Today, Toronto city council voted against taking a second look at the public works committee’s recent decision to delay the Fort York Pedestrian and Cycling Bridge — likely preventing the structure from being built any time soon.

Councillor Mike Layton motioned that council remove final authority for approving the bridge from the works committee to council itself. Layton presented the members with documents showing that nearly 1,000 Torontonians have written e-mails or letters encouraging the city to proceed with the bridge that would traverse the GO train tracks, linking two neighbourhoods north of the Fort.

Twenty-two councillors, out of a total of 45, voted against doing that. The committee decision asking city staff to find a cheaper way to build bridge stands, risking the possibility it will be awhile before the city has the window of time necessary to build the structure again. Metrolinx is preparing to expand the rail corridor to accommodate trains between Pearson Air Terminal and Union Station, and it needs work on the bridge to proceed before this August to avoid delaying the Air—Rail link.

Despite years of planning, the bridge’s innovative design, and the increase in commercial activity it would bring to the area, the committee voted not to proceed with construction. Contractors’ estimates for the project ended up being $4 million more than the city had originally budgeted.