Construction Proceeding Along Lower Don

Looking south through the new span. The new pathway is on the right, elevated above the spillway. On the far left you can see the river where the old path used to duck underneath the bridge.

I've received some new photos from the construction site. These were taken on Tuesday, June 5. Considerable progress has been made on the project since I last blogged about it in December, 2006. The new 4th span on the Kingston line (East-West) over the Don River and the DVP is now complete and the concrete forms are coming off the new pathway that passes underneath. Work is still proceeding on the tunnel underneath the Bala line (north-south) although this won't be opened until the berm has been built.

The path is slated to open sometime in July although final landscaping won't be complete until later this summer. It will certainly be a treat to begin cycling along this section again.

(click on any photo for a more detailed view)

Work on pedestrian and cycling underpass continues. This won't be ready for use until sometime in 2008 when the berm is completed and the new Don River Park is set to open.


Aerial view of the construction site. In the centre of the photo you can see the new span that was built for this project. The additional space underneath the bridge should allow it to cope with flooding on the scale of Hurricane Hazel.


Another aerial view looking north along the Don River. The vacant area in the left background will host a "flood protection landform" that will protect the soon-to-be-built West Don Lands community.

Cycling Crosspostings for the Don

I found a couple of postings on cycling blogs and websites that concern the Don.

1. The UofT Mountain Biking CLub has posted more pictures of the clean-up from last Saturday. I blogged about this on my adventure to remove an old safe from the Don.

One of the bikers composed a little ditty about the clean-up (gosh, we bikers are certainly a creative bunch!)

On the 2nd day of June,
The mountain bike team gave to me,
30 bags of garbage, 5 shopping carts, 3 pails of concrete,
1 steeeeel safe,
1 bicycle, 2 blue skids, 1 frying pan,
and a blanket in a don tree.
- courtesy of Eric.

2. Biking blog "I Bike TO ... So Can You" reported on a public meeting about repairs for the path along side Wilket Creek. It still hasn't been repaired in places since the August 2005 flood. The city is still dithering on how to cope with another such flood.

Cyclists use this path frequently and still have to get off their bikes and walk past a section of the path where the asphalt was ripped up by the flood waters. Even today all that remains of that section is sand. It's even hard to walk through. Bike Lane Diary posted some pictures about this last year.

2007 Stewardship Season

Members of the Beechwood stewardship team remove Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Every year for the past eight years, the city has sponsored the Community Stewardship program. This program works with volunteers who manage a site that is undergoing environmental restoration. Activities include removing invasive plant species, watering planted trees and shrubs, and monitoring of plants, animals, and birds. There is also some monitoring performed of tiny aquatic creatures called benthic invertebrates.

The program started out in the Don Watershed but has since branched out to include two more sites, one at Eglinton Flats at Jane and Eglinton near the Humber River, and the other at the Humber Bay Butterfly Habitat which is at the mouth of Mimico Creek. The Don watershed sites include:

• Riverdale Farm Ponds
• Don Valley Brick Works
• Beechwood Wetland
• Nordheimer Ravine

Last year one of my volunteers started a weblog on the Beechwood Wetland site. This year another weblog has been started for the Riverdale Farm Ponds. Who knows maybe the rest of the teams will jump on the blog bandwagon too!

If you are interested in joining the program you can call the co-ordinator, Cheryl Post at 416-392-5323 or send her an email. Each team typically goes out once per week and works for about two hours. The work is fairly easy and it will get you outdoors. You may even learn something new about the natural environment.

BBQ at the Brick Works

Remnants of bonfire at the Brick Works

I was passing by the Don Valley Brick Works on Sunday when I came across this unpleasant sight on the brick patio in front of the quarry ponds. Apparently night time revellers decided to have an impromptu bonfire using one of the park benches as a fire log.

Just by coincidence the day before, I was talking to one of the employees of the Natural Environment and Community Programs section of Parks and Forestry who have offices at the Brick Works. Apparently a door to their building was inadvertently left open on Thursday or Friday night. Someone entered the building and vandalized all the storage compartments used by the community groups. Fortunately they did not get access to the NECP offices which stores their computers and files or the damage could have been much more serious.

The problem of nighttime activities at the Brick Works has been an ongoing issue for several years. People routinely break into the buildings for raves, parties, or just to take pictures. There is also a slew of graffitti covering both the inside and outside of the buildings. Add to that, broken windows, defaced interpretive signage, and now bonfires, it starts to addup to an expensive and embarrassing mess.

I believe that the presence of a security guard during the evenings at the Brick Works would severely curtail these activities. The cost can be justified by the reduction in expenses to repair vandalism as well as reduce unsightly graffitti.

One could also speculate that the buildings in their current unguarded state might be the target of a fire, intentional or otherwise. In the near future, Evergreen will take over responsibility for the buildings, but if in the interim, nothing is done, all we may be handing over to them is a smoking ruin.

While crossing our fingers and doing nothing may be a cheap solution, the cost of a couple of security guards may be a lot cheaper if it prevents anything untoward happening this summer. Let's do ourselves a big favour and buy a little insurance - not only for the security of the buildings and our city employees but also for some peace of mind.


The buildings are easily broken into when nobody is around to mind the store


Leftovers from a night time party

Safe-ly Removed

I spent the morning at the Don Valley cleanup day sponsored by the mountain biking community. A considerable amount of garbage gets tossed down the ravine slopes behind the apartment buildings in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. Much of it is visible from the mountain biking trails, thus the cleanup days which according to the UofT mountain biking club posters, it is their 8th Annual.

Rather than grab a bag and pick up garbage, I decided to concentrate my efforts on one particular item. Lying beside the "Party Atmosphere" trail, just north of the Overlea Bridge, there was a rusty safe with no door. I brought along a hand truck and figured it would be a cinch to just load it on and wheel out of the woods. Unfortunately it turned out to be heavier than I thought. Composed of solid steel, it must have weighed 100+ kg. Not only that but the day turned out to be hot and humid and the mosquitoes were out in full force.


The 'safe' lying in the woods


It fell off my hand truck a couple of times where the trail is a bit uneven


Tim from TORBG lent a helping hand

It took all the stamina I had (and the contents of two water bottles) to muscle that sucker out along the trail. Fortunately, one of the mountain bikers came along and helped me push it out along the last part.

About 25 people showed up for the day and their efforts were rewarded by a free BBQ and a prize giveaway (I scored a Kryptonite U-lock!). As you can see by the small mountain of garbage, the valley benefited as well.


Five shopping carts, three chairs, and assorted other junk collected in two hours - not a bad haul.

Don Progress Report Online

When I first blogged about this three weeks ago, the online version wasn't available. It's now available on the TRCA's website. Word of warning - the PDF file is 2,108 Kb in size so it may take a while to download. Anyone who wants a hard copy can call Michelle Vanderwel at (416) 661-6600, ext. 5280, or send her an email.