When Toronto mayoral challenger Gil Penalosa took part in the CARP debate on Thursday October 13th, he spoke of what he called John Tory’s irresponsible decision to rebuild the east end of the Gardiner Expressway.

Now Penalosa is promising to cancel the rebuild and replace the elevated highway with an at-grade boulevard if he becomes mayor on Monday.

Penalosa told reporters Wednesday his proposal would open up 5.4 acres of new lands with an estimated value of $450-million. He also said 8000 new homes could be built there, while generating $1-billion in savings and revenue. Penalosa also pointed out his plan would still allow the Don Valley Parkway to be connected with the Gardiner Expressway west of Jarvis Street.

At the CARP debate, incumbent John Tory shut down any plan to reverse a decision from 2015.

“The last way to go about improving services for the present and the future is to go back and revisit a decision made seven years ago,” Tory told Libby Znaimer, who moderated the debate held at The ZoomerPlex.

But Gil Penalosa says he’s confident his proposal is do-able as he says so far no contracts have been signed to build the Gardiner Hybrid since it was approved.