Billy would be proud

Declaring “there’s flight at the end of the tunnel,” Ports Toronto has finally opened its new underground access route to Billy Bishop airport. It was worth the wait.

Passengers who were formerly stuck riding a ferry now have the more reliable alternative of descending 30 metres below the surface and travelling under the Western Channel on sidewalks moving at about 2.3 kilometres an hour.

The entire journey should take less than six minutes and, best of all, passengers will be able to cross over to the airport whenever they want. They won’t have to gear their schedule to the movements of a ferry with a 200-passenger limit, sometimes requiring people to be left ashore in peak periods.

As well as boosting convenience, the additional option provided by the tunnel has the advantage of spreading out traffic to Billy Bishop. It should help reduce the sudden glut of passengers that would appear with every arrival of the ferry.

Of course, critics of the island airport aren’t happy. They would rather see Billy Bishop disappear or, at least, revert back to being a sleepy aerodrome with minimal traffic. The tunnel does nothing to make that happen.

On the contrary, it offers enhanced access to an airport that’s now handling about 2.3 million passengers a year. That’s bad news for those who consider Billy Bishop a blight. But this airport is, in fact, a major urban asset.

As Mayor John Tory quite rightly put it, the tunnel is “one more example of the improvements that you see being made all across Toronto’s waterfront.”

Although it cost $82.5 million, Ports Toronto officials stress that taxpayers contributed no funds directly to this project. It was financed by the private sector with most of the money raised through a $20 Airport Improvement Fee added to the price of each ticket. That’s a responsible approach.

Unfortunately, the tunnel’s opening was significantly delayed. At one time it was thought it might be completed last summer, but it wasn’t ready even for the Pan Am Games.

Never mind. It’s here now and — from the spacious passage down below to the full-size copy of William “Billy” Bishop’s Nieuport fighter plane hanging in the atrium — it’s an asset.

There’s good reason to celebrate the opening of a clean and spacious new pedestrian tunnel