Interesting reading opinions from 5 years ago. The optics on highways has changed a lot since then, removing highways is now the modus operandi for most of the western developed world and now even cities like Houston and Dallas are with the program and are actively looking at removing large chunks of their urban highway network. The "war on the car" rhetoric that filled minds 5 years ago has been thrown away much like its biggest champion Rob Ford has been thrown out of office into irrelevance. Now the paramount debate in the city at the moment is about tearing down the eastern section of the Gardiner east of Jarvis. That is actually what has inspired me to dig up this thread and read through it.
So...
Where do we stand on this today?
My take is that the Allen Road prevents development along the Spadina Line, and we are dedicated to building transit oriented development in this city alongside our transit corridors. The Spadina line despite being around for much longer has had nowhere near the size or scale of the development the Sheppard Stubway has had. It is clear that the subway is anathema to creating desirable conditions for development, in particular walkable neighbourhoods which are highly prized by todays and future society. The Allen is currently sitting on PRIME real estate. This is also a central part of the city which will soon be the interchange of two subway lines at Eglinton-Allen. The Allen moves (at a snails pace) so little people to nowhere its existence cannot possibly be justified when it flat-out ruins this stretch of Eglinton and Lawrence and prevents development along a subway line.
I see only one long-term option here and that is the removal of the Allen Freeway. Much like in the case of Gardiner East, I am sure that should an EA on the Allen return it will find the removal option as most optimal. The money generated from development might even end up paying for the removal of the Allen.
Personally I would want to fill in the Allen trench and keep a 4-lane road with a complete street on the top of the Spadina line. Streets are not bad, just expressways. This should give substantial space for both development and parkland, as well as connect our cycling trails with Eglinton Bike Lanes, Cedarvale and Beltline. Further investments at Downsview can connect our now mega-Cycling Network with the York University Heights bike trail network in North York.
Here is a pdf of our cycling network found
here.
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Lastly, with so many people expected to move to Toronto over the next few decades and needing to live somewhere, I don't see how we cannot remove the Allen. We cannot afford to have those people move to the suburbs when there is a transit-corridor in the urban core (yes, we must begin thinking of Midtown as part of our central urban core) of our city that is sitting empty ripe for development.
