Apr 14, 2015
By Jane Brown
What to do with the aging Gardiner Expressway?
Retaining the eastern portion of the Gardiner as an elevated expressway using the so-called “hybrid” option will reportedly cost more than $900-million dollars.
An environmental assessment led by city staff and Waterfront Toronto will be released tomorrow (Wednesday).
City staff will use it to craft a report that will recommend the best approach for the Gardiner, east of Jarvis. The contentious issue will then go to Toronto City Council.
Two Globe and Mail sources say the environmental assessment will show the hybrid option, originally intended to reroute the highway between Jarvis and the Don Valley Parkway, would cost just over $900-million for capital and long term operating and maintenance costs. This figure is close to double the overall cost of the other main option; removing the Gardiner East and replacing it with a boulevard.
Meantime, a new Forum poll suggests more than half of Torontonians want all or part of the Gardiner torn down. Some 34 percent of respondents say the Gardiner is not safe to use. A quarter of those polled want to keep repairing the expressway.
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