Innovative new plans for Toronto's Gardiner Expressway

July 14, 2009

Architect Les Klein, a founding principal in Toronto’s Quadrangle Architects Ltd., has unveiled a green solution for Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway.

Dubbed the Green Ribbon, the concept proposes a seven-kilometre green space over an elevated section running from Dufferin Street to the Don Valley Parkway.

Architect proposes putting a ‘Green Ribbon’ over Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway.

Columns would be put in place to anchor the roof structure.

The linear park would accommodate pedestrian and cycling pathways protected from vehicular traffic. Access would be provided at major intersections via ramps and stairways.

It is envisaged that the Green Ribbon could generate its own power through wind turbines and photovoltaic panels.

Since the expressway opened in 1965, it has become “a target of disdain,” Klein said in a recent presentation. It has been called ugly as well as an obstacle to access to the city’s waterfront.

But the architect contends that the “original majesty” of the engineering and construction can still be appreciated in many places.

And the roadway is only an obstacle to waterfront access when it is at grade.

“When elevated, it is no barrier at all.”

Klein, who maintains that innovative thinking gives new life to older structures, believes the Gardiner deserves “a better and more creative” fate than demolition, a solution proposed in some quarters.

The estimated cost of the Green Ribbon proposal ranges from $500 million to $600 million.