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Cars, cyclists and condos welcome at proposed viaduct
Dave McGinn
National Post
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Last Sunday, the Toronto Party, a fledgling civic political party, endorsed a plan to replace the Gardiner Expressway with a cable-stayed viaduct running above the railway corridor downtown. The viaduct (see it at www.toviaduct.com), designed by engineer Jose Gutierrez, is part of a comprehensive transportation plan for the city of Toronto created by urban and transportation planner James Alcock. The viaduct would accommodate not just cars, but also transit, pedestrians and cyclists. Dave McGinn spoke to Mr. Alcock about the plan.
Q Would it be weird to have a bridge spanning the downtown core?
Alcock No, of course [it wouldn't]. We already have a bridge running through the downtown core -- it's the Gardiner. We'd just build a much nicer looking one, a Gardiner we could be proud of.
Q Good point. It's also a Gardiner we could live in, right?
Alcock The pylons that the bridge would stand on, some of the towers could actually be habitable and could actually be condo buildings.
Q Is there anything like this anywhere else in the world?
Alcock France has just built a cable-stayed viaduct that's taller than the Eiffel Tower that goes across a big valley. You have to understand that great cities around the world have signature bridges: London with the Tower bridge, San Francisco with the Golden Gate bridge. Toronto would have a signature bridge with this plan.
Q What advantages do you think the viaduct plan has over other plans to deal with the Gardiner?
Alcock Instead of having two transportation corridors, we have the expressway beside the railway lines. We'd combine them into one so that the expressway is above the railway lines in a much more aesthetically pleasing design and where the Lakeshore now could be opened up as a beautiful, grand waterfront boulevard.
Q How much would it cost?
Alcock We estimate about $1.6-billion. Don't be scared by that price. Private-public partnerships and probably taxes from many of the habitable towers could pay for it.
Q Do you think people would want to live in those towers?
Alcock Sure they would. They live right beside the Gardiner as it is now. And they could be offices as well. They may not necessarily be homes.
Q Have you had any feedback from politicians about the plan?
Alcock We have. We've surveyed quite a few councillors and they just love the idea. Karen Stintz likes it very much. Jane Pitfield, when she was running for mayor, liked it very much.
Q Where do you think the viaduct stands in regards to other plans to deal with the Gardiner?
Alcock I don't think it stands very high at the moment. We had presented it to the Waterfront Revitalization Committee but they don't seem to take much interest.
Q Toronto seems obsessed with being a world-class city but at the same time it seems reluctant to approve big projects.
Alcock I think we're too frightened to take bold steps. We're concerned about the cost, we're concerned about the public reaction to it. We're very conservative in our nature.
Q Were you pleased to see that the Toronto Party endorsed the plan?
Alcock I was absolutely delighted. I was at the meeting when I made the presentation and then it passed unanimously.
Q When I was first told about it, I thought, "Didn't viaducts die with the Romans?" Then I realized I was thinking of aqueducts.
Alcock Viaducts are the in things all over Europe. There's the one in France that I mentioned. We want to build one right here in Toronto. It would solve the whole Gardiner issue.
Q Where does the plan stand now? Is this a viable viaduct?
Alcock Sure it is. The engineering work is all done. It's just a matter of moving the political will.