It turns out rumours of the Fort York Bridge’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
At a public works committee meeting Thursday, plans to span the rail lines north of the historic fort with a pedestrian and cycle bridge were revived, only eight months after they were all but killed off in a controversial vote spearheaded by Rob Ford’s allies on council.
At the time, Fordist councillors said the bridge, already approved by the previous council, was too expensive and cheaper alternatives needed to be found. Many believed that there was no will under Mayor Ford to complete the project, and accused the new administration of a lack of city-planning vision.
But it turns out the hunt for cheaper alternatives was genuine. On Thursday, staff tabled a report that presents three alternative, less expensive designs for the bridge, with many elements similar to the original award-winning design that was nixed in the spring.
The alternative designs will cost somewhere between $18 and 19.7 million, down at least $6.6 million from the projected cost of the old design. They all retain a similar “inclined arch” shape described in the original plan, but essentially split it in two by spanning the middle section with a mound of earth called a berm. The original design called for a single, long span.
Councillor Mike Layton, whose ward encompasses Fort York and who strongly opposed scrapping the project in the spring, said he’s pleased the bridge has been resurrected, but is disappointed that it won’t be completed in time for the War of 1812’s bicentennial anniversary as originally intended.
“This allows us to keep a couple of options on the table, albeit ones that respect the original character of the bridge, and make sure that we build a really beautiful neighbourhood down there,” Layton said.
Councillor David Shiner, a Ford ally who led the way in both scrapping the original plan in May and presenting alternatives this week, said that he had never intended to derail the project altogether.
“It was never the intention to not permit the construction of a bridge,” he said. “It was, and it is, I believe, our responsibility to be sure that we’re very careful of the way we spend taxpayers’ dollars.”
Shiner also praised the cooperation between himself, Councillor Layton, and the mayor’s office, who were all involved in bringing forth the new plans.
“I’d love to be the first person to go over this bridge with my colleague side by side, holding hands,” he joked, indicating Layton.
The spirit of cooperation was short-lived however, and evaporated completely when public works chair Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong introduced a surprise motion to look into selling off land next to the bridge to finance its construction. The city-owned land at 53 Strachan Avenue is in Layton’s ward and contains a homeless shelter, and Minnan-Wong gave no notice in previous talks with Layton about the bridge that he would be suggesting selling it off.
Layton was livid.
“This was about trying to reach across and say, ‘I’m going to work with you guys,'” he told Minnan-Wong. “And for that, I get this kind of treatment in return. This is unbelievable.”
Minnan-Wong suggested he had been angered by Layton tweeting about a disagreement the two had had at a previous meeting, but insisted he only intended that land not being used by the shelter be considered for sale.
“It’s a very large piece of land. It was never my intention to threaten the homeless shelter, and for the councillor to suggest that is not correct,” he said.
Shiner helped broker a compromise and Minnan-Wong withdrew his motion about the city-owned land. The revised motion on the bridge passed and will be considered by city council on November 29.
The bulk of the funding for the project would come from the Waterfront Long Term Funding Plan and City Capital Plan. Some $5 million is expected to be collected from levies on nearby condo developments.
