My response to all questions of mitigation: consider a "Do Nothing" scenario (a standard practice in meaningful public infrastructure evaluations) and other alternatives that direct Billy Bishop traffic to other airports.
I'll be making comments on this through the official consultation process, but I'd be lying if I said I believed it would make a difference. If our governments were really brave, they would take the airport over and turn it into a better use.
As someone who teaches the history of Toronto’s urban form, I think this might be the single worst decision in its 250-year evolution.
Number two would be the railroads cutting off the city from the lake, but at least the railroads were useful.
One of the original 6 prototypes built by Swiss company Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG). The TTC kept one in their historic fleet, and another is preserved at @streetcarmuseum.bsky.social.
The rail on the left is good.
The rail on the right is good too.
But the rail on the left will never be a replacement of the one on the right (and viceversa).
The federal government is starting public consultations on the fate of Toronto's island airport, which the province wants to expand to make room for jets.
I touched on this (and other places) when I wrote about decking over the Union Station Railway Corridor. We could do a mix of things in the space, but it would help open up a fixed link between the mainland and the islands, in addition to providing more space for Island visitors to spread out.
This Edmonton speeding study is consistent with data from Calgary showing per capita traffic fatalities have increased markedly since photo radar was restricted by the province in 2022 - Calgary went from being safer than Toronto to notably worse. Reckless speeding kills.
Trevor Heywood
As I noted in my responses, mitigation *may* control risk or negative impacts but it does NOT eliminate them. 50% more bad is less than 80%, but it’s still more bad than you had before! It’s intentionally patronising. “Don’t worry, we’ll mitigate.” The only total mitigation is to not do it!!
Historically, when the Canadian Prime Minister walks through a crowd of protesters, the biggest documented risk is that a protester will be attacked by the Prime Minister.
Alex Bozikovic
Marco Chitti
Following defeat of the a vision for a Rail Deck Park, we should not consider this the end of securing bigger and better parkland in downtown Toronto.
