Toronto still awaits the long-overdue opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, a beleaguered transit line already undergoing a massive westward expansion.

The under-construction Eglinton Crosstown West Extension will, as the name implies, extend the future TTC Line 5 another 9.2 kilometres west from the future Mount Dennis station to Renforth Drive.

At its western end, the extension will operate in a tunnelled section from Renforth Drive to just west of Scarlett Road, before surfacing to meet a 1.5-kilometre elevated guideway spanning from east of Jane Street along the north side of Eglinton Avenue West, before again dipping below ground to connect with the line's current western terminus at Mount Dennis.

With tunnelling already underway since 2022, construction of this central guideway commenced this year, though Metrolinx continues to release new imagery of how this section of the line will look once complete and in service — which was initially expected for December 2025.

Some new renderings of Toronto's @EglintonWestEXT (Line 5 extension) elevated guideway at Scarlett Road and at Eglinton Flats. Elevated rail fits right in to Etobicoke, and is a fast and cheaper way to build better transit. From: https://t.co/khhEARGZYM pic.twitter.com/uXUVbCaUYg

— Alex Glista 🇨🇦 (@AlexanderGlista) August 22, 2024

Two of the extension's seven stations will be situated along this guideway, with these stations at Scarlett Road and Jane Street to be constructed in an elevated configuration.

The future Scarlett Station, seen in the embedded graphic above, has the potential to be a real boon for the surrounding neighbourhood, home to dozens of high-rise apartment buildings that are currently only served by bus routes.

This elevated stretch was deemed necessary to bridge the line over the Humber River in an identified floodplain zone, an area Metrolinx states "has experienced historic levels of flooding in the past."

The transit agency notes the increasing likelihood of extreme weather events and flooding in the years and decades to come, concluding that an elevated guideway was "the best way to provide safe, reliable service for commuters."

After historic flooding experienced in the Greater Toronto Area this summer, it's not hard to imagine why an above-river routing was chosen.

Elevated crossings are also much cheaper per kilometre than tunnelling methods, and many cities like Vancouver and Chicago rely on largely above-grade transit networks.

While cheaper to build, these exposed-to-the-elements lines can also cost more to maintain, and snow clearance has caused issues for other elevated transit in the city like the ill-fated Line 3 Scarborough RT. Even exposed stretches of Line 1 and Line 2 have been known to suffer unexpected closures amid heavy snowfall.

But, despite the loss of the Scarborough RT in 2023, elevated rail is making a comeback in Toronto. A new elevated GO corridor recently completed construction in the city, while the Crosstown Extension and the forthcoming Ontario Line will also feature elevated sections.