The never ending saga of the Gardiner Expressway.

If there’s one thing you can count on in this city, it’s Torontonians loving a good debate.

Over the past year, the city has debated the issue of subways vs LRTs, whether or not to extend the runways at the Billy Bishop Airport, and whether or not Mirvish + Gehry should be built. Probably the longest and most drawn-out debate (it’s been unfolding for the better part of a decade) is the question of what to do with the Gardiner Expressway.

 

According to a recent Forum Research telephone poll of 1,271 random Torontonians, 39 per cent of respondents support tearing down the 2.4-kilometre elevated portion of the highway east of Jarvis Street, while 37 per cent oppose tearing it down and 24 per cent don’t know what should be done with it.

It’s not only average Torontonians who are split over this issue, but our city’s councillors too. After years of arguing back and forth, a staff report was released earlier this year with the recommendation to tear down the elevated highway east of Jarvis Street. But just as quickly as the report was released, council decided to delay making a decision about the Gardiner’s fate until 2015.

It seems that the Gardiner Expressway has been mired in controversy for decades. The original plans from 1947 called for the demolition of Fort York but this was scrapped due to protest. After years of debate and opposition, construction began in 1955 and by the time it was completed 11 years later, it had cost taxpayers about $110 million ($700 million in today’s currency). And, of course, who can forget the recent news stories about concrete falling from the Gardiner - in fact, this has been an issue since the late 70s.

To get an idea of what might happen if we did tear down part of the Gardiner, we can look to cities like San Francisco, Boston, Milwaukee, and New York, all of which have all torn down some of their highways. In San Francisco for example, after the Embarcadero Freeway was damaged by an earthquake in 1989 it was torn down and is now a beautiful waterfront boulevard flanked with palm trees, with a wide pedestrian promenade that has become a destination for visitors and residents alike.

In Toronto we’d really love to see the Gardiner Expressway transformed into an elevated urban park with a corridor for pedestrians, public spaces, water features, raised lawns, and manicured gardens inspired by the Promenade Plantee in Paris and the High Line in New York. We believe that this would help open up the waterfront to the rest of the city and support Waterfront Toronto’s urban revitalization project. With three of our projects located along the Gardiner Expressway and close to the waterfront (Garrison Point, Pier 27 and the L Tower), we are watching closely as this debate over the Gardiner unfolds. We hope the city comes to a decision that will help revitalize the waterfront, increase our city’s quality of life, and help Toronto become a truly global city.

 

Comments

[Cityzen Group]

Thanks for letting us know Cassandra. It's great to know that there are organizations like Green Ribbon that are working towards making Toronto more sustainable and more pedestrian friendly. We support and appreciate your efforts. Good luck!

[Casandra]

We have a proposal to do just that! 7km of green roof above the elevated Gardiner Expressway. More here: http://www.gardinergreenribbon.com/learn-more/