|
The Eglinton LRT maintenance and storage facility will be required by the Toronto Transit Commission for its Eglinton Crosstown line currently under construction. The site will have storage for 162 Flexity Freedom LRT vehicles and have extensive maintenance facilities to keep them running smoothly. The site was chosen because it was a sufficiently large "brownfield", immediately adjacent to one terminus of the line. The northwest corner of the site will contain a natural-gas fired power plant to be used mainly as a back-up generator. It would have the capacity to run the entire Crosstown system to avoid peak demand times on the provincial power grid or in a power outage, and save about 40 per cent on the price of electricity. The plant will be 25 metres wide, 62 metres long and 9 metres tall.<ref nameTorStar2016-01-09/> Some local residents, and environmental activists, were critical of MetroLinx's plan to use a backup generator powered by fossil fuel.<ref nameWestonWeb2016-01-15/><ref name=InsideToronto2016-07-23/> In January, 201, the Mount Dennis Community Association prepared a petition, calling for the backup power system to use technology that would not generate local pollution. A copy was presented to Laura Albanese the local member of Ontario's Provincial Parliament. On July 23, 2016, Albanese and local Toronto City Council members Frances Nunziata and Frank DiGiorgio met with members of the Association, and assured them that MetroLinx would look into alternate methods to provide back-up power. The Eglinton line will use Flexity Freedom standard gauge rolling stock, and will not be connected to the TTC's current lines, which all use TTC broad gauge. The TTC's existing light rail and streetcar lines all use older Bombardier rolling stock, which are being replaced with TTC Flexity Outlook LRT rolling stock. The October 2015 design for the facility incorporated two artificial ponds, and green tracks, so its landscaping would better integrate with the adjacent parkland, in the Black Creek valley.<ref name=UrbanToronto2015-10-07/> The facility will have a "green roof",
|
|
|