Road Bridges of the Lower Don

This is the third of a series on bridges that cross the Don River south of the forks. Previously I blogged about pedestrian and railway bridges. Road bridges comprise the majority of bridges. Of the 26 bridges that cross the lower Don River, 13 are used by road traffic. Here they are from south to north. Note that I haven't included the Cherry Street lift bridge at the west end of the Keating Channel since I consider this part of the harbour and is not really on the river.


The first bridge is a dual bridge. On top is the Gardiner Expressway and below is Lakeshore Blvd. East. It probably dates from the 1960s when the Gardiner was built.


This picture contains bridges 2 and 3. The one in the foreground is the offramp to the Don Valley Parkway. The bridge in the background is the onramp.


This bridge connects Eastern Avenue to both Front Street East and Richmond Street.


This is the ramp from the Don Valley Parkway that connects to Front Street East and Richmond Street.


Queen Street East Bridge. The bridge was built in 1911 and replaced several earlier bridges all of which were damaged by Don River flooding. During the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion, rebels tried to burn the bridge but were unsuccessful.


Dundas Street East. There is a sign on the bridge that says "1910 2007". Presumably that indicates when it was built. I do remember a lot of reconstruction work a couple of years ago so I guess that's what the 2007 refers to.


Gerrard Street East. There is no plaque on this bridge (at least none that I could see). However it looks very similar to the Dundas Street bridge so it may date from the 1910s.


Bloor Street Viaduct. Officially the Prince Edward Viaduct but nobody local calls it that. Opened in 1918, the far-sighted designer included an underdeck for a future subway that wouldn't be built until 1960. The bridge construction was portrayed in fiction by well known author Michael Ondaatje in his book, In the Skin of the Lion.


A connector bridge that runs between the DVP and the Bayview Extension. Underneath this bridge is an unused cloverleaf exit. Two slowly decaying offramps are closed off and lead nowhere. Their existence is a legacy of a colossal plan to lace all of Toronto with a network of expressways. This bridge was supposed to be the start of the Crosstown Expressway which would have cut straight through Rosedale and the Annex and link up with the Black Creek Expressway. None of these came to fruition but the Don Valley is stuck with the leftovers of this folly.


Pottery Road eastbound. The Pottery Road bridge is actually two separate one lane bridges. The westbound bridge is the later construction and the east bound (the one with the arch) is earlier. A plaque on this bridge indicates it was built in 1928.


Pottery Road westbound. This bridge, the more modern of the two was constructed in 1977.


Leaside bridge. Actually it is Millwood Road that goes over the bridge. It splits into Donlands and Pape at the south end. The bridge was built in 1927. While the underdeck looks like it might be converted to a subway line, according to Steve Munro this is not the case.

Railway Bridges of the Lower Don

There are six railway bridges that cross the Don River south of the forks of the Don. There are four separate rail lines with two lines having two bridges each. Here they are from south to north.


This bridge is hard to see because it abuts right up against the Lakeshore Blvd East/Gardiner Expressway bridge. This bridge is owned by Toronto Terminals Railway. It connects the main Union Station rail yard to the west to a smaller one just east of the Don River. From the eastern yard there are two more spurs that serve a few customers in the portlands to the south. It is not used very often as most freight now comes and goes by truck. The one regular customer I know of is the Ashbridges Bay Sewage Treatment plant. They still receive some chemicals delivered in tank cars which need to cross this bridge.


This bridge has three separate rail lines and is the main Lakeshore line which connects Toronto to destinations to the east (a fourth track appears to be the tail end of the rail yard). In 2006-7, the span was lengthened to accommodate maximum flood levels that could impact the Don if a Hurricane Hazel style storm hits the watershed some time in the future. This necessitated the closure of the lower Don path for 9 months. While inconvenient it was worth it since the new path connection is much nicer than the old one.


This bridge is the first on the CP line that leads to an unused spur. It runs beside the Don Valley Parkway and up to the rail line behind the Millwood Road Loblaws site. It is the first of two bridges on this line south of the forks.


This is the second bridge on the CP spur and is the highest rail span on the lower Don. It is owned by CP rail and was once used as a commuter line connecting Toronto to Durham and Peterborough. It is currently unused and there has been some talk about converting it for pedestrian use. However, the Federal government has nixed this idea since Jim Flaherty, the MP for Peterborough has mooted about reviving GO service.


First of two bridges on the CN line. This is just north of Pottery Road. It was hard to get a good picture of this bridge because it is obscured by trees lining the riverbank. This bridge along with the other CN bridge and the first CP bridge are of the same construction. I don't know when they were built but they probably date from the 1920s.


Second CN bridge at Beechwood Drive. Note the tree trunk stuck on the bridge. This became lodged here due to a recent flood. On the far bank you can also see a ramp built underneath the railway bridge which is used by cyclists.

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.

Merry Christmas from the Don

Winter scene of the Don River

No this picture is not from this year. There has been no significant snowfall this year yet. This photo is from last February so technically it is from 2009. This fall has been relatively quiet in terms of developments and events in the Don. Several big projects are ongoing and expect to be finished on 2010. I hope to be there and report on them. Until then, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Update on Don Mills LRT

Steve Munro, a local transit advocate, has recently commented on progress of Toronto's Light Rapid Transit plans. Among the mentioned updates is the Don Mills LRT plan. A few years ago this plan included an option that would run straight through the Don Valley but this idea appears to be less of a possibility (ie. dead in the water?) According to Munro, not much is happening with this plan which is currently unfunded. Current efforts are now concentrated on the Sheppard East LRT.

So for the near future, it looks like the valley will be spared any new infrastructure. Preliminary planning on the DMLRT is expected to be finished spring 2010 so we will see what the TTC staff have come up with.

P.S. A more detailed review of the Don Mills LRT is available here.

Construction at Todmorden Mills

Road and parking lot construction at Todmorden Mills

There is quite a bit of activity at Todmorden Mills these days. Construction has started on a new road access to the rear parking lot. This has been deemed necessary because the old bridge that was used to get to the parking lot has been condemned. The bridge was built in 1931 and used to cross the Don River when it ran through this part of the valley. When the Don Valley Parkway was built this section of the Don River was cut off and the bridge no longer served a major purpose. It has gone down hill ever since and now stands cut off and disused.

The new access road is being built next to the DVP embankment. Steps have been taken to protect trees near the construction site but other sizable trees were taken down that were in the way. I suppose it will look a lot better when it is finished. It's too bad they couldn't do anything with the old bridge since it is a part of the Don Valley's heritage and many of those are disappearing.


Tree protection fencing erected around large tree.


What the sign on the fence says


Straw bales have been placed to trap runoff from the parking lot during construction


Temporary catchment pond for water running from the pond and ditches.


The old bridge. On its way out?