Infrastructure

The Don Valley is laced with 'infrastructure'. The fact that no one lives in the valley (aside from a few scattered squatters) makes it a valuable habitat for wildlife. It also makes it a preferred target for government to dump stuff that no one else wants.

To date, there are two major highways, two railways, three pipelines, a hydroelectric corridor, two snow dump sites, and a sewage treatment plant. It used to be home to a number of dump sites but these have thankfully been closed down. There is also a network of sewer pipes of various kinds and unfortunately this network is about to expand.

There is currently an old trunk sewer running east under the valley just north of Pottery Rd. It services the Bennington Heights area, a neighbourhood at the south end of Leaside. The sewer pipe is deteriorating and needs replacing. Rather than fix what's there, the plan is to build a new pipe that will run northeast through Crothers' Woods and connect with the North Toronto Sewage Treatment Plant. This wouldn't be too bad except it will slice through some of the best forest left in the lower Don. It will also disrupt some of the city's restoration efforts in the area.

The city is piggybacking on a design project completed by the old borough of East York to start the project without any further input from the public. Since the project was done prior to amalgamation and outside of the old city of Toronto, the Task Force at the time was not informed and even then would not have had any say so. The city was nice enough to let us know that they were starting the project. The Task Force was able to suggest a minor reroute that will cause less impact on the natural areas of the forest but the pipe is pretty much a done deal.

If anyone is interested, project plans can be viewed on Monday September 12, 5-8 PM at Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Drive, at the corner of Glen Rd.