Building the Rail Deck Park

Welcome back to Middle Ground; this is the thirteenth newsletter of our 28 policies in the 28-day series ahead of the 2025 Ontario provincial election.

Today’s issue will be discussing the latest Rail Deck Park proposal

What is the Rail Deck Park?
The Rail Deck Park was a proposal to build a deck above the active railway tracks between Bathurst Street and Blue Jays Way south of Front Street. The original plan from 2016 would have cost $1.66B (according to the city of Toronto) and have seen 8.5 hectares of parkland built downtown. 

Less than a year after the City of Toronto announced their plan, it was revealed that a developer had purchased the development rights from Toronto Terminal Railway over a significant portion of the tracks and wanted to build housing towers. In response, the City of Toronto opposed the project and rejected the rezoning. Since then, the project has been stuck in limbo as the City and developers have been unwilling to agree on a path forward. The Developers have offered to sell the air rights to the City in 2020 for $340M, but that was rejected. 

What is the development proposal?

The last proposal from 2020 was to build nine towers with a total of 6,126 units, specifically focusing on “family-sized” units. The developer also agreed to work with the city to meet affordability targets and build three daycare centers, a community hub and retail space. 

This latest proposal is more balanced overall, with the developer getting far less than their original plan to build 11 buildings up to 70 stories. This proposal balances the financial interest of the developer with the need for green space.

Why should this proposal be accepted?
Downtown Toronto needs green space. Unlike other cities that have built significant green space into their downtown cores or along their waterfronts, Toronto has failed to do so. The biggest failure is the numerous times the City Council has voted against plans to revitalize the waterfront out of concerns about the impacts on businesses near the water. The city could have felt significantly more liveable if these steps had been taken decades ago. 

The Rail Deck Park received significant public support when announced because many Torontonians feel the lack of green space. While this proposal is not ideal (given the need to accommodate developments), it does mean that the city can force the developers to cover more of the costs and work towards solving the housing crisis in the city with additional residential units. 

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill

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