Key roadblock in Ontario's takeover of DVP and Gardiner Expressway could be cleared by end of year

The final roadblock to Ontario's takeover of the Gardiner Expressway Parkway could be cleared this year as the province and city finalize a deal Toronto's mayor says will free up the city's finances to better maintain everything from its transit system to its parks.

A due diligence review by the province ahead of the upload, including an assessment of the highways, a financial and legal review, and other technical work is the last remaining hurdle for the province's takeover of the two highways. A spokesperson for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria says the province is hopeful the study will be completed later this year. 

"The results of the (review) will help inform future decisions about all aspects of the upload, including timeframes," Dakota Brasier said in a statement. "The Ministry will need to assess the results once received."

The highways will become the property of provincial taxpayers under the deal reached between Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow almost a year and a half ago. Since then, teams of civil servants have been at work on the complicated arrangement of handing over the 33 kilometres of joined road in and out of Toronto's core.

Chow said this week she is optimistic the formal work will wrap in 2025, paving the way for the full upload a short time later.

"The conversation between the province and the city on the Gardiner upload is going very well," she said. "That upload really assists the City of Toronto."

In November 2023, when the agreement was announced, Ford called the highways an "800-pound gorilla on your back", recalling their impact on city finances from his time as a Toronto councillor. 

"Let's make it very clear: it doesn't matter what the due diligence comes back (with), we're taking care of the DVP and the Gardiner," he said. 

Toronto has operated under that assumption ever since, re-allocating $1.9 billion in capital spending to address urgent repair needs elsewhere. During the city's recent budget debate, $500 million was set aside for TTC repairs and maintenance. Parks, Forestry and Recreation will receive $400 million and Transportation Services will receive $350 million. 

Chow said the city has been struggling for decades to keep pace with its aging infrastructure. In 2017, the city started a strategic rehabilitation of the Gardiner, estimated to cost $1.7 billion. Toronto taxpayers have already spent $664 million on several parts of the refurbishment plan, which is yet to be completed. Last year, Ontario provided up to $73 million to help accelerate part of the refurbishment.

The vice-chair of the city's infrastructure committee, Deputy Mayor Mike Colle, called the original download of the highways by the Harris government in the 1990s a bad decision that has hurt the city for decades.

"It's been like slow poison every year because these costs have really taken away our ability to take care of our basic sewers and our water system, our hydro system," he said.

Chow described work to address the capital budget each year as a hamster running on a wheel, largely because of the expense of the Gardiner.

"It costs so much money and you just don't have enough. So while you're busy trying to fix the Gardiner, everything else is falling apart," she said.