Gardiner Expressway

View of the Gardiner Expressway, west of downtown Toronto, from the pedestrian overpass at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue. The road in the bottom right-hand corner is Lake Shore Boulevard (2004).

A trailblazer for the Gardiner Expressway on Yonge Street.

The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, known locally as "The Gardiner", is an expressway connecting downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada with its western suburbs. Running in close proximity to the shore of Lake Ontario, it now extends from the junction of Highway 427 and the Queen Elizabeth Way in the west to the foot of the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) in the east, just past the mouth of the Don River. East of Dufferin Street, the roadway is elevated, running above Lake Shore Boulevard east of Bathurst Street. For some years, the Gardiner has been the subject of controversy, with repeated calls from some citizens and politicians to demolish it or move it underground.

The Gardiner Expressway, along with the Don Valley Parkway and the Allen Road (the short completed section of the truncated Spadina Expressway), form the municipal expressway system in Toronto. These are the expressways which are owned and operated by the City of Toronto. The remainder of the highways operating within the city's boundaries—Highways 401, 427, 400, 409, 404, and the Queen Elizabeth Way—are 400-Series Highways, which are owned and operated by the Province of Ontario.

It is named for the first chair of the now-defunct Metro Council, Frederick G. Gardiner, who championed the project and was responsible for the building of the Don Valley Parkway.

History

The Gardiner Expressway was one of the first projects undertaken by the newly formed government of Metro Toronto. Plans for the highway, first named the Lakeshore Expressway were first developed in 1943, prior to the formation of Metro Toronto.

Construction on the expressway began in 1955. The Gardiner was built in segments, with the final section being completed in 1966. The price tag was approximately $110 million Canadian or approximately $700 million in 2006 dollars.

Segments

• Humber River to Jameson Avenue was completed in 1958.
• Jameson Avenue to York Street was completed in 1962.
• York Street to Don Valley Parkway was completed in 1964.
• Don Valley Parkway to Leslie Street was completed in 1966 (now demolished).

The original route of the Expressway called for the demolition of historic Fort York. Community groups fought hard and eventually won to save the fort over the wishes of Mr. Gardiner. The freeway was re-routed to the south of the grounds and this happens to also be the highest point of the elevated section.

The route of the Expressway around Humber Bay necessitated the demolition of the Sunnyside Amusement Park on the lakeshore, which had existed since 1925. Some amusements were moved to the CNE, others sold off or just destroyed. The carousel for example was moved to the newly built Disneyland. In conjunction with that, Lakeshore Boulevard was also expanded to a six-lane road and The Queensway was built. Only the Sunnyside Pool and Palais Royale hall now exist from that time period.

The elevated section is constructed higher than required to cross city streets since it was found that such a design would take the traffic noise away from ground level.

Scarborough Expressway extension

The stretch east of the Don Valley Parkway was part of a planned extension through the eastern suburb of Scarborough, that would eventually connect with Highway 401 via Highway 2A. This extension, which was to be known as the Scarborough Expressway, was never completed due to public opposition to freeway construction. The only portion of the proposed Scarborough Expressway constructed was a short spur of the Gardiner Expressway east of the Don Valley Parkway ending at Leslie Street. This was demolished in 2001 due to the high maintenance costs associated with the elevated roadway. The only remnant kept were some of the pillars just west of Leslie that were turned into a public art project. Eastbound traffic now exits to a newly constructed offramp that connects with Lakeshore Blvd. East.

Municipal downloading

Subsequent to the 1998 amalgamation of the Metro municipalities into a single Toronto government, the stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Way between Highway 427 and the Humber River was downloaded from the provincial Ministry of Transportation to the new City of Toronto and was redesignated as part of the Gardiner.

Due to its status as a former Ontario 400-series highway, and because of its more recent design (rebuilt in the late 1960s), this section was built to higher standards than the Metro-constructed Gardiner. A system of collector and express lanes serve Kipling Avenue and Islington Avenue and this segment has a speed limit of 100 km/h rather than 90 km/h.

Since the end of 2003, the conventional truss lighting poles that the province installed in the late 1960s have been replaced west of Kipling Avenue and east of Royal York Road, in favour of shaded high-mast lighting like that of the Don Valley Parkway.

Present

The old Gardiner and Lakeshore bridges over the Humber River, which had been in service since 1954, were removed and replaced by new structures in 1999. The old bridge pillars had sunken slightly, giving the eastbound Gardiner a roller-coasted ride or "Humber hump".

The elevated section in downtown Toronto was closed down for extensive repairs in the late 1990s; parallel roads such as Lake Shore Boulevard and Front Street were extensively congested until the Gardiner reopened.

