Toronto city councillors voted unanimously in favour of the 21-acre Rail Deck park proposal at Wednesday’s council meeting.

The debate turned out to be a battle between downtown and the suburbs.

City Council just voted unanimously to proceed with next steps for Rail Deck Park. A big step forward towards building a more liveable city. — Joe Cressy (@joe_cressy) October 5, 2016

The planned park would be built above the rails and transform the downtown core, but the price tag could be a billion dollars.

Mayor Tory is a big backer of the idea, saying you have to at least explore the possibilities of building it.

“Options that I think are bold, options for the future of the city and for future generations in terms of making this place what it already is but keeping it that way and that is a city that is seen as dynamic, a city that is seen as a 21st century liveable city and I think this is an important potential contributor to that.

The project is now going to be be sent forward for further study, and even that could cost upwards of $2-million.

Reporters Cynthia Mulligan and Momin Qureshi are at City Hall. See their updates live below or click on this mobile-friendly link.