Here's the situation. Aging public works that needs expensive rehabilitation and soon. Toronto's agony seems a lesson best not forgotten. Its all about the Gardiner Expressway. This is a major expressway, built in the 1950's which due to inadequate taxpayer funding regarding ongoing maintenance has aged far faster than the original plan.
Studies state that commuters face a delay of ten minutes on each one way travel during the work week days if the Gardiner disappears. The network of media and political punditicles use the term "Gridlock" to describe the resulting traffic jams. Indeed, one of the biggest vote grabbers for politicians involves the promise of reducing gridlock.
The problem involves the positively obvious fact that there are simply too many automobiles on the city infrastructure. Easily 9 out of 10 rush hour cars carry only a single human. As soon as public works builds a solution such as the Gardiner Expressway, it seems to fill up very fast and just as fast as when there was no solution.
Over the years, various solutions have been tried or encouraged. The first of these seems the most logical is public transit where instead of one person, one vehicle a larger single vehicle carries close to 100 people. Logic dictates that in doing this, one vehicle reduces one hundred. Or in the case of a subway or mass transit train, two thousand or more people which translates into the potential elimination of 1999 cars. In North America, this strategy has been an ongoing failure. The reason is that public transportation is a popular way to travel as long as its the other guy on the system.
The second major strategy to eliminate "gridlock" has been staggered working hours. This is a brilliant concept on paper. Presently people seem to get to work between 0800 and 0930hrs and depart between 1600 and 1800hrs, this puts a large number of people onto the mass transit beyond its capacity. And its not cost effective to build expensive public transit to the ideal rush hour capacity.
The staggered working hours though defy any reality. The reason one goes to work at such a time aims at being working with employees or other companies at work during that time also. Economic activity depends on efficient co-ordinated immediate contact transactions. Trade and commerce is a human activity. Staggering hours looks good on paper but defies simple humanity. Its a pointless commercial gimmick.
Since people maintain an addictive relationship with their cars, any action weaning them is doomed to failure. Each one of those adults votes. Forced removal from their cars, is a form of political suicide in a democracy. Heavens above witness the lack of willingness of political leaders to sacrifice their well paid careers for the self interest of the community or nation.
That's the basic transportation dilemma confronting Toronto City Council. Ironically though the people want to stay in their cars, as taxpayers they don't want to fund it to the point sufficient to maintain that facility.
Coming to how that effects the Gardiner Expressway. Any option is the best solution. Something does have to be done. Recognize one thing. That Expressway serves mostly people who do not pay city taxes, who live outside the borders of Toronto.
Two unnerving facts emerge from this controversy. First, I believe that all the budget estimates for any version of the project are way too low. History has proved that 4 out of 5 city projects have overrun the original budgets.
Read a number, a project estimate that is given, then automatically double it. If the hybrid solution that the present mayor wants suggests that it is going to cost $900M, its really going to cost $1.8B. The Spadina transit way, the St. Clair transit way, the trackage down Leslie to the new streetcar barns, the York University subway extension, Harbourfront rehabilitation, ... without exception all these projects have been grievously afflicted by gargantuan cost overruns.
The second unsettling facet of all the Gardiner, Don Valley Parkway reconstruction projects do not include the redirection of the mouth of the Don River. The sharp diversion of the Don immediately below the interchange lends to flooding in every heavy rain. Straightening out the flow channel or eliminating the ninety degree dogleg with a curving shape. Without including the redirection of the Don channel then the future designs of the Don Valley Parkway will continue to be flooded every heavy rain. Reconstructing the Gardiner, gives the opportunity to solve the traffic flow and the water flow. Ignoring the Don River problem will prove more costly for both projects if they continue to be segregated.
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