Good News on Front St. Extension

[tooker gomberg]

Once in a while really good news comes along. What changed Fung's 
mind on Front St? I suspect Hamish Wilson hypnotized him, or 
something.

You can help bolster Fung's position by calling your City Councillor, 
or the Mayor. Now's the time to pull the plug on this monstrous road 
proposal.

-tooker


Front Street extension too costly, Fung says

Shelve plans until Gardiner issue is settled, waterfront official urges

By JENNIFER LEWINGTON
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Friday, November 28, 2003 - Page A15

A top waterfront official says the costly Front Street extension 
should be put on hold until the future of the Gardiner Expressway -- 
leave it up or take it down -- is settled.

"Let's slow it down and put it on standstill," urged Robert Fung, 
chairman of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. City 
officials immediately offered objections.

The two-kilometre, four-lane road was one of four projects assigned 
to the waterfront corporation when the city, province and federal 
government set it up last year.

 From the outset, critics charged that extending Front Street west to 
Dufferin Street had little to do with waterfront renewal. They argued 
that a road project was taking precedence over proposed transit in 
the central harbour area.

Mr. Fung is expressing concern now for two reasons.

First, the price tag has jumped to $250-million from initial 
estimates of $170-million and, some fear, could climb to $300-million 
before construction begins next fall. Second, the 1999 waterfront 
task force led by Mr. Fung tied the Front Street extension to the 
removal of the elevated Gardiner Expressway.

However, the waterfront corporation Mr. Fung now leads has not come 
to a conclusion on what to do with the expressway, since the cost of 
taking it down could be close to $2-billion.

A study of the options is to begin next year.

Mr. Fung, who first aired his doubts at a public meeting earlier this 
week, said he raised the matter with representatives of the three 
governments last week.

"I am asking the governments to reassess and please advise if they 
really want to do this," he said yesterday in an interview. "This was 
never our project."

West-end city Councillor Joe Pantalone, chairman of the council's 
waterfront committee, was livid about Mr. Fung's comments.

"He's skating on thin ice," Mr. Pantalone said, noting that Mr. 
Fung's warning has not been endorsed by the government-appointed 
board of the corporation. "We don't need a Don Quixote charging 
forward here at who knows what windmills."

While the city is keen to move ahead with a road project that has 
been on the books for a quarter of a century, provincial and federal 
government officials are concerned about cost escalations that could 
erode progress on the waterfront.

David Caplan, Ontario's Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal, 
said yesterday "it's critically important" for all three levels of 
government to stay within the $1.5-billion budget they committed to 
kick-start redevelopment of the waterfront.

"For public confidence and for our own confidence, it's critical that 
we work to stay within our budget," he said.

A spokeswoman for federal Transport Minister David Collenette said 
it's up to Mr. Fung's waterfront corporation board to make a formal 
recommendation to the three governments on whether or not to put the 
Front Street extension on hold.

It's slated for completion in 2008.

That view was echoed yesterday by Toronto mayor-elect David Miller.

"We will have to see what the waterfront board says as a whole and 
see what position they take on any issues," said Mr. Miller, who as a 
councillor had urged that the project be delayed until a decision was 
made on the Gardiner Expressway.

-end-

Garden the Gardiner!!
-- 
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