Dichotomy, the Gardiner and the DVP are not entities unto themselves, are they? The traffic on those routes will inevitably flow off onto city arteries. Next, you will be demanding that these be widened as well. It's only logical, no?
Besides, what is the relationship between widening the Gardiner and the placement of a Walmart? The logic of the comparison is not evident.
Please note Chuck's quote:
Many major cities have removed highways without falling into traffic chaos. Drivers, being autonomous agents, figure out alternate routes.
Sorry, I just don't buy that argument. And the logic between Wal-Mart and NOT widening highways is very clear: the city refuses to do what the majority of people want because the roadway will be too successful? A billion dollars on a subway no one uses but they won't spend $10 million to 'study' widening the DVP (as one hapless councilor proposed two or three years ago.) That is the fractured logic between our elected officials and the way a business would operate: in fact, if city operated more like a business we wouldn't be in this terrible mess!
If you read my posts, I have stated for the record that this city is very badly laid out: all streets basically end at High Park or do wierd things (Dundas St, Davenport to name 2) that make navigating downtown awful.
Of course I understand we can't widen Queen, Yonge or any of these streets NOW, since council 70 or so years ago were clearly narrow in their thinking. Why is it that most other cities understood the automobile would one day be important and actually PLANNED for the future? Vancouver, the center of the tree hugging Universe, has 6 lane roads out of the core - why is that not obvious to people? This city's aversion to planning ahead has made a huge mess of the center core of the city. North, south, east, west - it does not matter which way you travel - it is a gawdawful disaster.
There are NO alternate routes.
So, adding SOME capacity to the expressways may get some of the traffic off the streets, which was their original purpose in the first place. (We seem to have forgotten that.)
It is not a perfect solution, but when the DVP is at a standstill on Xmas Day as I come home from Pickering (my sister's), there is something clearly amiss.
Or would people suppose I head back from Pickering, arms full of presents, on the G0-train?