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The City of Toronto, Ontario maintains a system of expressways and arterial highways at the municipal level. They are fully managed and operated by the City of Toronto, and are typically characterized by reduced speed limits on expressways (80–90 km/h instead of 100 km/h on provincial freeways), increased speed limits on arterial highways (70 km/h instead of 50–60 km/h on most other roads), and limited access. Most of them were built by Metro Toronto in the 1960s to complement Ontario's 400-Series Highways; others are former provincial highways that were transferred to municipal jurisdiction.
[edit] HistoryBy the 1940s, urban development extended past the City of Toronto's borders. It was recognized within the planning department of the City that population growth would take place and that the farmlands outside of the City's border would be developed. In 1943, the City of Toronto Planning Board developed a plan for the area within a nine-mile radius of Yonge Street and Queen Street. It included a network of superhighways:
Source: Sewell(2009)[1]  With the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, a series of ambitious plans developed to greatly expand the network of municipal expressways inside the Toronto city limits. These expressways would connect the downtown core with the provincial freeways that bordered the city, reducing the need to drive on the city streets. In particular, Highway 401 on the northern border of most developed portions of the city was difficult to get to; the only mid-town routes were on adapted city streets like University Avenue, which were far from ideal. Likewise, Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) on the western edge of the city had fairly limited access via The Queensway and Lake Shore Boulevard. [edit] Construction beginsConstruction of the network started with what was then known as the Lakeshore Expressway, which would connect the QEW from its terminus at the Humber River with the downtown core. The initial western section opened in 1958, continuing eastward as an elevated highway to York Street in the city core in 1962, and further to the Don River by 1964. During construction the Lakeshore was renamed the Gardiner Expressway, after the first chair of Metropolitan Toronto and major supporter of the expressway plans, Fred Gardiner. A second expressway, the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), opened between Bloor Street and Eglinton Avenue in 1961, and continued to develop north and south until it connected to Highway 401 in the north and the Gardiner in the south. These plans were only the beginning of an even larger network that was first proposed in 1959, and fully developed by 1966 when it became the Official Plan. Of particular importance was the Spadina Expressway, which ran north-south and connected the middle of 401 with the downtown core, ending on Spadina Avenue near the University of Toronto. The 400 Extension, also known as the Christie/Clinton Expressway, extended the existing Highway 400 south and east, eventually connecting to the Gardiner near Fort York just west of the downtown core. The Crosstown Expressway bisected the city into north and south, running roughly along Dupont Street for much of its length, connecting to the 400 Extension in the west and bending southward towards Bloor Street in the east where it connected with the DVP. The Richview Expressway was a shorter at-grade expressway connecting the western end of the Crosstown at the 400 Extension with Highway 27 further west, and eventually connecting to the proposed Highway 403. Finally, the Scarborough Expressway would connect the Gardiner in the downtown core with Highway 401 in the far eastern reaches of the city. The resulting network would provide three east-west expressways, and five north-south ones, dividing the city into a grid. Construction on portions of all of the planned expressways started in the late 1960s. The provincial portion of southern extension of Highway 400 was completed to Eglinton where it would be continued by the city-built road, and the Gardiner was widened near the Canadian National Exhibition grounds where it would meet the 400 Extension. Interchanges for the Crosstown, Richview and Scarborough Expressways were constructed at their terminating points, and full construction of the Spadina Expressway started at its northern end. [edit] Problems and protestsThe construction plans became a point of growing protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The route of the Gardiner and DVP had run mostly through industrial areas, parkland or generally unused areas, and had not generated much public concern during early construction. This changed as the Gardiner approached the downtown area, which resulted in the demolishing of long-established neighborhoods. The planned expressways would require the same throughout the city, and with the exception of the northern ends of the roads, generally ran though well-settled areas. In particular, the Spadina Expressway ran through the Forest Hill, The Annex, Harbord Village, Kensington Market and Chinatown neighbourhoods, while the Crosstown would present a below-grade barrier on The Annex's northern border. The Crosstown would run beside Rosedale on its eastern end, displacing a forested ravine. A new resident to The Annex, Jane Jacobs, had been instrumental in blocking the Lower Manhattan Expressway in New York City before moving to Canada in 1969. According to Jacobs, it was the construction of expressways into major American cities that led to an exodus of the middle class, and the death of once-vibrant downtown cores. With David and Nadine Nowlan they formed the "Stop Spadina And Save Our City" group, which grew to become a major rallying point for anti-expressway feeling in the city. By the late 1960s the Spadina Expressway had become a "hot" topic politically. To add to the problems, by 1969 construction of the Spadina Expressway had just reached Eglinton Avenue (although paved only to Lawrence Avenue), less than half its planned route, but had already spent almost all of its $79 million budget. Metro Toronto had to return to the Ontario Municipal Board for additional loans to complete the project, which were provided in a 2-to-1 decision. Stop Spadina appealed, and construction was halted pending the outcome. In 1971 Premier John Robarts retired and handed the Premiership to William Davis, who agreed to hear an appeal of the Municipal Board's decision. [edit] CancellationOn June 3, 1971 Davis rose in the Provincial Legislature and stated:
Davis agreed to continue funding for the construction of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway line (now part of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line) that was part of the original Expressway plans, and later, in 1972, agreed to complete the unfinished portion of the Expressway between Eglinton and Lawrence. The debate on whether or not to continue the Expressway further south from Eglinton continued throughout the 1970s. Eglinton was not designed to handle the loads imposed by the Expressway and has to be controlled by traffic lights at the intersection, causing southbound traffic to often back up to Lawrence during rush hour. [edit] AftermathThe cancellation of the Spadina Expressway heralded the end of the expressway plans in Toronto. Work on the other expressways in the system was simply abandoned. The 400 Extension stopped at Eglinton where the province left it, although it was later extended with the at-grade Black Creek Drive to Weston Road. The eastern terminus of the Crosstown at the DVP now exists as the massively oversized Bloor Street interchange, while the western terminus of the Richview forms the likewise oversized interchange between the 401, 427 and Eglinton near the Pearson Airport. Highway 403 was built, but connects to the 401 further west. Both ends of the Scarborough Expressway were built, in the east as a large interchange that quickly turns into a much smaller exchange with Kingston Road, and in the downtown core as a several-kilometer extension of the Gardiner past the DVP to Leslie Street. Lands acquired for the proposed Scarborough and Richview Expressways remained in municipal government ownership for another twenty years after the shelving of the proposals. Much of the land remains in public ownership today, though future uses have not yet been determined. In 2001 the Gardiner extension was demolished between the DVP and Leslie, and there are plans to remove the connection to the DVP entirely. [edit] Ongoing political debateIn the subsequent decades, the Peel Region and York Region suburbs of Toronto have expanded greatly in population and industrial development. The availability of land for development and pro-development municipal governments has led to extensive residential and industrial development. An extensive highway network has been developed of Highways 403, 407, 410, 427 and 404 within those suburbs. In comparison, the City has not built any new expressways since the cancellation of the Spadina. As an alternative to road construction, the city and province have made efforts to expand the TTC services within the core and expand GO Transit commuter train service. Although TTC ridership declined in the 1980s and 1990s, it has recently begun to reverse the trend. In 2008, a new record for ridership was set,[3] indicating a growing demand for alternatives to private vehicles for personal transportation. Since the expressways reached capacity in the 1970s, commuting has been handled by increased transit, to the point that only 10% of commuters use the Gardiner Expressway to get downtown, according to 2006 figures. The debate continues to this day about the merits of the canceled expressways. Highway advocates, including some industry and suburban commuters, believe in the necessity of the expressways to meet high demand from suburban growth and automobile traffic between suburbs and the downtown core. Those advocates also believe in the necessity of new expressways to reduce the traffic congestion of the existing expressways. Opposing groups, including residents of the core are opposed to expansion because of the air pollution, noise and health effects associated with expressways. These impact the standard of living in urban areas and hinder urban growth. Transit advocates point to the higher capacity of a transit line compared to an expressway as a better use of government resources. Cycling advocates promote cycling routes as an alternative for commuting and recreation. Special interest groups have formed to advocate for expressway construction in Toronto. A Scarborough-based citizen group called the Citizens' Transportation Alliance of Greater Toronto advocates for a restart of expressway construction in Toronto. The group proposes the construction of one new expressway to the northwest of Toronto, most likely an upgrade of Black Creek Drive, and one expressway to the east through Scarborough, along a hydro corridor or an upgrade of Kingston Road. The group also supports filling in the 'missing links' of the arterial road grid.[4] Based upon the group's proposal, a prominent association of automobile owners, the Canadian Automobile Association, published a plan of expansion within the City borders to address the congestion. This included the building of a new Scarborough Expressway through a route over Lake Ontario, new expressways and arterial roads and the building of the Richview Expressway. The City of Toronto, along with the Province of Ontario government, is focused instead on transit alternatives. The City aims to reduce the need for highways through improvements and additions to the current transit network, as described in the Transit City plan. In April 2009, the province announced that several initiatives of the Transit City plan, including an east-west Eglinton Light Rail line connecting to the airport would proceed on accelerated construction schedules. Other plans debated during municipal elections have included the development of new toll highways and/or expansion of current expressways through the conversion to tolls. Toll highways have been seen as political poison, however, and no politician has made them a part of any election campaign. [edit] ExpresswaysThese are freeways, being divided, fully controlled access, and fully grade-separated.
[edit] Arterial highwaysThese roadways have a centre median divider to control traffic but intersect other roads at intersections controlled by traffic lights.
[edit] Unbuilt expressways
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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