People disembark from a ferry at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in downtown Toronto on July 29. Every summer there have been lengthy wait times and crowds at the ferry terminal, with things reaching a fever pitch on July 20 this year, when there were lineups circling around the block.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
Every summer, Mike Keenan has watched as eager crowds descended on the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in downtown Toronto, waiting for boats – the only way to reach Centre Island.
Visiting the city’s oasis on the water has been a favourite activity since he moved to the area nine years ago. From his condo near the harbour, he can see the lines to the ferry ebb and flow. Over time, he has learned that around 9 a.m. is the perfect moment to start his own journey with his daughter.
But lately, even an early wake-up call hasn’t guaranteed a trip free from lengthy wait times and crowds. The commotion reached a fever pitch one July weekend, when Mr. Keenan witnessed lineups circle around the block.
“There’s no organization, just chaos. It’s a really tiny area for that amount of people,” he said.
Centre Island is one of the main tourism points of Toronto Island Park, a chain of islands spread over 242 hectares in Lake Ontario. The islands attract 1.4 million visitors a year to its network of paths, beaches, amusement park and other attractions. About 600 people live in the park.
People line up at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in downtown Toronto on July 29.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
But this summer, two of the city’s four ferries have been intermittently out of service and the number of visitors has increased, leading to the sort of long lines observed by Mr. Keenan. The result: complaints from visitors and recommendations from the city that people instead plan visits on weekdays – or think about avoiding the destination altogether.
Those problems have revived a longstanding debate in Toronto about whether the city needs to find a better way for people to get to and from the island: a bridge.
People return to the mainland on a ferry at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. The city has been planning to replace some of its outdated ferries for nine years already, but the plan comes with a $92-million price tag, plus another $42-million to install charging infrastructure.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
“The island just became so difficult for people to access,” said April Engelberg, a Toronto resident who ran unsuccessfully for city council two years ago on a platform that pushed for an island bridge.
“Toronto is becoming a concrete condo jungle, and we need access to green space … the island has gotten more popular every year, and a bridge could accommodate all the pedestrians and cyclists.”
Ms. Engelberg noted that the city has been planning to replace some of its outdated ferries for nine years already. That could make getting to the islands more efficient – but it comes with a price tag of $92-million, plus another $42-million to install charging infrastructure. The funds, she said, should be compared with the cost of a fixed link.
Building a bridge to the island would also be costly, and the idea has long been controversial. But in June, city council brought it closer to reality by adopting a motion pushed to explore the feasibility of a bridge, among other access options. The motion will see council conduct a review of improved transportation access to Toronto Island by the first quarter of 2025.
Architect John Plumpton of RevelHouse, who created a design proposal for an island bridge in 2020, estimated the cost at around $200-million. However, he said that figure should be considered alongside the economic opportunities a bridge would create and preventing the need to spend millions on new ferries – or wait for their replacements.
“We want to be a city that tourists and citizens can enjoy,” Mr. Plumpton said. “Our goal is to make things more democratic; the ferries really aren’t convenient and last weekend showed that.”
Water taxis drive their customers to Toronto Island.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
In 2020, Mr. Plumpton’s team worked up a design for a 200-metre fixed link across the channel from the Port Lands to Ward’s Island, which was met with fierce backlash.
“It was so polarizing … people were saying, ‘This guy is a capitalist who just wants to see A&W on the island.’”
While opponents to a bridge, including some residents of the island, worry about overcrowding the destination , he argues that a fixed link could be constructed in a way that’s mindful of local communities.
“The bridge we proposed would head south on the island and away from residential areas; it’s actually the natural way to go there,” he said, noting that the island was once connected to the mainland until the mid-1800s, when a storm wrenched through part of the peninsula.
Tony Farebrother, who has lived on the island for 28 years, is one of those incensed by the bridge proposal. He worries the influx of visitors who could cross over a bridge would hurt the park’s biodiversity and crowd the island.
“Many people go to the island for a space to breathe and sit … engaging with nature,” he said. “The people coming and partying and the noise are not going to help anyone escape the city.”
Others say a bridge can even mitigate the environmental impact of ferrying to the island.
“If you look at the bridge’s average lifecycle, the cost and environmental impact is pretty low compared to running ferries back and forth for 40 years,” said Peter Endres, an architect and professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology who designed a 232-metre pedestrian bridge connecting Dublin Ohio and its historic district.
“Especially if we’re talking about a foot bridge – the impact of pedestrians on the area should be negligible.”
Chloe Town, a professor at Daniels School of Architecture who teaches a course on Ward’s Island, disagrees. She said there are dozens of more cost-effective solutions to improve accessibility while protecting the islands, a biodiverse space home to more than 300 species. These measures include more water taxis with better access points and improved docks, she said.
The islands attract 1.4 million visitors a year with its network of paths, beaches, amusement park and other attractions.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
In 2014, Waterfront Toronto, a group that oversees the revitalization of the city’s waterfront, launched a design competition to revamp the seventies-era ferry terminal to make it more accessible and accommodating to large crowds.
The final plan, titled Harbourfront Landing, was commissioned to three firms specializing in architecture and design. It featured an expansive terminal building with a billowing, green roof that would double the amount of visitors it could accommodate, providing shade and recreation areas for people waiting.
But after nearly four years of design and planning, hardly anything came of it, said Ken Greenberg, one of the urban designers involved.
“It was an exciting project that got rave reviews – there was simply no budget, no money to proceed,” he said.
In a statement, Waterfront Toronto said further project funding for Harbourfront Landing “has not been identified,” but that further improvements will be implemented next year and beyond.
Last week, city council considered the Toronto Island Master Plan, a report that provides short and long-term recommendations for enhancing the Toronto Island Park and its accessibility.
The master plan did not, however, mention the prospect of a bridge.