'Let's fix the runway now': Changes could be coming to Billy Bishop Airport
Mayor Olivia Chow’s Executive Committee has adopted a report about extending the runway at Billy Bishop Airport.
PortsToronto is facing a federal regulatory deadline of July 12, 2027 to have a Runway Safety End Area (RESA) at Billy Bishop.
The federal government added the requirement for all airports in Canada in 2021. It means that airports need to have at least 150 metres of safety length at each end of the runways that serve commercial flights in order to help planes avoid missing the runway.
City staff are recommending a limited amendment of the tripartide agreement that governs the airport in order to add mass to the island to extend the runway.
At the same time PortsToronto is asking that its lease to operate the airport be extended by 40 years through 2073 in order to allow a longer window for financing the runway expansion.
City staff are recommending an option to extend the runway, but are not recommending an extension of the lease, which is set to expire in 2033.
Some local groups have said they oppose any expansion of operations or infrastructure at the airport at all.
Speaking with reporters ahead of the meeting Tuesday, Mayor Olivia Chow said she fully supports the runway expansion option proposed by city staff, which the report notes has the smallest impact to life near the waterfront.
"For 14 years Billy Bishop airport knows that runway is too short. So what should be the goal? Build as quickly as possible a runway that is long enough to make it safe," Chow said. "That is our top priority because heaven forbid, I don't want a plane having trouble because the runway is not long enough."
She said that while the issue of the airport always invites passionate views about whether it should be scrapped or expanded, the runway decision should not be an invitation to reopen the entire debate about the airport's future.
"That airport—people always say that should be a park, others say we should fly jets. That's not the debate in front of us," Chow said.
She added that the question of the tripartide agreement is "a long conversation" that can be had at another time.
"We can have that conversation after we fix the runway. Let's fix the runway now," Chow said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Live election results: Trump takes North Carolina battleground as polls close in all swing states
Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Kamala Harris, who was looking to flip the state and expand her pathways to 270 electoral votes.
Trump wins North Carolina, narrowing Harris's path to victory
Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Kamala Harris, who was looking to flip the state and expand her pathways to 270 electoral votes.
Who's going to win? The election prediction roundup
Outlets across the United States have been crunching numbers, parsing polls and working their magic models to predict the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election.
How exit polls work and what they will tell us on election night
Exit polls are a set of surveys that ask voters whom they voted for, as well as additional questions about their political opinions, the factors they considered in the election and their own backgrounds more broadly.
These swing states will likely decide the U.S. presidential election
These swing states will most likely determine the path to the presidency, with candidates needing to win some combination of votes to get them across the 270 mark to secure a majority.
Blues forward Dylan Holloway departs on stretcher after being struck in neck by puck
St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway left Tuesday night's contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning and departed the rink on a stretcher after being struck by a puck late in the first period.
Lamborghini driver who crashed into parked cars while trying to pass streetcar sentenced to prison
A mortgage broker who totalled his Lamborghini and left a passenger with life-altering injuries after trying to pass a Toronto streetcar at nearly three times the speed limit has been handed a two-and-a-half year prison sentence.
Ben Affleck had this to say about his ex, Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck may be going through a divorce, but it sounds like things are amicable.
B.C. RCMP say drunk driver crashed SUV then switched seats with passenger – who crashed again
Two drunk women crashed the same SUV into the same parked car in the same motel parking lot in Prince George, B.C., last week, according to police.