The City of Toronto has revealed the official estimates of three options for the eastern portion of the aging Gardiner Expressway.
The assessment, which was released Wednesday afternoon, gives three very different price tags for the possible plans. They all concern the 2.4-kilometre stretch between Lower Jarvis Street and Logan Avenue.
This plan, which was supported by city staff in a report last February, involves the removal of the elevated Gardiner structure east of Jarvis Street, and the creation of an eight-lane ground-level roadway. The tear-down option would total $461 million and would increase travel time by an average of three to five minutes for motorists driving to Union Station.
This option gained traction during the 2014 mayoral campaign, but the costs associated with the plan were not known at the time. According to the report, it will cost $919 million and involves maintaining an expressway link between the Gardiner and the Don Valley Parkway. The existing Gardiner on- and off-ramps east of the Don River that extend to Logan Avenue would be demolished, and east of the Don River, Lake Shore Boulevard would be rebuilt as a six-lane boulevard.
Keeping with the status quo would cost an estimated $864 million, according to the report, which uses the plan as a "base case" and not one that seems to be for serious consideration.
The latest report will serve as the basis of public consultation Wednesday evening at the Toronto Reference Library. The fate of the Gardiner is expected to be decided by council later in June.
