Pedestrian Bridges of the Lower Don

I thought it would be an interesting photo study to look at all the bridges that cross the Don River. All told there are 26 bridges that cross over the river between the lake and the forks of Don where the East and West branches converge. Of those three have been specifically built for pedestrian use and one other has been converted.


This bridge connects the lower Don trail to the Martin Goodman Trail as it heads east along the Lakeshore to the Beaches. It was put in place about 5 years ago when they took down the Gardiner east of the Don. It is a simple one piece bridge span and may eventually be moved when the mouth of the Don is reconfigured some time in the future.


This bridge connects the east and west portions of Riverdale Park. The bridge was constructed in 1959. In the late 80s stairs down to the lower Don Trail were added.


Footbridge just north of Riverdale Park on the Lower Don Trail. Like the bridge down at Lakeshore it is of single span construction. It arcs about 3m above the river. Even so, some of the higher floods have covered the bridge leaving debris covering the floorboards. These floorboards are loosely bolted to the bridge and make a lot of racket when you cycle across.


This bridge is north of Pottery Road at the very end of Beechwood Drive. Up until the 1970s the west side of the river was a municipal dump and trucks used this bridge to access the dump site. The dump is now closed and the bridge has two large boulders placed at one end to prevent vehicles from using it. It is now only used by pedestrians and cyclists.