Will cruise ships soon dock at the foot of Yonge?

Toronto’s central waterfront could become staggeringly busy if the city approves the construction of a gargantuan cruise ship terminal at Yonge and Queens Quay. The Toronto Port Authority—steward of Billy Bishop airport and the city’s inner harbour—has commissioned a feasibility study for a marine transportation hub that would stand opposite the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and serve cruise ships travelling the Great Lakes, plus other recreational boats.

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The new facility would replace the existing terminal near Cherry Beach and the Port Lands. It would officially be known as the Yonge Street Marine Terminal, picking up and dropping off tourists within walking distance of every major form of Toronto transit.

But some are skeptical. In response to the plans, one member of the online forum Urban Toronto mentioned that Queens Quay is “already a nightmare of conflicts” between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians and that “adding a bunch of coach buses” to serve even more tourists would lead to a traffic disaster. These fears of added congestion come only days after Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario would expropriate Billy Bishop with the goal of extending its runway and introducing jet service.

Related: A curvy new pedestrian bridge will link the central waterfront to the Port Lands

The terminal’s pier could occupy a waterfront parking lot that had been earmarked for a public park as part of the Pier 27 complex. Preliminary concepts suggest a multi-use complex with public space on a pier that juts out into the harbour. So far, there’s no design plan for the terminal building itself, though the port authority says it wants the structure to be a “signature architectural element.”