Metropolitan Toronto

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canadaarea from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York Countyand was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more responsibilities than a county or district. It was commonly referred to as "Metro" or "Metro Toronto" to avoid confusion with the former City of Toronto, which was one of its constituent municipalities. Passage of the 1997 City of Toronto Act caused the 1998 amalgamation, ending Metro Toronto.

The boundary of present-day Toronto is the same as that of Metropolitan Toronto at the time of its dissolution: Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north and the Rouge River to the east. Metropolitan Toronto consisted of all the hamlets, villages, townships, towns, and cities within those boundaries.

City and suburbs

Prior to the formation of Metro, the municipalities surrounding the central City of Toronto were all independent towns and villages. All were members of York County, which provided a minimal amount of services. After 1912, the city no longer annexed suburbs. The prevailing sentiment was that the higher costs of providing services in the suburbs provided nothing in return to the existing taxpayer in the City.^[1] At times the suburbs asked to be annexed but the city chose not to do so.

In 1924, Conservative cabinet minister George S. Henry, who had been a warden of York County, was the first to propose a 'metropolitan district' with its own council from the city and the county to administer shared services. He wrote a draft bill, but the government chose not to act on it.^[2]

The Great Depression saw almost all of the town and villages of the County go insolvent and taken over by the province. In 1933, Henry, now the premier, appointed a formal inquiry into forming a metropolitan district. York County proposed a 'metropolitan county' of Toronto, which would take over several services in the city and the surrounding suburbs. The inquiry died with the defeat of Henry in 1934.^[3]

The Liberal government named the first minister of municipal affairs, David A. Croll, and introduced a draft bill to amalgamate the City and the built-up suburbs. The draft bill faced strong opposition in Toronto and was withdrawn. The government then started its own inquiry into issues of the suburbs surrounding Toronto. Through consensus, it came to the conclusion that a metropolitan county was the best solution. The inquiry reported in September 1939, and its conclusions put aside for the duration of World War II.^[3]

Two factors changed in the 1940s. The Conservatives were elected in 1943, with a changed policy, intending to promote economic growth through government action. Also in 1943, the first Master Plan was adopted in Toronto. It recognized that future growth would take place in the vacant land of adjacent suburbs. Planning would have to take into account the whole metropolitan area.^[4]

Forest Hill reeve Fred Gardiner, who was well-connected to the Conservative premier George Drew through his political connections, now promoted the idea of ambitious new programs to lay the capital infrastructure for growth. In 1946, the province passed the Planning Act required each urban municipality to have its own Planning Board. York County formed its own Toronto and Suburban Planning Board, under the chairmanship of James P. Maher, and the vice-chairmanship of Fred Gardiner. The Board promoted specific projects, and promoted a suburban 'green belt', a unified system of arterial roads and the creation of a single public transit network.^[5]

The Board was ineffective. Projects such as a bridge across the Don River Valley, and the Spadina Road Extension (the basis for the later Spadina Expressway) were rejected by the local municipalities. Gardiner, elected to chairman of the board in 1949, wrote to Premier Leslie Frost that only a unified municipality could measure up to the problems. In 1950, the City of Toronto Council voted to adopt an amalgamated city, while nearly all of the suburbs rejected the amalgamation.

From 1950 until 1951 Ontario Municipal Board held hearings on the proposal, under the chairmanship of Lorne Cumming. The Board worked until 1953, releasing its report on January 20, 1953. Cumming's report proposed a compromise solution, two-tiered government, with the formation of a Metropolitan government, governed by a Metropolitan Council, to provide strategic functions, while existing municipalities would retain all other services. He rejected full amalgamation, citing a need to preserve 'a government which is very close to the local residents.'^[6]

The Frost government moved immediately and on February 25, 1953, introduced the bill to create the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The new municipality would have the power to tax real estate and borrow funds on its own. It would be responsible for arterial roads, major sewage and water facilities, regional planning, public transportation, administration of justice, metropolitan parks and housing issues as needed. The municipalities retained their individual fire and police departments, business licensing, public health and libraries.^[7]

The Council would have its own chairman, selected by the province initially, then to be elected by the Council itself after 1995. Premier Frost convinced Fred Gardiner, who still preferred amalgamation, over the metro scheme, to take the job. Gardiner was well known to Frost through the Conservative Party, was well-off, was felt to be beyond personal corruption. Gardiner accepted the position partly due to his friendship with Frost, and he demanded that he retain his corporate connections. He also felt that the job would be "bigger than anything he had tried before." The bill to form Metro was passed on April 2, 1953. The Gardiner appointment was announced on April 7.^[8]

Formation

A Metropolitan Toronto plaque on a city overpass.

In Canada, the creation of municipalities falls under provincial jurisdiction. Thus it was provincial legislation, the Metropolitan Toronto Act, that created this level of government in 1953. When it took effect in 1954, the portion of York County south of Steeles Avenue, a concession road and township boundary, was severed from the county and incorporated as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The area north of Steeles remained in York County, which ultimately became York Region in 1971.

