City removes final piece of multi-million dollar boring machine trapped in Toronto's west end

Construction teams have finally removed the last piece of a trapped boring machine in Toronto’s west end, marking the end of a years-long saga that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

The city began rescue efforts in late September, on Old Mill Drive near Bloor Street West. The machine has been trapped under the residential street since March of 2022, when it quickly became ensnared in steel tiebacks, or industrial wires buried during the pre-build process for two nearby condos.

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“Yeah, millions of dollars later,” said Olivia Chow on Wednesday when asked about the stuck machine’s removal during a press scrum.

“The final bill will be millions of dollars,” she said, not specifying a dollar amount. “This all happened before I became the mayor…but I can assure you when I was asking the city manager about capital operating budget, that machine was stuck in my mind, not just in the mud.”

In an interview with CP24, Mika Raisanen, the City of Toronto’s director of design and construction for engineering and construction services, said the removal process has been “very complex.”

“We had to stabilize the ground,” he said, “and it’s taken much, much longer than expected. But I’m glad the community has been patient with us and understanding. It’s taken far too long, but I think we’re finally getting there…I’m happy to see that the machine’s coming out, and we can continue with our project.”

A years-long saga that has cost Toronto taxpayers millions of dollars has ended after crews removed the last piece of a trapped boring machine in the west end.

The machine first went underground to create a tunnel to help offset regular basement flooding in the area. At the time, city staff decided to use a remote-controlled boring machine, worth $3 million, to create the tunnel.

The machine soon became trapped by the steel tiebacks, and has been underground ever since.

In earlier communications regarding the removal of the machine, the City of Toronto said the final cost for these efforts will be announced once all invoices have been processed. In July, City of Toronto documents indicated the cost of the project could surpass $25 million.