Your Input: Walks and Gardens Art Contest Ends Jun.14 + Gardiner Expy East’s Future – Public Forum Jun.13, 2013

The City of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, wants your input for the two events that are described here:

This silent video presents “Union Station Toronto – Simulation of future evening peak”:

  • From 6 seconds to 10 seconds, the video shows part of the Front Street pedestrian bridge which connects the front entrance of Union Station to Front Street
  • From 12 seconds to 25 seconds, you see passengers and visitors walking in the Centre Bridge Area below the Front Street pedestrian bridge

You’re invited to provide input for Toronto’s Walks and Gardens art competition

Toronto invites your input into the designs of five international artists shortlisted in a public art competition:

  • The artists are competing for the opportunity to create and showcase a 21-metre, permanent art installation at Union Station in commemoration of the Walks and Gardens Trust

    • A portion of Union Station building sits on the original Walks and Gardens Trust lands

  • The designs:

    • range from interactive digital pieces to a multicoloured mural

    • artists are:

      • Gisele Amantea
      • Jason Bruges
      • Jim Verburg and Ryan Crouchman 
      • LAb[au]
      • Geoff McFetridge — with Barry Ditto

    • are on display this week from June 11 to 14 at Union Station – Canada’s busiest and most important transit hub

The winning artwork will be installed on the north wall of the new pedestrian walkway (also known as the centre moat) under the Front Street pedestrian bridge:

  • This area, which is under construction as part of the Union Station Revitalization Project, links the Station to the PATH and subway entrance and satisfies Council’s request to place the installation in a relevant, high-traffic area

    • The moat areas will be covered with a glass, skylight-type roof, which will provide the artwork and pedestrians with protection from the elements

  • The winning art installation is expected to be:

    • installed in 2014

    • enjoyed by the 250,000 passengers and visitors who come to Union Station daily, a number that will rise considerably over the next two decades

You can provide input via:

  • filling out a comment card in Union Station’s Great Hall

A selection panel will choose the winner on June 17, followed by an official announcement:

  • The members of this panel are:
    • Catherine Dean, independent curator
    • Micah Lexier, artist
    • Rollo Myers, community member
    • Yves Theoret, director, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
    • Lisa Rochon, architecture and design columnist, Globe and Mail

Please click here for more info about the public art competition and the Walks and Gardens Trust .

This video presents “Toronto city planner on the future of the Gardiner Expressway”:

  • Thursday, Dec 13, 2012: Jennifer Keesmaat, Chief Planner for the City of Toronto, is on The Morning Show to talk about the future of the Gardiner Expressway and how the city can plan development around the crumbling highway

City of Toronto's image: Gardiner Expressway East
City of Toronto’s image: Gardiner Expressway East

Help Decide the Future of the Gardiner Expressway East

  • Plan to attend the City of Toronto’s public forum as the City resumes the environmental assessment and urban design study and discuss options for the future of the Gardiner East:

Public Forum

  • provides an opportunity for you to give feedback and comments on study components, results, and ideas as they develop over the course of the study
  • The format will include panel displays, presentations and small table discussions on key questions

The Project:

  • Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto have resumed the preparation of the Gardiner Expressway / Lake Shore Boulevard Reconfiguration Environmental Assessment (EA) and Integrated Urban Design Study
  • Four alternatives will be considered within the study area, including:

    • “Do Nothing” (maintain the elevated expressway)

    • Improve (the existing elevated expressway)

      • The “Improve” alternative would retain the elevated expressway function, but with modifications to its configuration, as well as to Lake Shore Boulevard underneath

    • Replace (with a new expressway)

      • The “Replace” alternative would eliminate the existing elevated expressway structure, but the expressway function would be retained through construction of a limited access expressway, either buried in a tunnel or reconstructed above ground

    • or Remove (the elevated expressway)

      • The “Remove” alternative would eliminate the expressway function and replace it with a lower-capacity, lower-speed roadway

The Environmental Assessment Study:

  • The proposed study area for the EA is shown on the map below
City of Toronto's map: Environmental Study Area of Gardiner Expressway
City of Toronto’s map: Environmental Study Area of Gardiner Expressway
  • Key components of an EA include:

    • consultation with government agencies

    • Aboriginal communities and interested persons

    • consideration and evaluation of alternatives

    • management of potential environmental effects

  • Conducting an EA promotes good environmental planning before decisions are made about a proposal
  • Here is the timeline for this EA study:

    • EA study is expected to be completed in Spring 2015

    • And following endorsement by City Council the EA Report will be submitted to the provincial Ministry of the Environment for approval under the EA Act

    • The approval period will take a minimum of 32 weeks

      • Construction cannot occur until EA approval is granted

Get Involved:

  • Your input into this important project is critical
  • The Project Team will be hosting a number of public forums, live webcasts, workshops and online opportunities for interested persons to participate in the EA planning process
  • They invite you to the first public forum where:

    • the presentations start at 6:30PM

    • you can learn more about the project, the alternatives being considered and what other jurisdictions have done with elevated waterfront expressways

    • you will also be able to ask questions and speak directly with members of the project team, offer input and submit comments

You can learn about the project and contribute your insights, ideas, and views at www.gardinereast.ca:

  • For more information or to be added to the project mailing list, contact info@gardinereast.ca, or call (416) 479-0662

More information about the public consultation program is available at :

City of Toronto Contact Info

Phone within Toronto city limits: 311

Phone outside city limits: 416-392-CITY (2489)
(can be used within Toronto if you can’t reach 311)

TTY customers: 416-338-0TTY (0889)
Fax: 416-338-0685
E-mail: 311@toronto.ca

If your matter is urgent, please call them. They are open 24/7.

Always call 911 for emergencies.

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