Metro Toronto was composed of the City of Toronto, the towns ofNew Toronto, Mimico, Weston, and Leaside; the villages of Long Branch, Swansea, and Forest Hill; and the townships of Etobicoke,York, North York, East York, and Scarborough.

The Metropolitan Toronto Council initially consisted of 12 councillors from Toronto (including the mayor), and one representative (usually a mayor or reeve) from each of the surrounding municipalities. Metropolitan Toronto also had planning authority over the surrounding townships such as Vaughan, Markham, andPickering, although these areas did not have representation on Metro Council.

Growth and mergers

Gardiner was Metro Chairman from 1953 until 1961. Under his leadership, Metropolitan Toronto invested in numerous infrastructure projects, including the opening of the first subway line, start of construction of the second subway line, water and sewage treatment facilities, rental housing for the aged and the Gardiner Expressway, named after Gardiner. Metro also amalgamated the various police forces into one in 1956. It was a period of high growth. The city's population increased from one million to 1.6 million by the time he left office.^[9]

As a result of continued growth, the province reorganized Metro in 1967. The seven small towns and villages, which were no longer any denser than the surrounding areas, were merged into neighboring municipalities. This left the City of Toronto and the five townships, which at this time were redesignated as boroughs (all but East York later chose to be designated as cities). Long Branch, New Toronto, and Mimico were absorbed back into Etobicoke; Weston was absorbed into York; Leaside into East York; and Swansea and Forest Hill, into Toronto. The reorganized Metropolitan Toronto adopted a flag and decal using a symbol of six rings representing the six municipalities.

As the seats on Metro Council were reapportioned according to population, the council was now dominated by the suburban majority; but it continued to address suburban and inner city issues in equal measure.

Political structure

Part of the series on

History of Toronto

History

Town of York (1793–1834) City of Toronto (1834–1954) Metropolitan Toronto (1954–1998) Toronto Megacity (1998–present)

Events

Toronto Purchase 1787 Battle of York 1813 Battle of Montgomery's Tavern 1837 First Great Fire of Toronto 1849 Second Great Fire of Toronto 1904 Hurricane Hazel (effects) 1954 First Amalgamation 1967 Second Amalgamation 1998

Other

Etymology of 'Toronto' History of Neighbourhoods Oldest buildings and structures

Timeline of Toronto history

Toronto portal ·v · d · e

Originally, members of the Metropolitan Toronto Council also sat on their respective lower-tier councils; they were not directly elected to the upper-tier council, and because Toronto councillors often voted in a bloc, inner-city issues tended to dominate. The arrangement was achieved by electing two members in each ward. The person who achieved the greatest number of votes was named the senior alderman. The person with the second most votes was the junior alderman. Both aldermen sat on the local council. Only the senior alderman sat on Metro Council. The Province of Ontario changed this arrangement in 1988, requiring direct elections to Metro Council and severing the links between the two tiers. Now only the mayors of the six member municipalities sat on both the upper-tier and lower-tier councils. Metropolitan Toronto became more difficult to manage, and the incentive for the lower-tier councillors to scapegoat Metro council (which they no longer sat on) increased tensions.

The first Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, Fred Gardiner, was appointed by the province; subsequent chairmen were elected by Metro Council itself. The Metro Chairman was, for many years, an ex-officio member of the Council without having to be elected to Metro Council by constituents as either a local mayor, controller, alderman or councillor. Beginning in 1988, the position of chairman was chosen by council members from amongst its own members (excluding mayors who could vote for Metro Councillor but could no longer run for the position).

As usual in Ontario municipalities, all of these councils were non-partisan, although in later years some councillors (and candidates) did identify themselves explicitly as New Democratic Party members. Metro councillors were elected by plurality.

From the inception of Metro Toronto until amalgamation, there were six chairmen altogether:

• Frederick G. Gardiner, 1953-1961 (Toronto)
• William R. Allen, 1962-1969 (Toronto)
• Albert Campbell, 1970-1973 (Scarborough)
• Paul Godfrey, 1973-1984 (North York)
• Dennis Flynn, 1984-1988 (Etobicoke)
• Alan Tonks, 1988-1997 (York)

Wards

Metro Toronto ward names contained the number of the ward, name of municipality and the name of the local communities:

East York

• Metro Toronto Ward 1 - East York

Etobicoke

• Metro Toronto Ward 2 - Lakeshore-Queensway
• Metro Toronto Ward 3 - Kingsway-Humber
• Metro Toronto Ward 4 - Markland Centennial
• Metro Toronto Ward 5 - Rexdale-Thistletown

North York

• Metro Toronto Ward 6 - North York Humber
• Metro Toronto Ward 7 - Black Creek
• Metro Toronto Ward 8 - North York Spadina
• Metro Toronto Ward 9 - North York Centre South
• Metro Toronto Ward 10 - North York Centre
• Metro Toronto Ward 11 - Don Parkway
• Metro Toronto Ward 12 - Seneca Heights