In the wake of the eastern demolition, Lake Shore Boulevard East has been revealed from the cover of the highway. Green boulevards have been implemented along the wide thoroughfare. Paved bicycle paths extend eastward for approximately two kilometres from the Martin Goodman Trail at Cherry Street to Coxwell Avenue. A local artist has created a commemorative piece for the demolished elevated expressway out of several of its giant supportive concrete pillars. However, critics pointed out that the demolition cost was underestimated and it ended up costing as much as the alternative repair solution. As a result, there was a lack of funds to beautify Lake Shore East. There has been no adverse impact on traffic because of the demolition.

Even though the suburban population and the number of jobs in the city core have grown significantly, the capacity of the Gardiner has not increased since it opened in the 1960s and no alternate routes to the Gardiner have been constructed. Historical traffic and transit data indicate that TTC ridership entering downtown have remained relatively stable or declined since the 1980s while car ownership has continued to climb. GO Transit ridership has grown but it failed to relieve the congestion problem, particularly for suburban residents commuting to jobs downtown. As a result, the Gardiner is one of the busiest freeways in the Toronto area, along with the Don Valley Parkway.

As one of the few express routes for motor traffic into the downtown core, the Gardiner is regarded by many as essential to the city's economy, in wake of stiff competition from lower business-tax neighbours like Peel Region and York Region which have more extensive provincial freeway networks. Nonetheless, the elevated section's presence remains one of the more contentious urban planning issues in Toronto. Critics of the expressway have long decried its appearance, referring to it as "The Mistake by the Lake", and have argued that it cuts off the city from its waterfront.

In recent decades, several proposals have been made to dismantle it or replace its central section with a tunnel. One recent tunnel proposal was part of a wide-ranging report presented by the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Task Force in 1999. Lack of municipal funds and political will have repeatedly stalled such plans. The demolition of the elevated Gardiner was estimated at $750 million, while the proposed viaduct over the railway tracks would have costed $1.65 billion. The 1999 tunnel would have not only cost $2-3 billion but also require a toll for several years to help recoup the costs and it has drawn unfavourable comparisons to Boston's Big Dig. All three projects require the completion of the $245 million Front Street extension as a prerequisite.

An overview of the planned changes to the Gardiner as proposed by the Task Force:

• retain elevated portions from west of Dufferin Street to Spadina Avenue
• add new on/off ramps to connect with Front Street extension
• replace elevated portion from Spadina Avenue to Simcoe Street with 2 five lane roadway (Lakeshore Blvd) separated by landscaped median
• replace elevated portion from Simcoe Street to Jarvis Street with 2 five lane roadway (Lakeshore Blvd) separated by city block
• replace elevated portion from Jarvis Street to Don River with 2 four lane roadway (Lakeshore Blvd) separated by landscaped median
• relocated Don River channel and re-build new ramps onto the Don Valley Parkway with surface roadway (Lakeshore Blvd)

The elevated section was instead extensively rehabilitated. Supporters of the elevated Gardiner point out that its design (in particular being constructed higher than required to cross city streets) keeps traffic noise away from ground level. They also note that even if it were removed, the waterfront view would still be obstructed by railroad tracks whose central portion is raised upon a high embankment. In addition, there is growing concern about the new condos, many of which have sprung up in formerly empty land since 2000 and obscure the waterfront.

On September 27, 2006 the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation issued a new plan to demolish a portion of the Gardiner. It involved removing the Gardiner east of Spadina, and expanding Lakeshore Boulevard. The expansion of Lakeshore Bouleveard would add lanes going east and west. Lakeshore would be 10 lanes wide and would have a large landscaped median similar to University Avenue in Toronto. However, mayor David Miller stated promptly that there was no money for the plan.

An overhead view of the Gardiner Expressway (right) from the CN Tower (note the proposed viaduct will go over the rail tracks at the left)

Exit list

Exits were numbered from west to east on the former Queen Elizabeth Way section.

Call Boxes

Call boxes (for emergency assistance for stranded motorists) fixed to poles on the shoulders were removed along the Gardiner, as was the case on the Don Valley Parkway.

References

• Fulford, Robert. "Fred Gardiner's Specialized City", in Accidental City: The transformation of Toronto (1995). Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross.

See also

• Municipal expressways in Toronto
• Allen Road
• Don Valley Parkway

External links

• Viaduct proposal
• Photos of the Gardiner East demolition from the City of Toronto Archives
• Missing Links, A Complete History Of Toronto's Controversial Expressway System
• City of Toronto RESCU Traffic Cameras (also includes traffic cameras for the Don Valley Parkway and Lake Shore Boulevard)
• Realtime Toronto Highway Traffic - Gardiner
• About Fred Gardiner
• Technical Briefing report of the future of the Gardiner Expressway by TWRC, Simplified Version

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