As part of the City’s transit expansion, the Eglinton East LRT (EELRT) will bring higher order transit to historically underserved areas of Scarborough including seven Neighbourhood Improvement Areas, and create more transportation options in eastern Scarborough by conveniently connecting to other rapid transit services. The EELRT is also referred to as the TTC future Line 7.
In addition to improved transit, the EELRT (future Line 7) will bring significant public realm improvements throughout the corridor with the implementation of Complete Streets design principles.
Light rail was identified as an appropriate transit solution for this part of Scarborough. LRT is a form of rapid transit that uses electric-powered single cars or short trains on fixed rails. ‘Light’ refers to lighter passenger capacity, not the physical weight of the vehicles.
Modern LRT originates from traditional streetcar systems but have been redesigned to run faster and carry more passengers over greater distances in a metropolitan area. Modern light rail systems typically operate in a dedicated right-of-way. This means the rail tracks and concrete structure are separated from vehicle lanes and when combined with traffic signal prioritization, avoids the challenges of operating in mixed traffic like much of Toronto’s streetcar network.
Quick Facts
The proposed route alignment of the Eglinton East LRT (EELRT / future Line 7) is an expansion of the approved Scarborough-Malvern LRT Environmental Assessment (EA) that was completed in 2009 for Transit City and further consulted on between 2017 and 2019 as part of a proposed Scarborough Transit Network Plan. The current plan provides expanded rapid transit access east of Kennedy Station, through the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus as well as to Malvern via Sheppard Avenue and including McCowan Road.
Project Timeline
What we Heard in 2019
Extensive Public Consultation for EELRT planning took place between 2016 – 2019 resulting in the project extension to Malvern. In addition, we heard the following:
The 2019 Public Consultation report is available on request.
The project is currently at the functional 10 percent design stage. At this design stage, the focus of the project is on advancing confirmed route alignment engineering and architectural design details, including the allocation of public space for different uses and LRT stop and station design preferences.
The functional 10 per cent design is reviewed through a Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP), which is an environmental assessment process specific to public transit projects.
The TPAP ensures that project impacts are communicated to the public and that the public has an opportunity to provide positive feedback on project benefits, raise concerns about potential negative impacts on the natural or built environment, and draw attention to economic and social considerations.
The TPAP is required by the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and includes a minimum 120-day public review period.
There are 6 steps identified in the functional 10 per cent design review process:
For information on how to provide feedback on the EELRT (future Line 7) project refer to the section on Public Consultation.
The vision of transit in Scarborough is to improve local accessibility, provide more transit options for residents and commuters and to support the development of more connected and complete communities. As part of this vision, the EELRT will include convenient connections to the TTC bus network as well as to the following existing and proposed rapid transit:
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