Scarborough

• Metro Toronto Ward 13 - Scarborough Bluffs
• Metro Toronto Ward 14 - Scarborough Wexford
• Metro Toronto Ward 15 - Scarborugh City Centre
• Metro Toronto Ward 16 - Scarborough Highland Creek
• Metro Toronto Ward 17 - Scarborough Agincourt
• Metro Toronto Ward 18 - Scarborough Malvern

Toronto

• Metro Toronto Ward 19 - High Park
• Metro Toronto Ward 20 - Trinity-Spadina
• Metro Toronto Ward 21 - Davenport
• Metro Toronto Ward 22 - North Toronto
• Metro Toronto Ward 23 - Midtown
• Metro Toronto Ward 24 - Downtown
• Metro Toronto Ward 25 - Don River
• Metro Toronto Ward 26 - East Toronto

York

• Metro Toronto Ward 27 - York Humber
• Metro Toronto Ward 28 - York Eglinton

Amalgamation

By the 1990s, many people believed that Metropolitan Toronto, set up to encompass the urban region of Toronto, was no longer relevant since it constituted barely 50% of what was becoming known as the Greater Toronto Area. On the other hand, its residents often felt more concerned with local matters than Metro-wide ones. When a City of Toronto election ballot included a non-binding referendum question on eliminating the Metro level of government, there was a substantial vote in favour.

In the 1995 provincial election, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader Mike Harris campaigned onreducing the level of government in Ontario, and promised to examine Metropolitan Toronto with an eye to eliminating it. However, in the end the Harris government announced what they saw as a superior cost-saving plan: Metro Toronto would be amalgamated with its six member municipalities to form a new City of Toronto. In effect, the existing City of Toronto and the other five municipalities would be abolished and the larger Metro government retained.

The announcement touched off vociferous public objections to what the media termed the "megacity" plan. In March 1997 a referendum in all six municipalities produced a vote of more than 3:1 against amalgamation; in April, both opposition parties held a filibuster in the provincial legislature. But the Harris government, with a large majority, passed the City of Toronto Act. The amalgamation would take place effective January 1, 1998, at which time a new City of Toronto came into existence.

City Hall and Metro Hall

At its inception in 1953, Metro was headquartered at a six-floor building at 67 Adelaide Street East (now home to Adelaide Resource Centre for Women). When the new Toronto City Hall opened in 1965, one of its twin towers was intended for Metro Toronto offices and the other for the City of Toronto; the two councils shared the central Council Chamber. Eventually this space proved inadequate and committee facilities and councillors' offices were relocated to an office tower at the southwest corner of Bay and Richmond Street (390Bay Street), across from City Hall; Metro Council continued to meet in the City Hall council chamber. Finally, in 1992, the Metro government moved out of Toronto City Hall altogether and into a newly constructed Metro Hall at 55 John Street, which was designed by Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (BBB Architects).

The amalgamated council chose to meet at City Hall, though it temporarily met at Metro Hall while City Hall was retrofitted for the enlarged council. Metro Hall continues to be used as office space by the City of Toronto.

Services

The following is a list of services that were funded and provided by the Metro government:

• Economic Development Division
• Metro Toronto Welfare and Social Services (Welfare, homes for the aged, children's services)
• Metro Toronto Police (since renamed Toronto Police Service)
• Toronto Transit Commission
• Metro Toronto Parks and Property (Regional parks including the Toronto Islands, waterfront park and valley park systems)
• Metro Toronto Planning (Regional planning)
• Metro Toronto Treasury
• Metro Toronto Clerk
• Metro Toronto Legal
• Metro Toronto Personnel
• Metro Toronto Roads and Traffic
• Metro Toronto Ambulance (renamed Toronto Ambulance Service (TAS) then latter Toronto EMS)
• Metro Toronto Works (Sewage treatment, water filtration and distribution)
• solid waste disposal (but not collection, which was a lower-tier responsibility)
• Social services, hostels, public housing, children's services: Metro Toronto Community Services, Metro Toronto Hostel Services Division, and Metro Toronto Housing Authority (now Toronto Community Housing Corporation)
• The Metro Toronto Library (now Toronto Public Library), which directly operated the Metro Toronto Reference Library and provided coordination between the municipal public libraries within Metro
• Metro Toronto Audit

In addition, the following agencies were Metro government agencies:

• Metro Toronto Zoo (now Toronto Zoo)
• Sony Centre for the Arts (formerly the O'Keefe Centre and the Hummingbird Centre)^[10]
• Exhibition Place

Don Valley Parkway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don Valley Parkway
The DVP Route of Heroes
Route information
Maintained by City of Toronto
Length:	15.0 km (9.3 mi)
History:	Proposed 1954 Opened August 31, 1961 – November 17, 1966[1]
Major junctions
North end:	Highway 401 (continues as  Highway 404)
	Bloor Street / Danforth Avenue Eglinton Avenue
South end:	Gardiner Expressway – Downtown Toronto
Location
Major cities:	Toronto
Highway system
Roads in Ontario Ontario municipal expressways ← Gardiner Expressway (1955) Don Valley Parkway (1961) Allen Road (1964) →

The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a controlled-access six-lane municipal expressway in Torontoconnecting the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404 to Newmarket. The parkway runs through the parklands of the Don River valley, after which it is named. It is patrolled by the Toronto Police Service and has a maximum speed limit of 90 km/h (56 mph) for its entire length of 15.0 km (9.3 mi).^[2]

The parkway was the second expressway to be built by Metropolitan Toronto (Metro). Planning began in 1954, the year of Metro's formation. The first section opened during 1961 and the entire route was completed by the end of 1966. South of Bloor Street, the expressway was constructed over existing roadways. North of Bloor Street, it was built on a newalignment through the valley, requiring the removal of several hills, diversion of the Don River and the clearing of woodland. North of Eglinton Avenue, the expressway follows the former Woodbine Avenue right-of-way north to Highway 401.

