Coalition of community groups wants answers on Gardiner East costs

Forty community groups have signed a letter to the city's deputy mayor calling for a full accounting of the controversial Gardiner East project costs and any revenues which might be left on the table after the expressway is rebuilt.

The coalition calls itself Gardiner East Transparency and includes groups like Community Bikeways, ClimateFast and Transport Action Ontario. It released the letter a week ahead of a key meeting of the infrastructure and environment committee, which will discuss the project on March 20.

Albert Koehl, a spokesperson for the coalition, said it's time to have an open and clear discussion about the cost implications of the project.

"This is a fabulous opportunity for council to say we'd like to see the facts, we want to see the updated numbers around the construction costs," he said.

"And we want to see what we're losing out on in terms of foregone revenues."

In 2016, councillors decided to spend just over $1 billion to retain the eastern portion of the expressway, moving it farther north while tearing down a ramp over Logan Avenue. The so-called "hybrid option" was chosen instead of a proposal to tear down a 1.7-kilometre section of the Gardiner east of Jarvis Street and replace it with a surface-level boulevard for less than half the cost. 

But the project was, and remains, controversial. It represents approximately 14 per cent of the city's overall 10-year capital plan, according to staff.

Koehl said the coalition wants councillors to direct city staff at the committee meeting to do a deep dive on the project.

"We want it done in a very detailed way," he said.

"So far, what we've seen is a four-page briefing note." 

Last month, in response to questions from Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, city staff provided that briefing note. In it, Barbara Gray, the city's general manager of transportation, outlined the possible impacts of changing course on the project.

"Any deviation from the currently approved … option would require new design work," she said in the document.

"Given this, we are not able to say if any funds would be saved by reverting to the "Remove" option, or if any funds would be available for reallocating that would not impact the delivery of the necessary state-of-good repair work."

Lyn Adamson, of ClimateFast, said the Gardiner rebuild runs counter to the city's climate change targets and needs to be revisited.