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A Brief History
When work began on the Gardiner Expressway in 1955, Toronto’s waterfront was still very much a heavy industrial area. No one saw its future as parkland or valuable real estate. Between 1966 (the year the Gardiner was completed) and 2001, the expressway remained almost unchanged.
However, the decline of industry along the waterfront led many people to see its value for parkland and new development. In 2001, after years of study following several reports calling for major changes to the expressway, a portion of the Gardiner from the DVP to Leslie Street was torn down at the urging of the local community. After its removal, parkland, public art and walking and cycling trails were built along Lake Shore Boulevard East.
In 2000, the task force report that led to the creation of Waterfront Toronto (originally known as Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation) called for the removal of the Gardiner Expressway in the central waterfront.
After it was established in 2001/2002 Waterfront Toronto studied the feasibility and costs and determined that the cost of taking down all of the Gardiner in the central waterfront was too high.
In 2008, Waterfront Toronto proposed a partial removal of the Gardiner and sought the City of Toronto’s support to study the feasibility of the concept. In July 2008, Toronto City Council approved Waterfront Toronto’s proposal to undertake an individual environmental assessment to study the removal of the Gardiner from Jarvis Street to just east of the Don Valley Parkway.
For more information please visit the Waterfront Toronto website.
