Municipal expressways in Toronto

The City of Toronto, Ontario maintains a system of expressways and arterial highways at the municipal level. They are fully managed and operated by the City of Toronto, and are typically characterized by reduced speed limits on expressways (80-90 km/h instead of 100 km/h on provincial freeways), increased speed limits on arterial highways (70 km/h instead of 50-60 km/h on most other roads), and limited access. Most of them were built by Metro Toronto in the 1960s to complement Ontario's 400-Series Highways; others are former provincial highways that were transferred to municipal jurisdiction.

History

With the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, a series of ambitious plans developed to greatly expand the network of municipal expressways inside the Toronto city limits. These expressways would connect the downtown core with the provincial freeways that bordered the city, reducing the need to drive on the heavily congested city streets. In particular, Highway 401 on the northern border of most developed portions of the city was difficult to get to; the only mid-town routes were on adapted city streets like University Avenue, which were far from ideal. Likewise, Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) on the western edge of the city had fairly limited access via The Queensway and Lake Shore Boulevard.

Construction begins

Construction of the network started with what was then known as the Lakeshore Expressway, which would connect the QEW from its terminus at the Humber River with the downtown core. The initial western section opened in 1958, continuing eastward as an elevated highway to York Street in the city core in 1962, and further to the Don River by 1964. During construction the Lakeshore was renamed the Gardiner Expressway, after the first chair of Metropolitan Toronto and major supporter of the expressway plans, Frederick Gardiner. A second expressway, the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), opened between Bloor Street and Eglinton Avenue in 1961, and continued to develop north and south until it connected to Highway 401 in the north and the Gardiner in the south.

These plans were only the beginning of an even larger network that was first proposed in 1959, and fully developed by 1966 when it became the Official Plan. Of particular importance was the Spadina Expressway, which ran north-south and connected the middle of 401 with the downtown core, ending on Spadina Avenue near the University of Toronto. The 400 Extension, also known as the Christie/Clinton Expressway, extended the existing Highway 400 south and east, eventually connecting to the Gardiner near Fort York just west of the downtown core. The Crosstown Expressway bisected the city into north and south, running roughly along Dupont Street for much of its length, connecting to the 400 Extension in the west and bending southward towards Bloor Street in the east where it connected with the DVP. The Richview Expressway was a shorter at-grade expressway connecting the western end of the Crosstown at the 400 Extension with Highway 27 further west, and eventually connecting to the proposed Highway 403. Finally, the Scarborough Expressway would connect the Gardiner in the downtown core with Highway 401 in the far eastern reaches of the city. The resulting network would provide three east-west expressways, and five north-south ones, dividing the city into a grid.

Construction on portions of all of the planned expressways started in the late 1960s. The provincial portion of southern extension of Highway 400 was completed to Eglinton where it would be continued by the city-built road, and the Gardiner was widened near the Canadian National Exhibition grounds where it would meet the 400 Extension. Interchanges for the Crosstown, Richview and Scarborough Expressways were constructed at their terminating points, and full construction of the Spadina Expressway started at its northern end.

Problems and protests

The construction plans became a point of growing protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The route of the Gardiner and DVP had run mostly through industrial areas, parkland or generally unused areas, and had not generated much public concern during early construction. This changed as the Gardiner approached the downtown area, which resulted in the demolishing of long-established neighborhoods. The planned expressways would require the same throughout the city, and with the exception of the northern ends of the roads, generally ran though well-settled areas. In particular, the Spadina Expressway ran through the upscale Forest Hill neighborhood who's residents had considerable power within the city's political system. Both the Spadina and the proposed routing of the 400 Extension's connection to the Gardiner would have run through The Annex, another affluent neighborhood further south, while the Crosstown would present a below-grade barrier on The Annex's northern border. The Crosstown would run beside Rosedale on its eastern end.

A new resident to The Annex, Jane Jacobs, had been instrumental in blocking the Lower Manhattan Expressway in New York City before moving to Canada in 1969. According to Jacobs, it was the construction of expressways into major American cities that led to an exodus of the middle class, and the death of once-vibrant downtown cores. With David and Nadine Nowlan they formed the "Stop Spadina And Save Our City" group, which grew to become a major rallying point for anti-expressway feeling in the city. By the late 1960s the Spadina Expressway had became a "hot" topic politically.

To add to the problems, by 1969 construction of the Spadina Expressway had just reached Eglinton Avenue (although paved only to Lawrence Avenue), less than half its planned route, but had already spent almost all of its $79 million budget. Metro Toronto had to return to the Ontario Municipal Board for additional loans to complete the project, which were provided in a 2-to-1 decision. Stop Spadina appealed, and construction was halted pending the outcome. In 1971 Premier John Robarts retired and handed the Premiership to William Davis, who agreed to hear an appeal of the Municipal Board's decision.