The parkway operates well beyond its intended capacity of 60,000 vehicles per day and is known for daily traffic jams; some sections carry an average of 100,000 vehicles a day. Planned as part of a larger expressway network within Toronto, it was one of the few expressways built before the public opposition which cancelled many of the others.

Contents  [hide] 1 Route description 1.1 South of the Forks 1.2 North to Highway 401 1.3 Traffic congestion 2 History 2.1 Conditions before construction 2.2 Construction 2.3 Since completion 3 Future 4 Exit list 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit]Route description

The Don Valley Parkway begins at an interchange with the Gardiner Expressway near the mouth of the Don River in downtown Toronto. From there, it runs northwards on the eastern bank of the valley, between the river and the developed city to the east. Beyond the southern, older section of the city, the valley widens and the expressway continues northwards through the park lands along the river to Don Mills Road. The route leaves the valley, rises to meet Eglinton Avenue, descends into the valley again and goes through the park lands of Milne Hollow to Lawrence Avenue. It ascends to meet York Mills Road and ends at Highway 401.

Complex bridge structure of the Don Valley Parkway, Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard interchange.

[edit]South of the Forks

At its southern end near the mouth of the Don River, the parkway begins in a multiple-level interchange with the ground-level Lake Shore Boulevard and the elevated Gardiner Expressway directly above the boulevard. The Gardiner–Don Valley ramps provide access to the section of the Gardiner Expressway west of the parkway. There is no access either from or to the Gardiner east of the parkway. To travel east from the southbound lanes of the parkway, motorists must exit via the off-ramp to Lake Shore Boulevard, which meets the Lake Shore at a signalized intersection.^[2][3]

Less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) north of the Gardiner, the Canadian National (CNR)/GO Toronto railway viaduct passes over the parkway. The interchange is constrained by that distance for the Gardiner – Don Valley two-lane ramps bridge the difference in height from ground-level under the viaduct with the height of the Gardiner. Acceleration and deceleration lanes for the Lake Shore – Don Valley ramps connect under the viaduct.^[3]

From the viaduct, the parkway proceeds north as a four-lane highway on a straight course along the east bank of the channelized Don River, passing beneath Eastern Avenue and veering slightly to the east as it passes below Queen Street East.^[2] On- and off-ramps project northward from Eastern Avenue, each adding a lane to both carriageways. The expressway continues northward, with the Don River sandwiched between the highway and Bayview Avenue. The Parkway passes beneath Dundas and Gerrard Streets and rises onto the 'Don Flats' plateau at Riverdale Park. In this section, the elevation of the highway is close to the level of the river and is liable to flood after heavy rains, as occurred in June 2010, for example.^[4]

North from Riverdale Park, the valley widens considerably.^[5] The expressway rises from the floor of the valley and passes beneath the towering Prince Edward Viaduct bridge, which connects Bloor Street with Danforth Avenue and carries a subway line.^[6] The highway runs along the eastern wall of the valley for the next several kilometres,^[5] rising and dipping repeatedly.^[7]

The Don Valley Parkway seen from thePrince Edward Viaduct

The expressway curves eastward into a cut in the hillside as it passes the 'Half-mile' railway bridge. Immediately to the north, it meets the Bayview Avenue – Bloor Street interchange.^[8] The long off-ramp to these roads was the original southern terminus of the parkway in 1961.^[9] The off-ramp was later proposed as the eastern terminus of the proposed Crosstown Expressway. This expressway, opposed by the City of Toronto, was never built:^[10] it was intended for construction only after the completion of theSpadina Expressway, which itself was cancelled in 1971.^[11]

Just north of the Bayview–Bloor interchange, the expressway passes over Pottery Road. To the east is Todmorden Mills, a collection of historic buildings and a former industrial site, the original "Don Mills".^[12] The nearby pond was a section of the Don River cut off by the parkway construction. Further north, to the west where the highway crosses Beechwood Avenue, is Crothers' Woods, a restoration site.^[13]

The expressway continues due east along the southern edge of the valley.^[5] The opposing lanes split as the expressway passes beneath the Leaside Viaduct, the southbound lanes at a lower level. The lanes rejoin as they approach the Don Mills Road interchange at the "forks of the Don". Just east of the Don Mills Road interchange, several large white sculptures resembling human teeth are installed on both sides of the road. The sculptures, called The Elevated Wetlands, are examples of "eco-art" and have become a landmark. The sculptures resemble concrete but are made of plastic. They function as rain water collectors, filtering the water before releasing it into the Don River.^[14]

[edit]North to Highway 401

The parkway passes beneath the Gatineau Hydro Corridor south of Eglinton Avenue.

