Toronto might get a cable car between Exhibition Place and the lake

Doug Ford's provincial government remains almost disconcertingly preoccupied with the area surrounding Ontario Place, as evidenced by freshly-leaked details about their proposed new subway line in downtown Toronto.

The Globe and Mail's Oliver Moore recently got his hands on what he calls a "confidential business case for the proposed Ontario Line subway project."

Prepared for the Ontario government and released by Metrolinx on Thursday, the 81-page-long report goes into greater detail about what we can expect of the at least $10 billion-"crown jewel" in Ford's controversial transit plan for the GTA.

Slammed earlier this year by critics as "unrealistic" and "bizarre," the PC government's Ontario Line, as initially proposed, would somehow replace Toronto's long-awaited downtown subway relief line, only it would be twice as long and would be completed two years earlier than the city had promised.

A different report, prepared by Metrolinx and obtained by the Toronto Star earlier this week, suggests that Ford's Ontario Line would actually "deviate significantly from the route of Toronto's proposed relief line subway," following less than 3 k.m. of the original 7.4 km path.

SCOOP -- I've got the full confidential IBC for the province's proposed Ontario Line. And it has a bunch of interesting new details about route and ridership, even dangling the possibility of a cable car between the Ex and the lake. #topoli #onpoli https://t.co/MoOSdcyvD8

— Oliver Moore (@moore_oliver) July 24, 2019

One thing that remains relatively constant across both reports and Ford's initial proposal is the presence of an Exhibition / Ontario Place subway stop.

"That location would connect with a GO station, be in the vicinity of several event venues and Liberty Village, and offer access to Ontario Place," wrote Moore in a piece published by the Globe and Mail on Thursday of the Exhibition station.

Moore suggests that additional details point to why, exactly, the provincial government wants to end its new subway line to end at the Ex.

"A station at the Exhibition Place site will bring subway service to the doorstep of Ontario Place, and will serve any future large-scale destination attraction," states the report.

"There are a multitude of options to provide a high-quality connection directly to Ontario Place," it continues, suggesting options seen in other cities such as automated people movers and cable cars.

A cable car running from Exhibition Place to Ontario Place would be sweet, for sure — but at what cost? And, perhaps more importantly for city officials, who would be footing the bill?