Cancellation

On June 2, 1971 Davis rose in the Provincial Legislature and stated:

Davis agreed to continue funding for the construction of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway line (now part of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line) that was part of the original Expressway plans, and later, in 1972, agreed to complete the unfinished portion of the Expressway between Eglinton and Lawrence. The debate on whether or not to continue the Expressway further south from Eglinton continued throughout the 1970s. Eglinton was not designed to handle the loads imposed by the Expressway and has to be controlled by traffic lights at the intersection, causing southbound traffic to often back up to Lawrence during rush hour.

Aftermath

The cancellation of the Spadina Expressway heralded the end of the expressway plans in Toronto. Work on the other expressways in the system was simply abandoned. The 400 Extension stopped at Eglinton where the province left it, although it was later extended with the at-grade Black Creek Drive to Weston Road. The eastern terminus of the Crosstown at the DVP now exists as the massively oversized Bloor Street interchange, while the western terminus of the Richview forms the likewise oversized interchange between the 401, 427 and Eglington near the Pearson Airport. Highway 403 was built, but connects to the 401 further west. Both ends of the Scarborough Expressway were built, in the east as a large interchange that quickly turns into a much smaller exchange with Kingston Road, and in the downtown core as a several-kilometer extension of the Gardiner past the DVP to Leslie Street.

Lands acquired for the proposed Scarborough and Richview Expressways remained in municipal government ownership for another twenty years after the shelving of the proposals. Much of the land remains in public ownership today, though future uses have not yet been determined. In 2001 the Gardiner extension was demolished between the DVP and Leslie, and there are plans to remove the connection to the DVP entirely.

Controversy

In the subsequent decades, the Peel Region and York Region suburbs of Toronto have expanded greatly in population and industrial development. The availability of land for development and pro-development municipal governments have made those areas more attractive to residential development and industry. An extensive highway network has been developed of Highways 403, 407, 410, 427 and 404 linking those suburbs with Toronto. However, the municipal expressway system has not kept pace with the 400-series expansion in the surrounding Greater Toronto Area.

As an alternative to road construction, the city and province have made efforts to expand the TTC services within the core and expand GO Transit commuter train service. However, the costly efforts have not paid off; TTC ridership has declined since the 1980s while GO has failed to relieve congestion, pointing to a continual trend of growing car ownership.

The debate continues to this day about the merits of the cancelled expressways. Highway advocates, including industry and suburban commuters, believe in the necessity of the expressways to meet growing demand from suburban growth and automobile traffic between suburbs and the downtown core. Former Metro Toronto roads commissioner Sam Cass has pointed out that while the TTC had a major expansion in the 1970s, spending on new roads to the downtown core has been virtually stagnant; today ridership has declined while traffic congestion has continued to increase. [Christina Blizzard, " [http://tpg1.com/traffic/cass.html Hate gridlock? Blame Bill Davis] ", November 28, 1999]

Urban reformers (most notably Jane Jacobs) and other residents of the core are opposed to expansion because of the air pollution, noise and health effects associated with expressways.

A new Scarborough-based citizen group called the Citizens' Transportation Alliance of Greater Toronto is advocating for a return to balanced transportation planning in Toronto. It supports construction of new subways, but also endorses the construction of one new expressway to the northwest of Toronto, most likely an upgrade of Black Creek Drive, and one expressway to the east through Scarborough, along a hydro corridor or an upgrade of Kingston Road. The group also supports filling in arterial road missing links. [ [http://www.gettorontomoving.ca/Highway_448.pdf Highway 448] ]

Based upon the Citizens' Transportation Alliance, the Canadian Automobile Association has published a plan of expansion within the City borders to address the congestion. This included the building of a new Scarborough Expressway through a route over Lake Ontario, new expressways and arterial roads and the building of the Richview Expressway. The City government has not been receptive and is focussed instead on transit alternatives. The city aims to reduce the need for highways through improvements and additions to the current transit network, such as Transit City.

Other plans debated have included the development of new toll highways and/or expansion of current expressways through the conversion to tolls.

Expressways

These are freeways, being divided, fully controlled access, and fully grade-separated.

*Gardiner Expressway
*Don Valley Parkway
*Allen Road (from Transit Road to Eglinton Avenue)
*Highway 2A

Arterial highways

These expressways have a centre median divider to control traffic but have at-grade intersections.

*Black Creek Drive (formerly Highway 400 Extension)
*Allen Road (from Transit Road to Kennard Avenue)
*Highway 27

Defunct expressways

*Crosstown Expressway (truncated portion forms the Bloor/Bayview ramp at the Don Valley Parkway)
*Richview Expressway (ramps at 427-401 junction connect to Eglinton Avenue instead)
*Spadina Expressway (truncated route renamed Allen Road)
*Scarborough Expressway
*East Metro Freeway

ee also

*Freeway and expressway revolts

References

External links

* [http://www.gettorontomoving.ca/Expressway_History_Brief.pdf Toronto Expressway History Brief]
* [http://www.gettorontomoving.ca Citizens' Transportation Alliance of Greater Toronto]
* [http://transit.toronto.on.ca/spare/0019.shtml The Expressways of Toronto (Built and Unbuilt)] , article by Sean Marshall
* [http://160.39.101.218/urbs3525/2007/Toronto/Transportation/Spadina.htm Protesting the Spadina]