Despite the protests of residents and a lack of approval by Toronto city council, Metrolinx is aiming to push forward with a three-storey rail overpass near Davenport Road north of Bloor Street.

The bridge – affectionately called the Gardiner Expressway for GO trains – will allow all-day, two-way service on the Barrie line.

But Davenport residents say a tunnel would be less disruptive to the community than a $120 million, 1.5-kilometre rail bridge from Bloor to Dupont St.

So, should the Davenport bridge be built as planned?

We asked two members of the City newsroom to weigh in.

Thomas Bink: Absolutely it should move forward. Look, I totally understand the NIMBYism of Davenport residents. I would hate to have a giant rail line running through my back yard, too. But the city has to keep moving and growing, and it’s the responsibility of every resident in the city to support the city’s growth. If residents don’t want to live near the bridge, they can move. The city has to keep growing. We shouldn’t stand in the way of progress.

Mike Ongarato: You can fight city hall (not a pleasant experience). You can fight progress (although often futile). You CANNOT fight history. It always wins. And history has something to say about this project. History showed us the mistake of pushing something through just to make things work. The Gardiner Expressway was constructed as a makeshift project so that construction could be completed on Lake Shore Drive. Decades later, look at the mess we have been left to deal with on a daily basis. This project does not take in account the long term interests of our city, or the neighbourhood in which it is being constructed. An open rail line? In winter? Metrolinx can’t get its switches to work right now. The SRT is a prime example of how elevated rails don’t work in this city during the winter. The need is right, the plan is flawed.

Bink: I agree, there have been mistakes in the past. I don’t think anyone who takes the Gardiner every day would say it was a mistake, but I’m sure we would agree that Mel Lastman’s Sheppard ‘subway to nowhere’ qualifies. Still. I think about all the internal navel-gazing that has crushed good plans in the past. Imagine how much better the city would be if the Spadina Expressway was completed. Imagine how much better public transit would be if council could have agreed on a plan for the Scarborough subway 10 years ago. Toronto professes to be a world-class city. World-class cities make tough decisions and push forward with growth, even if it upsets some special-interest groups along the way.

Information about the proposed Davenport bridge. VIA YONGESTREET MEDIA

Ongarato: Then do not commit another mistake. The proposed plan does not take into account the needs of the many, the few, or even the one. Spend the appropriate amount of money to build a PROPER system. Isolate it from outside elements. Make it aesthetically work in the community for which it will live FOREVER. A rail line needs to be built. There is no argument to that. But build for the future; not for the moment. The Gardiner is a black hole of tax money, an eyesore for our city, and has created more problems than it has solved. Learn from history. Or prepare for history to hit you with a very big bat. And history is the biggest homerun hitter in, well, history.

Bink: I’ll put a little faith in Metrolinx’s engineers that the proposed plan is the best plan – for now and the future. I don’t think Metrolinx is in the business of band-aid fixes, and I totally believe that a tunnel option would cost four times as much, which simply isn’t reasonable or feasible. The Gardiner withstood a lot of punishment beyond its original lifespan – a lifespan that was reasonable in terms of cost and technology when it was built in 1955. The Davenport bridge is a reasonable project, so let’s get on with it.

Ongarato: Engineers build objects, they don’t build cities. Cities are a living, breathing entity. Stop this mentality of “building something that works”, and instead create something that will LIVE. People do not marvel at adequacy. “Make do” does not stand the test of time. If we are to be a world class city, act like one. Build neighbourhoods that are works of progress, instead of shoving something down our throats. For once, in this god-forsaken mashup of urban sprawl, rise above the rush of need, and offer a glimpse of what we are to become.

Bink: Enough navel-gazing and second-guessing, let’s get shovels in the ground. Agree to disagree.

Thomas Bink is senior manager for digital news. Mike Ongarato is manager of news promotion.