'The Gardiner debate is over': Elevated expressway won't be torn down under Ford
Toronto City Hall is saying good riddance to the Gardiner — on the heels of a fiscal deal that will see the province assume responsibility for the aging expressway.
Ontario's Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria confirmed Tuesday that the government will maintain the elevated eastern portion of the route, which Mayor Olivia Chow had hoped to convert to a surface-level boulevard.
"Absolutely, we would be building that part of the Gardiner," Sarkaria told CTV Toronto Tuesday.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Meanwhile, the premier posted on X, formerly Twitter, "Some people want to tear down the Gardiner Expressway. That would be a disaster for GTA drivers already stuck in bumper to bumper traffic."
"Our new deal with Toronto will save the Gardiner Expressway."
Chow happily hands over the crumbling highway with Queen's Park to assume full capital and operating expenses once the process is complete. Toronto city staff were still assessing the final dollar figure Tuesday, but officials project the savings to the city will be in the billions.
"One reason why I wanted to take down that [elevated] piece was to save money because it was very expensive to rebuild it," Chow said Tuesday.
Council approved the so-called hybrid realignment of the eastern Gardiner in 2016, a decision challenged numerous times since by councillors decrying the cost of rebuilding the eastern leg above grade.
The City has already shelled out more than $500 million in sunk costs on the approved version of the plan. However, the full rebuild is set to start in 2026.
"I was happy with the EA that was approved," Infrastructure Committee Chair Jennifer McKelvie said.
"It's important that when we make a plan, we stick with it. We get on with it. That's what I've always called on, and I'm happy that the premier sees that way, too."
Sarkaria said the province would use the three-year due diligence period to assess whether there should be any additional changes to the expressway.
"We'll review what other improvements can be made to it and take it on a case-by-case basis. But it's our intention, as one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure in our province, to make it the best possible," he said.
"The Gardiner debate is over, it's shut down," political analyst Scott Reid said Tuesday. "It's not going to be torn down. It's not going to be rebuilt, refashioned, redesigned."
"It's going to be there with us for decades to come."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
ANALYSIS Will Donald Trump go to prison? What the precedent says
Now that the jury in Donald Trump's criminal trial has made the historic decision to convict him, the judge overseeing the case will soon face a monumental choice: whether to sentence the 2024 Republican presidential candidate to time behind bars.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Loblaw testing out small-format No Frills grocery stores
Loblaw is testing smaller-format discount stores across the country this year as shoppers increasingly look for ways to save on their grocery bill.
Here's what you should know about Donald Trump's conviction in his hush money trial
Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts marks the end of the former president’s historic hush money trial, but the fight over the case is far from over.
Doomsday plot: Jury convicts Idaho man of killing wife and girlfriend's 2 children
An Idaho man was convicted Thursday of killing his wife and his new girlfriend's two youngest kids in a strange triple murder case that included claims of apocalyptic prophesies, zombie children and illicit affairs.
Russian missiles kill 4 in Kharkiv after Biden OKs a Ukrainian response using U.S. weapons
Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment block in Kharkiv and killed at least four people in a night-time attack, Ukrainian officials said Friday, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden gave Kyiv a green light to strike back with American weapons at Russian military assets targeting the country's second-largest city.