OTA applauds Toronto Council vote on Gardiner hybrid

by Truck News

TORONTO, Ont. – The Ontario Trucking Association is celebrating the Toronto City Council’s vote today to redesign the eastern portion of the Gardiner Expressway to respect the need of road users and pedestrians.

The Toronto City Council approved the hybrid option instead of tearing down the eastern portion of the highway and replacing it with a boulevard. The hybrid concept means a continuous freeway link would need to be established between the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway, while also maintaining at-grade, east-west traffic flow to and from the downtown core.

“Today’s vote showed leadership and vision on the part of Mayor John Tory and supporting members of City Council,” said OTA’s senior v.p. Stephen Laskowski.  “All Ontarians, both those who reside inside and outside of the City of Toronto, will benefit from council’s decision to support the hybrid redesign, which is without question the safest, most efficient, and least disruptive option for city traffic and Toronto’s economy.”

The OTA strongly supported the hybrid option though its membership of the Don’tCutMeOff.net Coalition.

“Today’s support by Council of the hybrid redesign avoids the removal option – a plan that knowingly would have made traffic conditions much worse for commercial operators servicing the city and led to a competitive imbalance for businesses in downtown Toronto,” said Laskowski. “The hybrid option will improve the appeal of the Toronto’s skyline as many Torontonians would like to see, but not at the expense of commuters and those trying to service the ever-increasing number of residents and businesses in the area.”


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  • Let’s see how happy everyone is when this already expensive option balloons in cost and falls years behind schedule. Council had a chance to be bold and were not up to the challenge.