Toronto city council votes to extend runway at Billy Bishop airport

Toronto city council has voted to extend the runway at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to meet a new federal airport safety requirement.

At a city council meeting on Wednesday, the decision to build what is called a runway end safety area passed 17 to 8. City staff say the intention of a runway end safety area, which is ground level land past the end of a runway, is to "reduce the severity of damage to an aircraft" if it were to overshoot or overrun a runway.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow moved the motion that selected the first out of three options presented by city staff.

"We're not closing the airport.This is not the question in front of us," Mayor Olivia Chow told reporterson Wednesday morning before the session.

The following councillors voted against the motion: Brad Bradford, Jon Burnside, Vincent Crisanti, Stephen Holyday, Parthi Kandavel, Nick Mantas, Jennifer McKelvie and James Pasternak.

The vote followed a lengthy debate in council in which some councillors challenged Chow's motion. Option one would build the minimum required landmass for the runway safety areas at an estimated cost of $61 million to $64 million, to be paid by PortsToronto, a federal agency thatowns and operates the airport.

PortsToronto must comply with Transport Canada's regulations by July 12, 2027, city staff said.

Two more options were also considered, the most expensive of which includes a sound barrier and serviceroads, at an estimated cost between $169 and $175 million.

During the debate Wednesday, Chow said the first option would be the fastest and safest option and it presents the lowest risk.

City staff have said each of the three options requires lakefill and thatthe volumeof lakefilland the width of the airport's landmass increases with each option.

According to city staff, option one involves the lowest risk to meet the federal safety requirement by the federal deadline, has the lower project cost than the other two options, avoids the need for additional planning approvalsand can be done in the shortest amount of time with the smallest amount of lakefill.

Also debated was the airport's lease agreement.

Billy Bishop is governed by a tripartite agreement between the City of Toronto, PortsToronto and Transport Canada.

PortsToronto has asked for an extension of the airport's lease to run for 48 years from 2025, which would mean an extension of its term from 2033 to 2073, or an extra 40 years.

On Wednesday, Chow said a longer conversation needs to be had, including with local residents and businesses in the waterfront neighbourhood, before making a decision on the lease agreement.