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james t kirk · 10-01-2006, 08:44 AM

Last week a report was released by the Toronto Waterfront Redevelopment Corporation (Who?) that recommended that part of the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway be demolished from roughly Spadina to the DVP.

The report recommended that the elevated portion be replaced with a "great road" whatever the hell that is. Essentially, a ten lane road with a boulevard down the middle and development on either side of the road way.

The report stated that the cost would be 785 million dollars and construction and engineering would take approximately 10 years.

On the cover of the national post the other day they had a photo of a forlorn bent under the Gardiner Expressway taken in February, verses an artist's conceptual drawing of a nice 10 lane roadway in June with 5 cars on it and pedestrians walking down the street.

I have never seen a bigger pile of steaming bullshit in my life.

That picture needs to be ammended to show bumper to bumper traffic with people running for their lives to cross that road and avoiding idiots who will run the reds.

I was all for them tearing down the protion of the gardiner from the DVP to Coxwell as this was never even close to being utilized. It was originally intended to be the Scarborough Expressway take off from and to the Gardiner (originally called the Lakeshore Expressway by the way). The Scarborough Expressway was to run from the DVP along part of Kingston Road through the Beaches, then into the Ontario Hydro Corridor. It was never built and never will be built and that's a good thing.

The Spadina Expressway was to take off from the Gardiner around Spadina (hence why you have those really wide lanes there) and go north on Spadina in cut (sort of like that Autoroute Metropolitan?) in Montreal. The Spadina was to cut right through the Annex and several of Toronto's other nicer neighbourhoods right to the 401. The Allan was the only portion of the Spadina that go built and the Spadina was killed off (thank god)

I do not believe that this city needs any more expressways whatsoever.

However, I think that the recommendation to remove the Gardiner Expressway and replace it with an at grade road is the dumbest thing I have ever read in my life.

I would be all for replacing the Gardiner with a Tunnel under the lake from Stachan to the DVP, but anything else is just plain stoo-pid. The Gardiner as is is a free flow roadway with no stops, no pedestrians and it is bumper to bumper every day of every week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The very notion that making an at grade road would only add 4 minutes to one's trip down the Gardiner is akin to "peace in our time".

Personally, I'd love to see Toronto Transportation add temporary stop lights at all the major intersections along the Gardiner just to see the effects. You'd have traffic backed up to the 401 along the DVP and the Ford plant in the west.

This report was commissioned by the Toronto Waterfront Redevelopment Agency (Who?). They have a vested interest in the redevelopment of the Railway lands adjacent to Skydome (Robert Fung, and his Hong Kong buddies) and the Portlands. In the case of the Skydome area, I find it most interesting that this report would recommend keeping the elevated portion of the Gardiner up and running to - wait for it - Spadina.

Hmmm, I wonder if they are trying to shift the core of Toronto westwards to THEIR properties and developments.

Anyway, as I said, I am all for the tunnel option, but anything else is just rediculous.

BTW, the Gardiner will be closed the weekend of October 28 for a little maintenance. Enjoy the traffic grid lock in the rest of the city.

10-01-2006, 08:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
james t kirk Junkie Location: Toronto	The Gardiner Expressway - Keep it or nuke it? Last week a report was released by the Toronto Waterfront Redevelopment Corporation (Who?) that recommended that part of the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway be demolished from roughly Spadina to the DVP. The report recommended that the elevated portion be replaced with a "great road" whatever the hell that is. Essentially, a ten lane road with a boulevard down the middle and development on either side of the road way. The report stated that the cost would be 785 million dollars and construction and engineering would take approximately 10 years. On the cover of the national post the other day they had a photo of a forlorn bent under the Gardiner Expressway taken in February, verses an artist's conceptual drawing of a nice 10 lane roadway in June with 5 cars on it and pedestrians walking down the street. I have never seen a bigger pile of steaming bullshit in my life. That picture needs to be ammended to show bumper to bumper traffic with people running for their lives to cross that road and avoiding idiots who will run the reds. I was all for them tearing down the protion of the gardiner from the DVP to Coxwell as this was never even close to being utilized. It was originally intended to be the Scarborough Expressway take off from and to the Gardiner (originally called the Lakeshore Expressway by the way). The Scarborough Expressway was to run from the DVP along part of Kingston Road through the Beaches, then into the Ontario Hydro Corridor. It was never built and never will be built and that's a good thing. The Spadina Expressway was to take off from the Gardiner around Spadina (hence why you have those really wide lanes there) and go north on Spadina in cut (sort of like that Autoroute Metropolitan?) in Montreal. The Spadina was to cut right through the Annex and several of Toronto's other nicer neighbourhoods right to the 401. The Allan was the only portion of the Spadina that go built and the Spadina was killed off (thank god) I do not believe that this city needs any more expressways whatsoever. However, I think that the recommendation to remove the Gardiner Expressway and replace it with an at grade road is the dumbest thing I have ever read in my life. I would be all for replacing the Gardiner with a Tunnel under the lake from Stachan to the DVP, but anything else is just plain stoo-pid. The Gardiner as is is a free flow roadway with no stops, no pedestrians and it is bumper to bumper every day of every week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The very notion that making an at grade road would only add 4 minutes to one's trip down the Gardiner is akin to "peace in our time". Personally, I'd love to see Toronto Transportation add temporary stop lights at all the major intersections along the Gardiner just to see the effects. You'd have traffic backed up to the 401 along the DVP and the Ford plant in the west. This report was commissioned by the Toronto Waterfront Redevelopment Agency (Who?). They have a vested interest in the redevelopment of the Railway lands adjacent to Skydome (Robert Fung, and his Hong Kong buddies) and the Portlands. In the case of the Skydome area, I find it most interesting that this report would recommend keeping the elevated portion of the Gardiner up and running to - wait for it - Spadina. Hmmm, I wonder if they are trying to shift the core of Toronto westwards to THEIR properties and developments. Anyway, as I said, I am all for the tunnel option, but anything else is just rediculous. BTW, the Gardiner will be closed the weekend of October 28 for a little maintenance. Enjoy the traffic grid lock in the rest of the city.