Though the people of Toronto are all too familiar with costly construction projects whose completion dates get pushed way past their original schedule, the delays at one work site are particularly infuriating given that they are due to one very simple, but very expensive and time consuming screwup.

While building a new storm sewer under Old Mill Drive, crews managed to tangle a specialized tunnelling machine in some underground wires affixed to a condo building next door, stopping the $3 million piece of equipment dead in its tracks and rendering it completely stuck.

Unfortunately, the solution to the mishap has not been as simple as one might think, and has somehow turned into a nearly two-year-long affair costing $25 million at last estimate, with the anticipated recovery expenses — and time required — continuing to add up.

They're spending HOW MANY MILLION $$$$ to rescue a machine worth $3million?
Has anyone just thought of leaving it there & continue digging on the other side of the stuck part?
Or would that be too simple?

— Catj (@emailcatj) September 18, 2023

Earlier in 2023, the City thought it would end up running about $9 million to retrieve the mechanism from underground, which they aimed to do by April.

The timeline was then bumped to the fall, and just this week, to December, with even more holdups expected down the line. Residents in the area were told this month that the schedule is "subject to change" based on underground conditions, weather, and other unforeseen circumstances.

Then there is the work the boring machine was sent down there to do in the first place, which can't be completed until it is, at long last, exhumed.

Those living nearby can now expect the noise and mess of the construction site to continue until at least next spring, which is when final restoration of the street is set to wrap up — that is, if the remote-controlled apparatus can be extracted in time.

People in Toronto livid that the public has to pay for $25 million construction site slipup https://t.co/bkPEoboygJ #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 7, 2023

Making things worse is the fact that the exorbitant matter, all due to human error, is being paid for by taxpayers when many feel that it should be the responsibility of those at fault, whether that be the subcontractors behind the slipup, the land surveyors for the tunnel or even the developer of the condo whose tiebacks are involved.