The Maley Drive extension: to build or not to build

Debate over the proposedMaleyDrive extension is expected to heat up when citizens getting a chance to speak up at a public meeting tonight.

It will be one ofthe firstdebates in the project's long history in which the public will get to have their say.

ExtendingMaleyDrive to help get truck and commuter traffic off ofLasalleBoulevard is an idea that dates back to the1980s.

The project was passed up several times by city council over the years, including in favour of the Brady Street extension in the1990s.

The plans were revived following amalgamation and came the closest to becoming reality in 2008, when theMaleyextension was among a $205 million "legacy projects" package that also included a new four-pad arena complex and a performing arts centre, which was ultimately voted down by city council.

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The subsequent term of council repeatedly counted it as its top priority and pushed the federal and provincial governments for funding.

Ontario committed its third of the $80 million pricetag for phase one of the project (running from College Boreal to Barrydowne Road) during the 2014 election, but the federal government has yet to follow suit.

While the feds have been deliberating, a new city council was elected in 2014, with several councillors saying they weren't sure the road should be the city's top infrastructure priority, but wondering what that would mean for the dollars already committed by the province.

A video was presented to council in 2009, but is more or less what the plans for MaleyDrive look like today, with the exception of a roundabout now planned for the intersection with Barrydowne.