Waterfront: Humber Islands in the Works?

[AlvinofDiaspar]

gweed:

Not going to happen, given the amount of properties and parties involved and the sheer controversy it would generate (like TPA would have a fit); besides, the boardwalk + QQ plan would effectively achieve similar goals of having a public space along most of the central waterfront anyways. I thought creating islands external to where the western beaches breakwater now sits would be a more interesting option - especially considering how the rail and highway corridors really narrowed things.

AoD

 

[TOareaFan]

As others have noted, not likely with the current weather trends. How about creating some challenging off-road cycling trails instead?

Couldn't it be both? Don't the hills in Collingwood get used by off-road cyclists when the ski season ends?

Perhaps what Toronto needs is an indoor ski-hill as an attraction!

 

[MisterF]

^Yes they do. This thread is funny - it's amazing how little non-skiers know about the sport

Also, it's cute that you think we'll ever see snow again in Toronto.

Thats a horrible idea, unless you like skiing on imaginary snow.

As others have noted, not likely with the current weather trends.

Snowmaking. Ski resorts pump out manmade snow every night when it's cold enough, and it does get below freezing most nights in the winter. Even this past one, even in Toronto. Most of the ski areas in Ontario would go out of business without manmade snow.

 

[TrickyRicky]

I say we go for a mountain. If we fill in all of Downsview from Keele to the Allen we could reach a summit of 1000m from the base with an angle of repose of 45 degrees.

 

[junctionist]

As much as I like the idea of a massive mountain somewhere in the city for the views, the prospect of creating new islands on Lake Ontario is captivating. It would be incredible to eventually build resorts and perhaps even dense neighbourhoods on islands in Lake Ontario. These would be places of architecture and destination retail along canals like in Amsterdam, embracing the massive body of water on which this city is located. I support this idea of islands to improve water quality at Sunnyside as a start towards such creative uses of fill. Maybe we could also use fill to create berms for flood protection in ravines, and carefully bring some of the city into the ravines rather than the city turning its back to the ravines as it has done historically. That's not to say we shouldn't keep the ravines natural, but it would be interesting for the city to embrace its topography rather than pretending it's flat.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

The natural flow of lake currents in Lake Ontario is to erode the Scarborough Bluffs and carry the sand and silt westward, then depositing them from Ashbridges Bay to the Humber River.

Click on this link to http://www.aquatichabitat.ca/nearshore_geology.shtml as a starting point.

There are those who say that the Leslie Street Spit is leading to the erosion of the Toronto Islands, because the sand and silt from the Scarborough Bluffs are being diverted and dumped out into the lake away from the being deposited along the islands.

 

[jeicow]

A similar project is in its EA by the Credit Valley Conservation area. The plan is basically to build islands around the waste water treatment plan in Lakeview to provide a lakeside link around the treatment plant (it currently borders the lake), and restore some wetlands to the area.

The big driver in that project is that they're estimating to have 10 million m^3 of earth from various regional and municipal projects in Peel and right now, the only site they can dump them is in Barrie. For comparison, they said that the original subway between Union and Eglinton produced 1 million m^3 of earth. That said, they'd have to use the Arsenal Lands as an interim storage site, delaying its conversion to a park.

More info at: http://www.creditvalleyca.ca/planni...al-assessment/lakeview-waterfront-connection/

 

[Irishmonk]

Could be the perfect location for: Ferris Wheel/casino/world's tallest condo/8 star hotel/coyote sanctuary/Toronto Provincial Legislature/DRL western terminus/F1 track/lamprey eel petting pond/Canadian goose statue (bigger than Wawa's)/Canadian penny dumping ground/Ford Family Mausoleum/insert-your-idea-here...

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Could be the perfect location for: Ferris Wheel/casino/world's tallest condo/8 star hotel/coyote sanctuary/Toronto Provincial Legislature/DRL western terminus/F1 track/lamprey eel petting pond/Canadian goose statue (bigger than Wawa's)/Canadian penny dumping ground/Ford Family Mausoleum/insert-your-idea-here...

The Ford Memorial Islands? Is he dead yet?

[video=youtube;R91L7LhH-wg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R91L7LhH-wg[/video]

On second thought, no.

 

[Grimace]

 

[Irishmonk]

^Weren't we supposed to get a floating maple leaf island at some point (as part of the West 8 grand design)? Whatever happened to that?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

That got sinked very, very early on - it wasn't a very practical idea anyways, and the money quite frankly can be spent on other aspects of the overall Central Waterfront project.

AoD

 

[Automation Gallery]

Man-made Humber islands would solve two problems at once

Problem 1:
he has too much dirt.
Digging all those new sewer tunnels and burying all those water pipes will produce around 800,000 cubic metres of “excavated fill†over the next 10 years. Tunnelling for the Eglinton Crosstown transit line will produce another 800,000. Then there is all the fill from digging foundations for the condos and other buildings shooting up around the city. Creating the Humber Bay islands would require 2 million cubic metres, absorbing much of Toronto’s excess and avoiding the cost of shipping it to landfill sites.

Problem 2:
pollution from the Humber River.
Toronto has done a great job of cleaning up its swimming beaches. Eight of 11 now boast Blue Flag status, consistently exceeding tough international standards for water quality and general cleanliness. But two western beaches, Marie Curtis and Sunnyside, a favourite of Toronto bathers for generations, are affected by the pollutants flushed into the lake from the Humber, especially after rainstorms.
More........http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/man-made-humber-islands-would/article2409781/

 

[gristle]

Could be the perfect location for: Ferris Wheel/casino/world's tallest condo/8 star hotel/coyote sanctuary/Toronto Provincial Legislature/DRL western terminus/F1 track/lamprey eel petting pond/Canadian goose statue (bigger than Wawa's)/Canadian penny dumping ground/Ford Family Mausoleum/insert-your-idea-here...

The Ford Family Mausoleum is a nice touch, but you forgot the brothel, man!

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Since they are to redevelop the Ontario Place islands, I can see the first dirt and fill dumped around Ontario Place to enlarge it. Hopefully, some will be used as well to stabilize the Toronto Islands, and the majority to form the Humber Islands.