Comments on: Road to nowhere http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=road-to-nowhere Toronto's new weekly city magazine Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:05:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: John Schepers http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-47924 John Schepers Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:34:06 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-47924 All products are brought by truck. Trucks need roads. Do what Tokyo does and take waste water to make charcoal use charcoal to burn garbage use ashes to make Dyke/expressway out in lake ontario solving grid lock for thirty years. Build polders sell land to pay for it. Parking out in the lake, transit connect, sell gardiner and lakeshore lands to pay. New toll road and parking fees help to reduce taxes. The head in the sand hippies will have there jogging paths to look at and toronto can stay in business. All products are brought by truck. Trucks need roads. Do what Tokyo does and take waste water to make charcoal use charcoal to burn garbage use ashes to make Dyke/expressway out in lake ontario solving grid lock for thirty years. Build polders sell land to pay for it. Parking out in the lake, transit connect, sell gardiner and lakeshore lands to pay. New toll road and parking fees help to reduce taxes. The head in the sand hippies will have there jogging paths to look at and toronto can stay in business.

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]]> By: torontodude http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-46026 torontodude Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:40:01 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-46026 wow! everyone check out the link that fatpat supplied as the first comment on here (http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-san-francisco/)...NYC and Frisco both got rid of their elevated waterfront highways...why must toronto never learn from other's examples. the only debate should be...how soon can we start? like most, i anguished over where would the traffic go? the answer is simple...it goes away...like magic...conversely if we built another 12 lane expressway in addition to the gardner, it would be full too...build it and they will come....get rid of it and they will go away...so simple. i am seriously going to send this to rob ford, denzil minan wong and my local councellor..how can they ignore success like this? wow! everyone check out the link that fatpat supplied as the first comment on here (http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-san-francisco/)…NYC and Frisco both got rid of their elevated waterfront highways…why must toronto never learn from other’s examples. the only debate should be…how soon can we start? like most, i anguished over where would the traffic go? the answer is simple…it goes away…like magic…conversely if we built another 12 lane expressway in addition to the gardner, it would be full too…build it and they will come….get rid of it and they will go away…so simple.

i am seriously going to send this to rob ford, denzil minan wong and my local councellor..how can they ignore success like this?

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]]> By: KAREN http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43900 KAREN Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:17:32 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43900 The poor Gardiner! and poor people who use it to travel downtown daily or tourists who use regularly! Maybe something could have been done to fix it 10 years ago, but now all the land that was available has a condo on it or being built on it! As for the "ugly" gardiner, who the heck can even notices it now!!! There is so much built around it, it's hard to notice. Before there are absolute no opinions left to fix and/or replace it, stop allowing all the surronding land to be used up with condos. As for the people who are buying all these condos that are a stones throw from the highway, it was their choice to buy there, live with it! The poor Gardiner! and poor people who use it to travel downtown daily or tourists who use regularly! Maybe something could have been done to fix it 10 years ago, but now all the land that was available has a condo on it or being built on it! As for the “ugly” gardiner, who the heck can even notices it now!!! There is so much built around it, it’s hard to notice. Before there are absolute no opinions left to fix and/or replace it, stop allowing all the surronding land to be used up with condos. As for the people who are buying all these condos that are a stones throw from the highway, it was their choice to buy there, live with it!

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]]> By: Dans http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43899 Dans Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:16:51 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43899 If you look now there are condo's that literally appear to have balconies that abutt the gardiner....so what to do...knock them down? This has turned into a farce of epic proportions.... Knock the Gardiner down, band the bankers from Driving their BMW's at 130 km /h to work... beef up public transit and bury the roads..... before Toronto chokes .... Toronto loves to Fiddle while Rome burns.... If you look now there are condo’s that literally appear to have balconies that abutt the gardiner….so what to do…knock them down?
This has turned into a farce of epic proportions….
Knock the Gardiner down, band the bankers from Driving their BMW’s at 130 km /h to work…
beef up public transit and bury the roads…..
before Toronto chokes ….

Toronto loves to Fiddle while Rome burns….

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]]> By: Anonymous http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43897 Anonymous Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:52:14 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43897 Not that I disagree but the Gardiner supports 121,000 cars PER DAY, they're not on it for the view, where would you put these cars, wouldn't that "nice main street" essentially become a parking lot? Transit is nice but if it doesn't connect to the origins of those car trips you're not eliminating the cars (they won't just stop coming because the Gardiner is gone). What is Traffic Evaporation? I think in the long run the Gardiner should be removed but not before a better connected city is established. Our Subways infact go nowhere other than traversing perpendicular strips but getting out to the Beah, Queen East, King West, Etobicoke there is no options other than multiple bus rides. Taking the Gardiner down now without other ways to move people would be like removing a ventricle the city would have a heart attack. Not that I disagree but the Gardiner supports 121,000 cars PER DAY, they’re not on it for the view, where would you put these cars, wouldn’t that “nice main street” essentially become a parking lot? Transit is nice but if it doesn’t connect to the origins of those car trips you’re not eliminating the cars (they won’t just stop coming because the Gardiner is gone). What is Traffic Evaporation? I think in the long run the Gardiner should be removed but not before a better connected city is established. Our Subways infact go nowhere other than traversing perpendicular strips but getting out to the Beah, Queen East, King West, Etobicoke there is no options other than multiple bus rides. Taking the Gardiner down now without other ways to move people would be like removing a ventricle the city would have a heart attack.