The expressway crosses Taylor-Massey Creek and the East Don River, and climbs out of the valley, swinging northwards towardEglinton Avenue.^[5] In this section, the DVP passes around the apartment buildings of Flemingdon Park. The lanes split again before the underpass at Spanbridge Road, the road that connects a three-tower complex of apartments to the east of the parkway with Flemingdon Park to the west. The lanes pass beneath the Gatineau Hydro Corridor and reconnect south of the Eglinton interchange.^[15]

As it crosses Eglinton, the expressway passes a business park to the west and the Concorde Place commercial and condominium development to the east. The expressway begins to descend back into the East Don Valley. It passes beneath Wynford Drive and two railways (the CPR Midtown line and the CNR/Richmond Hill GO line) before reaching Lawrence Avenue East, one of the few remaining cloverleaf interchanges in Ontario.^[16]This area, known as Milne Hollow, is partially forested, some of the land being conservation reserve.^[17][18]Passing beneath Lawrence and back over the East Don River, the expressway begins climbing out of the valley once more. It reaches the top of the valley and curves along a plateau before passing over York Mills Road. Residential sub-divisions are present along both sides of the road, isolated from the expressway by noise barriers, from north of Lawrence to the Highway 401 interchange.^[19] After rising to meet the interchange, it widens to four lanes and splits into two branches: two lanes continuing north as Highway 404, and the three others as Highway 401.^[20]

The parkway passes the 'Half-mile' bridge on the left.

The entire length of the parkway uses the RESCU Traffic Management System, which was installed in 1994.^[21] Like the similar COMPASS system on provincial freeways, RESCU combines in-pavement sensors with traffic cameras and changeable message signs (6 fixed and 10 portable) to alert drivers of accidents, traffic conditions and upcoming closures. The system is used as a means of managing traffic flow along the parkway.^[21]The message signs also frequently display non-urgent messages to motorists, such as notices for future construction, safety messages and smog alerts.^[22]

The RESCU Traffic Cameras are located at regular intervals along the parkway. The cameras, which are operated by the City of Toronto, can be viewed on television and online. The cameras are located on poles and are fixed in direction. There are 16 camera locations on the parkway. Most have one camera for northbound and one for southbound traffic. RESCU operators monitor the cameras for emergency purposes; local radio and television media use the service for traffic reports.^[21][23]

[edit]Traffic congestion

Traffic volume

	Direction
Segment	Southbound	Northbound
Gardiner to Dundas	39,587	48,028
Dundas to Bloor	52,662	64,503
Bloor to Don Mills	53,710	66,781
Don Mills to Eglinton	78,619	66,245
Eglinton to Lawrence	90,764	84,619
Lawrence to York Mills	87,432	83,880
York Mills to 401	93,852	92,125
Average weekday traffic volume per 24-hour period, surveyed from 2002 to 2006[24]

The Don Valley Parkway, along with the Gardiner Expressway, is one of Toronto's busiest municipal routes. It is the sole north–south expressway into Toronto's downtown, a role it was not designed to support. The parkway was planned as one of a series of expressways to provide commuter routes to downtown from the expanding suburbs. Two other un-built expressways were planned: the Scarborough Expressway, expected to handle traffic between downtown and the eastern suburbs, and the Spadina Expressway, expected to serve traffic from the north-west.^[25] By the early 1980s, traffic volumes on the parkway exceeded capacity,^[26][27] and today, the parkway has significant traffic congestion on most days, earning it the affectionate nickname of the "Don Valley Parking Lot".^[7]

The section immediately south of Highway 401 is often congested. Traffic studies have attributed congestion in the southbound lanes to the number of lanes merging from Highways 401 and 404 into the parkway and the lane changing that results from merging traffic from Highway 401 clashing with exiting traffic to the nearby York Mills exit.^[28] Congestion in the northbound lanes is attributed to truck traffic coping with the steep grade of the valley, lane changing, and insufficient advanced signage for Highway 401. Most traffic in this section travels north on Highway 404, but only two of the five lanes lead to it.^[29]

[edit]History

Tumpers Hill (mostly removed in this 1959 photograph) was excavated for the construction of the parkway

The construction of the Don Valley Parkway was a major undertaking that changed much of the Don valley. While industrial areas existed both near the mouth of the Don River and the area of today's Leaside Bridge, several natural areas remained in those places where the steep sides of the valley had dissuaded large-scale urban development. The post-war growth period of Toronto provided an impetus to build a new automobile route into central Toronto, and the route through the valley was chosen to avoid expropriation of existing development and provide access for new development in the Metropolitan Toronto region. The construction of the six-lane highway modified the valley through the removal of hills, other earth works and the rerouting of the Don River. Since completion, the parkway has not been changed significantly, other than adding one partial interchange at Wynford Drive and updating its infrastructure to current standards.

