Toronto Falling Apart

Yesterday, a chunk of concrete fell of the Gardener Expressway in Toronto, nearly missing a car. This chunk was said to be the size of a basketball. Many citizens who use the highway and nearby roads fear that what happened in Montreal a few months ago with a bridge collapse could happen to the Gardener. My Dad is a professional engineer who specializes in bridges. I asked him if he thought the Gardener was safe. His answer came in one word: "no". Even to the untrained eye, the stripped concrete and exposed rusty rebar is enough to start asking questions.

Most highways in the GTA are owned and operated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). Three notable exceptions are the 407, the Gardener Expressway, and the Don Valley Parkway. The 407, as most people know, is privately owned. The Gardener and DVP are owned by the city of Toronto. These two roads have become infamous in GTA commuter lore. The DVP is often referred to as the Don Valley Parking-lot for its jammed, slow commutes. The Gardener is not much better when it comes to traffic, and its downright frightening when taking its structural state into consideration. Construction of the raised causeway section began in 1955. I don't know its exact history, but I can tell by the architectural design that the highway today is the original. The highway cost $110 million to build in 1955 dollars, about $700 million today. The road itself receives patchwork repairs every so often but its getting to the point of being too dangerous to drive on, or under. The collapse of the Gardener is not a matter of if, but when.

Toronto in recent history has not been taking its crumbling infrastructure seriously. Once thought to be a clean city, Toronto's core areas are no better known by dilapidated roads, sidewalks, buildings, and a mysterious open sewer smell in the financial district. Old water pipes are constantly bursting, garbage is everywhere. Once proud buildings such as Maple Leaf Gardens have fallen into such a horrible state of disrepair. In an expose on CFTO News, it was found that there are still unwashed dishes from 1999 still in the arena. (Though to be fair, it's owned by Loblaws, but it's still a historical building)
Toronto's Mayor David Miller promised, broom in hand, that he'd clean up city hall in the 2003 election. Perhaps now he should take that broom and use it to clean up the rest of the city. The city has become a disgraceful mess, and it's no wonder tourists don't want to go there. Would you want to vacation in some place dirty with roads at third world country standards?
What's Mr Miller's argument about this? Well, he likes to scapegoat the McGuinty Liberals and Harris Conservatives for downloading costs onto the city and not giving them enough money to deal with the problems. It's quite clear that Big D is becoming irritated with Miller. The new City of Toronto Act gives Toronto huge amounts of revenue powers. Toronto does indeed collect vast amounts of money. Most of it gets wasted on hair brained, socialist schemes to help the homeless bums and Toronto's other human garbage, rather than tackling the city's most pressing issues. The Gardener needs to be torn down and rebuilt. There are no other options for Mr Miller. Take the highway away and make traffic worse, or let it collapse and kill possibly hundreds of innocent people. Think of the law suit there.
Unfortunately, transportation is not on the mind of Miller. He'd have us all riding our bikes to work, like people do in Bejing. Unfortunately for Miller, we are not in the People's Republic of China. Bicycles are not practical in Canada's harsh winter climate. Roads are needed to get goods, services, and people into and out of the city. Without the expressway, Toronto's economy would halt. Mr Miller better find some money soon, or Bay St could become a ghost town. Businesses and people won't want to stay in a city where transportation is a nightmare.