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]]> By: Mark http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43822 Mark Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:49:58 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43822 Would it be possible to dig a tunnel directly underneath it using machines like those digging the new Spadina subway extension? This way, the Gardiner could remain in use until the tunnel road underneath is ready. Would it be possible to dig a tunnel directly underneath it using machines like those digging the new Spadina subway extension? This way, the Gardiner could remain in use until the tunnel road underneath is ready.

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]]> By: Aaron http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43705 Aaron Sat, 12 Jan 2013 22:13:13 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43705 Toronto: study capital, ignore study capital, and do nothing capital of the world. On that note, there should be a new transit plan announcement any day now. It's been several weeks since the last one. Toronto: study capital, ignore study capital, and do nothing capital of the world.

On that note, there should be a new transit plan announcement any day now. It’s been several weeks since the last one.

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]]> By: fatpat http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43687 fatpat Sat, 12 Jan 2013 14:27:31 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43687 Check out this video of how San Francisco handle it's own removal of an elavated highway. The result is amazing. http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-san-francisco/ Check out this video of how San Francisco handle it’s own removal of an elavated highway. The result is amazing.

http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-san-francisco/

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]]> By: junctionist http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43676 junctionist Sat, 12 Jan 2013 04:44:33 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43676 I don't think it's a good idea. The railway corridor downtown is already elevated. It's essentially a large viaduct, but few people even notice that fact because it's tucked in between buildings and when streets like Yonge or Bay pass under it, it just seems like a bigger version of the dozens of underpasses in the city in which the road goes under the railway corridor. But it really is built higher than surface level. To put an expressway on top of that would be ugly, costly to engineer and to build as it would have to be able to withstand the force of train collisions. The ramps would be shifted to what are pedestrian-friendly areas like Front Street (at least relative to Lake Shore). The massive boulevard also seems like an unappealing option for pedestrians. You would have to cross a massive and very congested roadway to get to the waterfront. That roadway would probably take up more land than the Gardiner does today. So I think burying it would be the best option, barring a massive investment in subways and GO Transit (which Metrolinx is doing to the tune of 10s of billions of dollars) that would make it unnecessary. The tunnel in the harbour with infill on top of it for large new parks would be amazing. So many people complain of the lack of an open waterfront with massive private complexes built almost to the water's edge like the Harbour Square condominiums from the 1970s, taking up space at the most central part of the waterfront where people have always wanted prominent public spaces--since the grand esplanade plans of the 19th century that were shelved when the railways came along. I don’t think it’s a good idea. The railway corridor downtown is already elevated. It’s essentially a large viaduct, but few people even notice that fact because it’s tucked in between buildings and when streets like Yonge or Bay pass under it, it just seems like a bigger version of the dozens of underpasses in the city in which the road goes under the railway corridor. But it really is built higher than surface level. To put an expressway on top of that would be ugly, costly to engineer and to build as it would have to be able to withstand the force of train collisions. The ramps would be shifted to what are pedestrian-friendly areas like Front Street (at least relative to Lake Shore).

The massive boulevard also seems like an unappealing option for pedestrians. You would have to cross a massive and very congested roadway to get to the waterfront. That roadway would probably take up more land than the Gardiner does today. So I think burying it would be the best option, barring a massive investment in subways and GO Transit (which Metrolinx is doing to the tune of 10s of billions of dollars) that would make it unnecessary.

The tunnel in the harbour with infill on top of it for large new parks would be amazing. So many people complain of the lack of an open waterfront with massive private complexes built almost to the water’s edge like the Harbour Square condominiums from the 1970s, taking up space at the most central part of the waterfront where people have always wanted prominent public spaces–since the grand esplanade plans of the 19th century that were shelved when the railways came along.

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]]> By: tedsy http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/road-to-nowhere/#comment-43665 tedsy Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:40:50 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=116320#comment-43665 This does seem like the least bad idea. To add to it, why not build above the new expressway (wherever it is, for that matter) to keep off the snow, to minimize the need for salt. There will need to be access to fresh air every so often, but overlapping roofs could keep off most of the snowfall. The income from all that new real estate might even make the overall cost a negative (a positive development). But, please the gods, lets not make the Lakeshore even wider and worser. This does seem like the least bad idea.
To add to it, why not build above the new expressway (wherever it is, for that matter) to keep off the snow, to minimize the need for salt. There will need to be access to fresh air every so often, but overlapping roofs could keep off most of the snowfall.
The income from all that new real estate might even make the overall cost a negative (a positive development).
But, please the gods, lets not make the Lakeshore even wider and worser.

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