[edit]Conditions before construction

The Don River valley, formed during the last ice age, has played an important role in the development of Toronto from its beginning as the Town of York. Using the power of the river, the first sawmill was erected at today's Todmorden Mills by 1795^[30] and other industry was founded soon after, including a grist mill, paper mill and brewery by 1828.^[31] Railways were introduced into the valley after 1850 with the building of tracks into Toronto. By 1900, the Don River south of today's Bloor Street was straightened into a channel for boating purposes, with roadways and industry built on both banks.^[32] North of Bloor Street, the wide valley floor became dominated by industrial concerns of the Taylor family, including the Don Valley Brick Works.^[33] The area from the Forks of the Don and north along the river valleys had been lumbered and farmed, such as at Milne Hollow, but several natural areas remained by the 1950s.^[34]

The Don Valley Parkway was not the first highway planned through the valley. In the 1930s, a "speedway" through the lower valley was promoted as possible depression relief. Unlike today's parkway, this road would have curved northwest near the Don Valley Brick Works and connected to Mount Pleasant at Davisville.^[1] The city did not have the money and appealed to 'civic-minded citizens' to donate the land on which the highway would be built. None came forward.^[35] In 1939, city transportation planner Norman Wilson proposed a boulevard that would follow the valley into the northeast.^[36] In 1946, Toronto voters approved building a 'Don Valley Traffic Artery' following the same route as the "speedway". This was the same plebiscite where Toronto voters approved the construction of the Yonge Subway.^[35][37]

The parkway descends into Milne Hollow in the East Don Valley near Lawrence Avenue.

In 1954, the Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) federation was established. Its mission from the start was to build the infrastructure to support the rapid growth in population of the Toronto area. One of its first priorities was to build an expressway network, which included an expressway through the Don River valley.^[38][39] The first chairman of Metro, Fred Gardiner was a major proponent of building a highway through the valley, since his days in the 1940s with the Toronto and York Planning Board. At the time, engineers felt that building a six-lane roadway was unfeasible due to the two large hills and a narrow valley. Gardiner and Board chairman James Maher personally walked the route through the valley, determining the works that would be needed to put the highway through. "We'll move the railway over a piece. We'll tear down the hill. We'll shift the river over a piece, then we can have the highway through there."^[40]

Recognizing the value of the natural spaces of the valley, conservationist Charles Sauriol founded the Don Valley Conservation Association,^[41] which led to the formation of the Don Valley Conservation Authority (DVCA) in 1948.^[42] The DVCA, a provincial government agency, promoted conservation of the valley with rail tours and public events.^[43] In October 1954, flooding caused by Hurricane Hazel caused the destruction of bridges and buildings in the valley. As a consequence of the destruction on the Don and other rivers, the provincial government of Ontario banned development on river floodplains. In 1957, the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (MTRCA) was formed, merging all conservation authorities responsible for Toronto watersheds (including the DVCA), with greater powers to manage valley lands.^[42] The MTRCA beganexpropriating privately-owned land in the valley for flood control, often creating or conserving open space uses. Sauriol, who was by then an employee of the MTRCA,^[44] was one of the few to speak out against the parkway project. Sauriol's cottage at the Forks of the Don would be expropriated by Metro Toronto for the parkway,^[38][45] although much of his land is now part of the Charles Sauriol Conservation Reserve, which extends from the Forks of the Don, along the East Don to Milne Hollow at Lawrence Avenue, visible from the parkway.^[41] By contrast, Metro chairman Gardiner had an opposite opinion of the Don Valley and was quoted "I'll tell you what the Don Valley was. It was a place to murder little boys, that's what it was."^[46]

[edit]Construction

The parkway, facing south with downtown visible in the distance

The design of the project was contracted to the engineering consortium of Fenco-Harris, which completed the plans in the fall of 1955. The project included extending Bayview Avenue south along the Lower Don valley, and the realignment of Lawrence Avenue over the East Don River. The design for the section north of the Don River mouth incorporated the existing river-side Don Roadway on the east side of the River. The design also incorporated a section of the old Don Mills Road leading up from the River, north of Gerrard, to Broadview Avenue and Danforth Avenue into the highway as a northbound on-ramp from Danforth. The project was designed to carry 60,000 vehicles per day.^[38]Fenco-Harris designed the route to be "located on public lands as much as possible, thus minimizing the expropriation of private property. Greenbelt land has been used for right-of-way in preference to acreage which can be commercially developed." The route required the expropriation of less than 25 properties.^[47]

The first planned route of the parkway was to follow the lower Don Valley before turning north and continuing along the Don Mills Road right-of-way north to the Toronto Bypass (today's Highway 401). Edward P. Taylor, developer of the Don Mills subdivision, situated at Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue, protested the plan heavily and the path was rerouted along the CPR railway from Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue north-east to meet the Woodbine Avenue right-of-way at Lawrence Avenue, and proceeded north to the Toronto Bypass. To facilitate the Flemingdon Park development, located south-east of Don Mills Road and Eglinton, the entire planned route south of Lawrence to the present interchange at Don Mills Road was moved east to its current alignment.^[8]

