Hill. Gardiner, former reeve of Forest Hill, admitted that the project would be harmful to the village, "but there is urgent need for an expressway to serve the northwest Metro area" and that the route through the village was the only one that would allow the expressway to enter the Cedarvale Ravine. In June 1961, the section of the Spadina Expressway south of the Crosstown Expressway was cancelled. The Spadina would now terminate at an interchange with the Crosstown, and Spadina Road north of Bloor Street would be widened. Ratepayers Associations banded together to object to the municipal expressway plan, forming the "Coordinating Committee of Toronto Ratepayers Associations" and the "Metro Ratepayers Transportation Committee". University of Toronto professor James Acland of the Rathnelly Residents Association spoke of the futility of combining rapid transit and expressways on one route. "They won't persuade anyone to park his car and take rapid transit when there is a wonderful expressway inviting him to drive downtown." S. A. Hudson, president of the Lawrence Heights Ratepayer Association, cited figures showing the roadway would carry 10,000 vehicles into the core at rush hour, requiring for parking alone. The group placed ads in newspapers prior to the December 12, 1961, vote of Metro Council, urging the rejection of the plan. The pressure was partially effective as council voted 19 to 2 to remove the Crosstown, but approved the first stage of the Spadina by a vote of 13 to 8 while deferring a vote on construction south of Lawrence. The vote put the whole project in doubt. The province wanted Metro council approval for the whole project before releasing any funds, but the vote covered only the Lawrence to Highway401 section. Transportation minister William Goodfellow wrote to council to state that since Metro had not voted to approve the entire project, the province would not consider connecting Spadina with Highway401. The vote to have Metro's Road Committee study the route south of Lawrence led to the Roads Committee to hold public hearings. North York Council voted unanimously to fight for approval of the whole project. The hearings heard from more than 30 ratepayer associations. Strong support was heard from North York associations and opposition was mostly from York, Forest Hill and the City of Toronto associations. Opponents proposed a $10 auto tax and $25 truck tax to pay for the cost of Metro expressways instead of paying the