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Toronto Island Gondola?

jaycola

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I'm sure a bridge would be cheaper but at least you could finance this though riders. It would be a tourist attraction in it's own right. Let a private company build and operate it. Win Win.
 
looks like a good concept, but wouldn't it be dangerous to operate it on windy days?
 
looks like a good concept, but wouldn't it be dangerous to operate it on windy days?

Think about that for a second: where are gondolas used most often? Ski hills! That should answer your question for you. It should also answer the question that someone else is bound to ask about the "harsh Toronto winters"...
 
I think this gondola would ruin the waterfront views...anywhere else in the city i would love this, but not on the waterfront.

we're not trying to be the jersey shore
 
Oddly enough, this seems like one of the few places where this could work.

The suggestion comes a bit late though.
 
I support almost anything to make the islands more accessible.

I don't believe that "exclusivity" is something that we should be aiming for when discussing public parkland.
 
I think this gondola would ruin the waterfront views...anywhere else in the city i would love this, but not on the waterfront.

we're not trying to be the jersey shore

Really? A few poles with a wire attached to them is going to ruin someone's view? If anything, I think it would add a distinctive touch to the waterfront.

Gondolas at ski hills do sometimes get shut down in icy or windy conditions though.

They're good in winds up to about 90 km/hour. Realistically, there would be maybe three to four days a year where unfavourable conditions would shut the line down. If that's justification for not building something, then I guess we shouldn't be running GO trains, because they get cancelled or delayed a good 10-15 times during the winter because of frozen switches, etc.

I support almost anything to make the islands more accessible.

I don't believe that "exclusivity" is something that we should be aiming for when discussing public parkland.

The islands are already "exclusive". You need to pay to take the ferry to get over there. How would a gondola be any different?
 
I look at that and I see Ontario Place rather than the islands. Could be a fun ride, snaking through the pods, bridging the east and west sections...?
 
The islands are already "exclusive". You need to pay to take the ferry to get over there. How would a gondola be any different?

More options are better. A gondola could make the islands more accessible through better schedules (not just once every 30 or 45 minutes) and maybe even a lower cost.
 
More options are better. A gondola could make the islands more accessible through better schedules (not just once every 30 or 45 minutes) and maybe even a lower cost.

Agreed. It would be interesting to see a comparative cost/benefit analysis of gondola vs ferry. It would be pretty cool if they could find a way to connect the gondola directly to Union station, so people didn't have to walk or take the streetcar down to the waterfront. Naturally there would be a waterfront stop too though, I'm just saying it would be convenient for many more people in the city to have it connect to a hub like Union.
 
The answer to island accessibility is to just build some kind of pedestrian/cycling bridge over the eastern gap between Cherry Beach and Ward's Island. This is far enough away from the current ferry dock that some visitors coming from the west will still opt to use the ferry, because we don't want to lose the ferry completely. It's an institution.

This arrangement would also expose more visitors to Cherry Beach, the eastern section of the Martin Goodman trail, and Leslie Spit. (Which I think is undervalued as a really cool part of Toronto.)
 
The answer to island accessibility is to just build some kind of pedestrian/cycling bridge over the eastern gap between Cherry Beach and Ward's Island. This is far enough away from the current ferry dock that some visitors coming from the west will still opt to use the ferry, because we don't want to lose the ferry completely. It's an institution.

This arrangement would also expose more visitors to Cherry Beach, the eastern section of the Martin Goodman trail, and Leslie Spit. (Which I think is undervalued as a really cool part of Toronto.)

This would hit its peak in terms of usability once the Portlands community is really hitting its stride in terms of redeveloping. All of those new residents I would imagine would really value a ped/bike link to the islands.

Having said that though, there's no reason why the two are mutually exclusive options. Choice is a good thing.
 
Really? A few poles with a wire attached to them is going to ruin someone's view? If anything, I think it would add a distinctive touch to the waterfront.

My personal opinion, I hate wires and poles all up in my crib, i.e. like the streetcar wires. Whenever I hear of a Toronto Island Gondola I automatically assume it's going to go straight through the harbour.
 

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