The plan, estimated to cost C$28.674 million,^[48] was approved by Metro Council in early 1956.^[38][1] Formal approval to build came in 1958^[49] and construction of the parkway began.^[38] A stumbling block to construction was resolved by a deal between Metro and the City of Toronto over City-owned parklands needed for the parkway. North of Bloor Street, 30 acres (12 ha) of City-owned land would be transferred to Metro and any lands not needed for the parkway would be developed as parks by Metro. South of Bloor Street, Metro agreed to replace any recreation facilities lost in Riverdale Park due to the parkway construction. The City had threatened to not allow construction through City-owned land.^[50]

The first section of the parkway, from Bloor Street to Eglinton Avenue, was opened on August 31, 1961 by Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Metro chairman Gardiner, who presented Frost with a silver plate.^[51] It opened initially without an interchange at Don Mills Road and had its first traffic jam that day at the Eglinton Avenue exit.^[46][52] The interchange at Don Mills was approved by Metro council on November 2, 1964.^[53]Building the section within the valley required significant civil engineering, including the rerouting of 3.2 km (2.0 mi) of the Don River, installation of 1.6 km (0.99 mi) of reinforced retaining wall^[54] and the removal of two hills. Tumper's Hill, located near the Don Mills Road interchange, stood 36 metres (118 ft) higher than it does today.^[38][55] Sugar Loaf Hill, shaped like a cone, which stood alone in the shadow of the Prince Edward Viaduct where Bayview Avenue passes today, was removed completely. The 1,250,000 m³ (1,630,000 cu yd) of earth was used as fill for the parkway^[46] and a total of 4,600,000 m³ (6,020,000 cu yd) of earth was excavated and moved.^[54]

Besides modification of the natural landscape, the route required relocation and demolition of utilities and residences. Metro relocated 1.2 km (0.75 mi) of CNR and CPR railway tracks in the section from Bloor Street to Chester Hill Road to make way for the parkway.^[56] The Todmorden sewage treatment plant, built in 1926, was also demolished.^[57] The route required the removal of five homes on Minton Place located above the valley to facilitate the cut of the valley hillside. Four were demolished and one moved to Scarborough.^[58]

The section from Eglinton Avenue to Lawrence Avenue started construction on July 1, 1961 and it was opened to traffic in the evening of October 30, 1963 without any ceremony. The segment connected to Woodbine Avenue north of Lawrence Avenue, cutting off access to Woodbine from Lawrence Avenue. Northbound parkway traffic could continue north on Woodbine Avenue, then a two-lane road, from the parkway up to Highway 401. The 2 km (1.2 mi) section cost $2.723 million to complete.^[59] This was followed by the connection to the Gardiner Expressway, opened in conjunction with the section of the expressway from the parkway to York Street on November 6, 1964. It was opened ceremonially by Ontario Premier John Robarts.^[60] The section between Lawrence Avenue and Sheppard Avenue was opened chaotically to traffic in the afternoon on November 17, 1966, but forced drivers to exit onto Highway 401; construction inspectors were not aware that the parkway was scheduled to open until they arrived on site that morning.^[61] The section north of Highway 401 remained unopened until March 1, 1967 due to ongoing construction of the Sheppard Avenue bridge.^[62] The final cost of the project was $40 million ($270 million in 2010 dollars).^[1]

[edit]Since completion

A changeable message sign on northbound parkway, part of the RESCU traffic management system

In 1965, Metro Toronto Chief Coroner Morton Shulman released a report criticizing the lack of safety in the design of the parkway.^[63]In the first five months of 1965, there were 136 accidents on the parkway, with four deaths and 86 injuries. Among the "death-dealing" deficiencies that had to be corrected were inadequate guardrails, exposed steep slopes and light standards that were exposed to collision from passing high-speed traffic.^[38] Call boxes with emergency telephones were installed on the parkway in 1966.^[64] The boxes, attached to street lighting on the right shoulder, provided a direct line for help from the Ontario Motor League, now part of the Canadian Automobile Association(CAA).^[64] Today, the RESCU Traffic Management System monitors the highway and can call for emergency help.^[65]

On April 18, 1969, the slope behind Davies Crescent (just west of Don Mills Road) gave way after heavy rain, covering the northbound lanes and part of the southbound lanes with up to 90 centimetres (3 ft) of mud. There were only minor injuries. The slope, which had had its trees removed for the building of the expressway, was covered with sod and stakes to hold the soil.^[66]

In the late 1980s, a new partial-access interchange was built at Wynford Drive to provide access between the parkway and the Concorde Place development. The new partial-access interchange was paid for by the developers.^[67] The ramp connecting Wynford with the northbound parkway required a tunnel under theCanadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Midtown railway lines. To avoid delaying trains on the vital freight line, a prefabricated concrete arch was jacked into the embankment, 2 feet (0.61 m) at a time, over 12 days. This was the first North American use of such a technique.^[67]

