Twice the height of the Eiffel Tower and longer than the CN Tower.
That’s what came to mind for Norm Di Pasquale when he heard that Billy Bishop Airport’s runway could be extended by more than 600 metres to accommodate jets — on top of the 150-metre runway end safety zones already being planned.
“I’m absolutely shocked,” said Pasquale, the chair of NoJetsTO. “This is longer than they’ve ever asked for.”
Community associations raised concerns after the Globe and Mail revealed earlier this week that the Toronto Port Authority is looking to expand the island airport’s runway more than anticipated.
According to emails sent from the Port Authority to the Star, the plan is to extend the main runway from its current length of 1,216 metres to up to 1,830 metres, bringing the total end-to-end land mass to more than 2,000 metres.
The 600-metre extension proposed is far longer than Porter Airlines’ 2013 plan, which called for 200-metre extensions on either side of the runway as part of its push to bring jets to Billy Bishop — a plan ultimately shelved after opposition from the city and the Trudeau government in 2015.
“The majority of the extension would be to the west, with the goal of minimizing impacts on the inner harbour and planned housing developments along the waterfront,” said Toronto Port Authority’s vice-president of communications and public affairs, Deborah Wilson, adding that only the runway buffer zone will be added to the east.
The federally mandated port authority is limiting its study to single-aisle aircraft with a noise profile that is at least as good as that of the Bombardier Q400 currently in operation, Wilson added.
“We have commenced this planning and design with a singular desire to problem solve,” she said, “and that includes ensuring that housing is not impacted and that the operations are quieter and more sustainable.”
The airport currently runs about 150 commercial flights on a weekday, 100 fewer than they have slots available, the Toronto Port Authority has said. Premier Doug Ford has said the airport, which served less than two million passengers last year, would grow to serve ten million under the TPA modernization plan — a proposal that would likely mean more frequent flights than currently operating.
The runway expansion is being welcomed by Giles Gherson, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, who said in a statement Wednesday that modernizing the airport could add up to $8.5 billion annually to the economy, at a time when Toronto is facing economic pressure.
The fact that most of the proposed runway extension would stretch west into Lake Ontario does not offer comfort to Di Pasquale of NoJetsTO, who says it would make the east side less safe and cut off the Western Gap.
Di Pasquale said jet engines can generate powerful exhaust blasts during takeoff, which could pose a risk to kayakers and canoeists in the inner harbour, even with a blast barrier in place. He is worried the extended runway will also block the Western Gap, which now allows sailors to travel between the central and western waterfront.
As the runway pushes closer to Trillium Park and Ontario Place, Di Pasquale said residents and visitors enjoying the waterfront there would no longer be spared the constant noise and force of jet blasts.
“That’s not going to be a very relaxing experience at Ontario Place,” he said. “Why did we spend all that money on Ontario Place?”
Ed Hore, chair of Waterfront for All, said he is concerned a runway extension is being rushed without addressing issues flagged in earlier studies — including the roughly $1-billion infrastructure cost of jet expansion identified in a 2015 report by Air Canada, and the adverse public health impacts flagged in a 2017 environmental assessment commissioned by the Port Authority.
“Studies by the experts are talking about a much, much less intrusive runway than what we’re now talking about,” Hore said. “So presumably, the consequences are larger now.”
It is unclear whether the runway expansion will affect the height of buildings in the waterfront area, which sees proposals for at least 30,000 homes, including towers of 35 to 60 stories.
Wilson, speaking for the Toronto Port Authority, said the agency is working on a study of a runway extension that would deliver community benefits, including quieter operations and removing building restrictions in the East Harbour and Ookwemin Minising.
“This work is not complete, so I cannot provide absolutes or guarantees at this point,” she said, adding that runway designs to be presented in the coming months would allow development at Ookwemin Minising to move forward as planned.
Braman Thillainathan, spokesperson for Mayor Olivia Chow, said it is not a “transparent process” for the mayor to learn of new developments through the media without having received any formal proposal to date.
Last week, Chow slammed the Ford government’s legislation that allows the province to replace the city’s role in the tripartite agreement governing the island airport and take over city-owned waterfront land for a runway extension.
The city council passed a motion to oppose the province’s plan, including exploring legal action.
“The Mayor would like to proceed with existing plans to build housing,” Thillainathan said. “Without the plans for the airport released, it is difficult to know what the impact might be.”
Spadina-Harbourfront Liberal MP Chi Nguyen, who does not oppose considering the expansion, in line with the federal government’s position so far, said she is still awaiting a formal plan to assess the expansion and that residents deserve full transparency on its impact on the waterfront.
“I do not support starting from a position that assumes residents can simply be compensated for displacement,” said Nguyen, “nor do I support any plan that reduces the size, scale, or density of housing when the federal government has invested significantly in housing in Toronto and across the country.”
Neil Betteridge, chair of the development committee at the Gooderham & Worts Neighbourhood Association, also called for more transparency with the expansion plan
“Shifting more of the runway extension into the lake to the west might help reduce impacts on inner harbour boating while still exacting a toll on planned affordable housing on Ookwemin Minising, given Transport Canada standards for jet flight paths,” Betteridge said.
With files from Alyshah Hasham
