Mayor John Tory (open John Tory's policard) seems poised to narrowly win his bid to keep up the existing east Gardiner Expressway thanks to a carefully crafted motion that has wooed a couple of fence-sitters.

Facing a council split between his “hybrid” option and a cheaper rival plan to replace the 2.4-kilometre span with a ground-level eight-lane boulevard, Tory lumped together three options — maintaining as it is, removal or his real choice of hybrid — and council will vote until one gets a majority.

He has won over undecided Councillor Jim Karygiannis (open Jim Karygiannis's policard) to the hybrid side with a clause that asks city staff to report back on tunnelling instead. Councillor John Campbell (open John Campbell's policard) said he is satisfied by another directive to look at realigning the Gardiner’s path to the Don Valley Parkway.

Councillor Pam McConnell (open Pam McConnell's policard), who represents the area, was near tears as she told councillors they are poised to kill more than a decade of waterfront planning and a new neighbourhood.

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“Now it’s being destroyed because we rushed it . . . instead of looking at the facts and the truth,” McConnell told reporters, adding she expects court challenges from local landowners. Council should find consensus rather than decide a huge vote, for either option, by a vote or two, she added.

Tory had previously dismissed the tunnel option, noting city staff rule it out for reasons including a whopping $2.5-billion price tag.

But Karygiannis said he believes the mayor will listen if city staff now deem a tunnel “a viable option.” He envisions a public-private partnership (P3) yielding a tolled tunnel with no construction costs for the city.

Campbell said “the mayor’s motion pretty much satisfies what I wanted” — to look at moving the Gardiner closer to the railway corridor, as per the first hybrid proposal. While city staff rejected that because of its turning radius to the DVP, Tory told him that he, too, preferred the original hybrid, Campbell said.

Tory also put forward a motion Wednesday to repair and maintain the Gardiner as is — a pricey option known not to be the mayor’s favourite, but one which is supported by Councillor Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard).

The mayor seemed unfazed by the criticism of his tactics — that his tunnel and maintain options were “fakes” — arguing the hybrid is best for Toronto and “I’m about making the city stronger and fairer.”

Tory’s victory is not certain, however, because some councillors’ intentions remain unknown. Council resumes Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

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