Katie Franzios reports on council's vote for the Gardiner study.

The environmental assessment for the demolition of the Gardiner Expressway East of Jarvis St. has been given the go-ahead after much debate between city councillors. It has been considered Mayor David Miller's pet project over the past few months and now that that the first step towards revitalizing the city's waterfront has been achieved, he couldn't be happier.

"There is a tremendus opportunity for this city on the waterfront," said Miller. "I think we saw today council not trying to manage the past but looking towards a future."

 Although many of the city councillors voted for the assessment, they are still searching for answers on how much the project will cost and how much traffic will suffer. Ball-park figures have been given up until now, estimating the demolition plus the re-jigging of the York St. off-ramp would cost somewhere between $200-300 million.

CFRB's Katie Franzios was at City Hall for the vote.

The assessment is expected to take 18 months and cost around $11 million.