A Route of Heroes marker

From 1986 to 1988, the City studied traffic congestion in the 'Don Valley Corridor', an area from Leslie Street east to Victoria Park Avenue. To improve traffic in the area, the proposed solutions were extending Leslie Street south of Eglinton Avenue and south-west to Bayview Avenue; widening Don Mills Road; and expanding the parkway.^[27] Two proposals were put forward for approval: the Leslie Street extension and widening of Don Mills Road. Don Mills Road was widened from four to six lanes with the new lanes to be high occupancy/bus lanes.^[68] The Leslie Street extension was approved by East York and North York, but was abandoned by Metro Council in 1993, after the provincial government refused to subsidize its construction.^[69]

In 1989, a public meeting was held on the future of the Don River, which was widely known for its pollution, and the Don Valley, considered an "industrial wasteland"^[32] and which had seen its last industrial use (the Taylor, later Domtar, Paper Mill) close in 1982.^[32] The Toronto City Council formed the "Task Force to Bring Back the Don", an organization of volunteers to work on conservation efforts in the Don Valley. Since that time, the task force has planted some 40,000 trees in the valley, planted thousands of wildflowers and overseen the creation of wetlands along the river.^[32] Efforts continue to ameliorate the water quality of the river and improve the environment of the surrounding valley lands.^[32] These efforts can be seen in the "Crother's Woods" north of Bloor Street and the Chester Marsh just south of Bloor Street, alongside the parkway.^[70]

In 2001, Toronto City Councillor Paul Sutherland proposed to add two toll lanes in each direction along the parkway, from Highway 401 to Eglinton Avenue. From Eglinton Avenue south, one lane in each direction would be added. The proposal was criticized by transportation experts such as Transport 2000 for encouraging driving to downtown. Sutherland estimated the cost of the proposal at $200 million.^[71]

On May 11, 2007, GO Transit announced a plan to put dedicated bus lanes on the centre median of the parkway, to allow its buses to bypass traffic congestion and promote buses as an alternative to automobiles. The $12 million dollar plan would be paid for by GO. The plan would require testing of soil conditions and an environmental assessment.^[72] GO Transit was taken over by the provincial Metrolinx transit agency, and the plan does not appear in the 2008 "Big Move" Regional Transportation Plan of Metrolinx.^[73]

On June 7, 2010, a section of the expressway was dedicated by former Toronto mayor David Miller as part of the Route of Heroes. Similar to the Highway of Heroes designation of part of Highway 401, the designation serves to honour fallen Canadian soldiers. The designation applies to the portion of the parkway between Highway 401 and Bloor Street by which repatriation processions travel when transporting the remains of Canadian soldiers from CFB Trenton to the Office of the Coroner in downtown Toronto.^[74]

A proposal to allow GO Transit buses to use the left shoulder to pass slow traffic was approved in June 2010 by the Toronto City Council.^[75] The centre median shoulders, starting with the section between Lawrence Avenue and a point 458 metres (1,500 ft) north of York Mills Road,^[75] are opened to GO Transit buses to pass other traffic, at no more than 20 km/h (12 mph) faster, when the other traffic is going at 60 km/h (37 mph) or less.^[76][77] These lanes opened to buses beginning September 7, 2010.^[78] City Council directed the General Manager of Transportation Services to report on the feasibility of future bus bypass lanes in the segments from Pottery Road to Don Mills Road and between Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East.^[75]

[edit]Future

The parkway often fills to capacity, leading to congestion along much of its length throughout the day.

During the 2010 municipal election, mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson proposed a road toll for the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, drawing comments from critics and supporters across the city.^[79][80]

Two projects are underway that may change the parkway's southern end. Waterfront Toronto is conducting an environment assessment to evaluate replacing, modifying or removing the Gardiner Expressway east of Jarvis Street.^[81] The parkway would then end at Lake Shore Boulevard. A second proposal, known as the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protectionproject, seeks to recreate the natural mouth of the Don River into Toronto Harbour with the surrounding parkland. The project is managed by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Waterfront Toronto.^[82] The ramps between the parkway and the Gardiner Expressway pass directly over the Don River channel.^[3]

[edit]Exit list

The 1955 announced route. It was built with a different connection to the Gardiner Expressway, rerouting slightly to the east at Eglinton and an added off-ramp at Eastern Avenue.

The Don Valley Parkway is located entirely within Toronto.

km	Destinations	Notes
Don Valley Parkway continues west as the Gardiner Expressway
0.0	Lake Shore Boulevardvia Don Roadway	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; formerly Highway 2
0.8	Richmond Street / Adelaide Street,Eastern Avenue – Downtown	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; Adelaide exits to northbound parkway, southbound parkway exits to Richmond Street
1.2	Queen Street East	Northbound entrance
1.6	Dundas Street East	Northbound entrance
2.7	Bloor Street	Northbound entrance
3.8	Bayview Avenue, Bloor Street /Danforth Avenue	Formerly Highway 5; no access between Bayview and Bloor / Danforth
7.0	Don Mills Road	No access to northbound parkway from southbound Don Mills
10.0	Eglinton Avenue
10.7	Wynford Drive	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
11.8	Lawrence Avenue
14.0	York Mills Road
15.0	Highway 401
Don Valley Parkway continues north as Highway 404
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

[edit]