Right wing loon Jane Pitfield has revved up in the debate about the Gardiner Expressway, here in Toronto. Like Boston once, Toronto has an elevated expressway that is a failure as a transportation link, and a blight to lake access. Toronto is a prodigiously ugly city, but one that works, and has never really gone in for the big-vision thing, at least since the era when the Gardiner and the subway were built.
So a just-released report that says that the Gardiner should basically be removed is a big deal here. Rarely does a project that creates the potential for benefit, chaos, greed and change happen in Toronto at this scale.
Pitfield is right in this: she says that it’s the best view. And it is. One advantage to being stuck in traffic on it, which is a near certainty except at 4 AM, is that you can enjoy views of the downtown core, the lake and the remaining industry on the waterfront that are unavailable to mere pedestrians, even if these pedestrians are moving faster that the traffic where you are.
So why remove the vantage point for the best view? Instead, convert it into a park. Use the area below for high-density transit and/or auto traffic, in a contained space.
Above, give Toronto an eight kilometer green space from exhibition to the Don Valley. Have concerts up there. Have a continous partially covered skating rink during the winter. Perhaps a pool. A Butterfly Sanctuary and botanical garden. Keep the division between the West and East bound sections, designating one side for runners, bikers and bladers, and the other for walkers, and those who want to sit.
Build a covered walk/bikeway to encourage people to walk and ride, and not use the car.
Put cafes up there. Build something like what European parks have had for generations: the opportunity to sit in a green space, watch the kids play, and have a civilized drink.
Sell access point to major retailers, who would pay to install elevators and escalators along the periphery of the existing structure, solving the problem of a few ramps in places good for cars, not people. They’ll use the flow of people onto and off of the structure to generate revenue. Infill the sides with retail and residential space, or use it for infrastructure
Install a rowing tank up there: have a rowing regatta every year.
Put a free monorail down the center of the two halves, to allow direct connections to and from TTC. Branches could serve the ferry terminal, exhibition place and harbourfront, and take people straight to the southeast corner of High Park.
While property values rise when elevated expressways are removed, sometimes, the highest-value property is adjacent to green spaces in the urban core, like Central Park. Since Toronto lacks a central downtown park of any substance, this is a way to get one, and solve a problem.
The problem of the Gardiner is the same issue of the Ponte Vecchio — the old bridge — a transportation way that has become outmoded and inadequate. Do what has been proved in the places where the Ponte Vecchio is now a dynamic part of the city. Take Florence, as an example.
The irony is that once its gone, believe it or not, there will be a certain nostalgia when people recognize that the Gardiner is a prime example of the design and mentality of a past era, and that we need those things to remain part of the fabric of the city: we just need to be able to suit them to our purposes. The effect the Gardiner has had on the city is huge. The era of the Gardiner is the era when Toronto came into its own. In its own way, its the equivalent of the waterworks, and certainly the Bloor Viaduct.
