Viewpoint: A tunnel is a bridge

By Frank Touby – 

When, in plain English, is a 7-storey-deep tunnel not a “bridge”? When the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) wants to evade the legal constraint that it builds no bridge or “similar fixed link” between the Island airport and the mainland. But Webster’s Dictionary would consider the proposed $45 million tunnel an underground bridge:

“A structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc….

“Something resembling a bridge in form or function…”

It’s understandable that the TPA—which many Torontonians consider defeated Liberal MP Dennis Mills’ curse upon our city—would seek to limit its encounters with a local populace that’s most afflicted by the Island airport’s operations.