition to replacing 14.3 km of street lights and reconstructing nearly 12 km of roadway — we even built a new bridge while upgrading five others," he adds When the Crosstown reaches substantial completion and enters revenue service as the TTC's Line 5 later this year it will connect commuters with three subway interchanges And this is just the first phase of the LRT, with a western extension gearing up to add another seven stops to the line There are as many ways to celebrate Easter in Scarborough as there are cultures at the core of the celebration is a sense of reflection this Sunday morning will mark the nearly 60-year-old church’s final Easter service opened in 1954 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1970 the church played a key role in its community It offered services to the community seven days a week The basement was built with special consulting rooms initially used as a hospital mental health Clinic and now by a daycare It’s space is also rented out to Scouts and other community groups with changing demographics and an aging congregation the church is closing due to lack of attendance lack of energy from its aging parishioners and demographics that have changed “Our numbers have steadily decreased and its a big building to upkeep A lot of other churches in Canada are closing down and amalgamating,” Woolford said has been attending Iondale Heights United for six years and said Easter was appropriate time to close “This is a good time to close because Christ died and that was a closure to his ministry on Earth similar to our minister’s talk on Sunday about each one of us going to other congregations And that’s why I think it’s a good idea to close has fond memories of teaching Sunday school and pageants at the church “Wonderful energy came from doing those events A highlight would be being able to participate with the children and giving them that foundation.” ministry and personnel committee member at Iondale Heights has been at the church for 55 years and has wonderful memories of her time there She will especially miss the choir which has gone from 50 members down to six “We’ve put on all types of pageants and Easter reviews This is going to be the hardest part: The choir deteriorating.” But the church continued to be there for the community offering Valentine’s Tea and Spring Luncheons “I think those are the things that brought the community in and showed off the church,” said Thornton who has been attending Iondale Heights United since she was married there in 1986 said the upcoming closure is hard for a number of members “Some people haven’t faced the final closure yet We are in the throes of planning the final dinner and service Tickets are advance sale by calling 416-759-4224 is a special celebration service for members former members and friends of Iondale Heights Across Scarborough others celebrate Easter by mixing culture from their homeland with traditions of Holy Week of the Filipino Neighbourhood Association of Highland Creek (FNAHC) Koro Pilipino and those Filipinos who observe Easter from a deeply religious standpoint this time of year offers the opportunity for reflection similar to those popular during the new year as she sees this time as one of new beginnings it is a time of the year to start change — positive change — that is both beneficial to me my community and the people around me,” Siervo said for those celebrating Easter as Filipino Roman Catholic she says the highlight of Holy Week is Easter “It’s when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and his triumph over sin Come Easter Sunday it’s just like Christmas!” Even though the traditions of the Filipino community are rooted in another land the beliefs and customs live on here in Scarborough “What we have practised here is similar to what we have back home,” Siervo said “Traditions are easily translated and easily done here.” She said no matter where in the world Filipinos are living which includes reciting the life and suffering of Jesus Christ by way of verse which comes directly from the Bible and people are designated to sing different parts of the verse “We sing for 24 hours until it is finished on Good Friday,” she said preparing food and cleaning the image of the statue of Jesus Christ which they normally worship during the Basa the Basa takes place at the church and in bigger houses It’s like an open house and people are welcome to come They are welcome to come and sit and sing a verse.” Another tradition popular here and back home which translates to church visits and stopping by various churches in the neighbourhood Siervo this is popular with the younger crowd because it’s a lot easier to do when you are younger and the teenagers go in groups there are active devotees who go through being nailed to crosses to mark Good Friday which is a dramatization of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ But within my own group I didn’t go to that.” She remembered a Holy Week tale from the Philippines that said when the church bell rang before Saturday morning’s first mass you are supposed to jump up as high as you can The story goes that you are apparently supposed to grow taller as soon as we hear the church bell - because Filipinos are not tall and we want to be tall so we jump as high as we can,” Siervo said has been going strong for 20 years and has the approval of the Filipino Chaplaincy Archdiocese of Toronto Bibi Zaman and the Canadian Centre for Women’s Education and Development in Scarborough’s Ionview neighbourhood on Eglinton Avenue East aim to help victims of human trafficking Zaman’s small agency advertised in local stores offering help and 54 girls have come to see her over the past year Seeking to help women who had escaped from sex traffickers Bibi Zaman posted notices at grocery stores in the middle of Scarborough 54 girls and young women - none older than 18 - walked down steps under an Eglinton Avenue East strip plaza to meet Zaman in the cramped offices of the Canadian Centre for Women’s Education and Development (CCWED) though if you saw them you’d think they were 22 or 23 the non-profit group’s executive director said this week all of the sex trade survivors she met were immigrants For them escaping was that much more difficult because worries about deportation and jail made it harder for them to seek help from what one survivor called “the dangerous pit.” and their lives after escaping from pimps were strings of whatever under-the-table jobs they could get Zaman started her agency in 1991 as a volunteer working from a church at Eglinton and Kennedy Road she had been shocked to hear stories of domestic violence and family abuse from many of her classmates; an instructor inspired her to do something about it The flyers Zaman posted last year announcing her year-long program for sex trade survivors offered a safe haven they could say their stories without feeling ashamed of it They had come to Canada with family members and the girls witnessed or became the targets of physical or sexual abuse “The girls run away from home - not that the parents want that but they just leave because they couldn’t stand the violence,” said Zaman “They venture out thinking they can make it on their own and then they fall into this trap,” a sweet-talking man who recruited them into the sex trade and after a brief “honeymoon” when a girl is treated well by a pimp Some acted as pimps themselves to recruit other girls each of the survivors saw their chance to leave when the brutality of their lives became too much to take Zaman said most escaped their traffickers by travelling with other girls they had met through the sex trade “When you share your stories with each other you become solid in a group,” she explained Ontario announced a coordinated human trafficking strategy in June which included drug and mental health counselling and information many had needed on how to get medical care or return to school was funded for a year by the Green Shield Canada Foundation Zaman said governments in Canada still aren’t doing enough to rescue girls and women from pimps and help them rebuild their lives Some of those she saw have gone back to parents in other cities but many have banded together in small groups to share rooms and try babysitting “They’re all hoping that one day they can have a sound education “They’re not giving up that dream at all.” the survivors know her help is only a phone call away