Design
Toronto Wants to Turn the Underpass of a Highway Into a Major Public Park
Project: Under Gardiner would transform an elevated highway into a public park space with dozens of uses.
Back in June, the Toronto City Council voted against removing the Gardiner Expressway that rumbles through the city along the shore of Lake Ontario. The council voted instead for a “hybrid” plan that would reconfigure part of the freeway in eastern Toronto while preserving the elevated road in downtown and western Toronto.
So Toronto still has to live with the elevated expressway. But the city doesn’t have to like it. And since Toronto can’t (or won’t) undo the Gardiner Expressway altogether, the city is planning around it. Project: Under Gardiner, a public–private park partnership, might be the best way to make do.