There is absolutely NO need for the Island airport.
You guys make me laugh with your "business executive" talk, like they are some sort of god that must be catered to. That's that 1950s suburban mentality planning talking again. "We are going to build expressways to whisk commuters from their homes in the suburbs to the downtown core to work, then home again by 5:30 for dinner with Muffy and the kids"
That kind of thinking all but destroyed just about every American inner city.
Does NYC have an airport downtown? No. And I don't hear any worries about it sliding into the quick sand because it takes the "business excecutive" time to get to the airport.
Does Chicago, LA, or any other major North American city have a downtown airport - Not that I can think of.
Sorry, you can hop on the Gardiner like the rest of us schmoes.
It would be interesting to do a comparison between hopping in a cab at King and Bay and seeing how long it takes to get to the Island Airport verses how long it takes to get to Pearson.
I bet you there is not 20 minutes difference.
Whatever the difference, it is irrelevant. Cities are not about having Island airports. The Island airport is a relic from another age, with no reason to exist whatsoever. Raze it, build a park for everyone to enjoy and the city will be better off for it.
As far as getting to the airport, I would personally like to see a subway. Which would be slower than a dedicated train I admit, but would serve the greater good. I doubt that will happen with the current mind set in Provincial / Federal politics. Toronto is just the cash cow to finance the rest of the country's operations.
Blue 22 was proposed to run from Union Station along the TTR corridor on the Union Station Rail corridor, then taking the CNR Weston subdivision through Parkdale (crossings at Dufferin Street, Brock Avenue, Lansdowne, Dundas, and on up to the airport. It's quite feasible since the railway corridors already exist and the existing grade separations were actually built to accomodate rail expansion and in some cases such as the Lansdowne Avenue Subway north of Dundas, there were elements of the existing superstructure that were removed due to them no longer being utilized. (Though CNR would want to paid handsomely to use their corridor you can bet. This despite the fact that the land was GIVEN to them when they were the Grand Trunk Railway, and later a crown corporation.
As far as I am aware, Peter Kiewit Construction was involved in the proposal and it is still on the books, however, I am not aware as to its current status.
The proposal called for design, build, finance, operate, however, this is usually a pipe dream put forth by local politicians, similar to when CHIC was awarded the construction of the original 407 contract. Originally that too was supposed to be design, build, finance, operate, however, for some reason, the "finance" part got left out of the contract and it ended up that the province paid for it (of course) and eventually it turned into design, build, sue. Eventually the Harris tories sold the entire thing off to the SLF joint venture between SNC Lavalin and Ferrovival of Spain (the current owners)
So, I maintain, there is no need for any island airport.