Despite capacity and maintenance problems with the current aging ferries — and soaring costs and delays of new electric vessels — the city’s latest plan for pc28¹ÙÍøIslands does not propose a bridge as a way to improve accessibility to the waterfront park.
Instead, the new , which will be debated at a council’s infrastructure committee next week, seeks to bolster island accessibility largely throughÌýincreased ferry capacity and betterÌýpark maps.
But city staff made clear its goal isÌýnot to encourage more people to visit the island.Ìý
“We’re using a light touch approach, making sure we’re not oversaturating the island because we want to protect its natural amenities,” saidÌýHowie Dayton, director of community recreation for the city’s parks, forestry and recreation division, at a media briefing on the plan Tuesday.
Talk of not wanting to increase visitors to the islands beyond the 1.5 million people who travel there each year were in sharp contrast with other descriptions of the islands at Tuesday’s briefing asÌýan “oasis from urban life,” a place for all and a chance for condo-dwellers to access green space.Ìý
“The pc28¹ÙÍøIsland Park is a gem in our city and it is for all of us,” said Coun. Ausma Malik (Ward 10,ÌýSpadina—Fort York). “It is so critical, especially for growing communities like the one I get to represent.”
Malik said she was “committed to exploring” a fixed link to the island “in a proper way.” She said she will be bringing an amendment to council to that end.
“I’m a condo-dweller myself, I know exactly how important the pc28¹ÙÍøIsland is,” added Malik.
According to the 228-page plan, which was four years in the making and included public consultations, a fixed link such as a bridge would be a “generational project”Ìýrequiring many surveys and studies, while the current transportation issues need a more immediate fix.Ìý
PublicÌýresponse to the idea of a bridge received a mixed response in consultations, according to a city spokesperson at Tuesday’s meeting.Ìý
Coun. Jon Burnside (Ward 16, Don Valley East), who hasÌýÌýat this week’s council session asking the city toÌýexamine a fixed link, told the Star he was not surprised by the reaction.Ìý
“People don’t like to give up their privilege,” he said. “It’s human nature. If you’re a member of one of the exclusive yacht clubs, or one of the 250-300 homes on the island, you (want to) control the number of people accessing the island. Certain politicians are willing to protect that privilege.”Ìý
If the process to create such a link would be a “generational” undertaking, Burnside said, then there’s no time like the present to get started on it.ÌýÌý
TheÌýplan proposes several improvements to the 600 acres of parkland on the island at an estimated cost of $50.6 million.ÌýThese include rehabilitating trails and buildings, and creatingÌýflooding mitigation measures. It also advocates for the millions needed to upgrade to the ferry terminal and the fleet, which is composed of ferries kept in service decades beyond their intended lifespans.Ìý
The plan is also clear that the island should remain car-free.
Of particular importance for the authors of the report was recognizing the significance the island holds for Indigenous and LGBTQ people. To this end, several programs and markers have been proposed to designate or improve upon their spaces and educate visitors.Ìý
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