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The Spadina Expressway was proposed in the mid-1960s as part of a network of freeways in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally to run from north of Highway 401 into the downtown area via the Cedarvale and Nordheimer Ravines and Spadina Road, it was only partially built before being cancelled in 1971. The completed section is known today as Allen Road.

[edit] The plan

The first proposal for a highway to the north-west of downtown was for a highway named "North West Drive", or "Spadina Road Extension". The proposal was made in 1949 by the Toronto and Suburban Planning Board, as part of a plan for numerous expressways in the Toronto area. The route was laid out by two members of the board, future Metro chairman Fred Gardiner and James P. Maher, chairman of the Toronto Planning Board.^[1] The proposal died when York Township rejected the idea.^[2]

In 1959, the Spadina Expressway became part of the official transportation plan of Metropolitan Toronto. The original plan intended to connect a "Highway 403 bypass" in the vicinity of today's Highway 407 in the city of Vaughan south through North York Township, just east of Downsview airport, then south between Dufferin Avenue and Bathurst Street as far south of Eglinton. The highway would have gone into a ravine as far south as St. Clair Avenue through York Township. It would then enter Toronto proper, going directly south through the Annex neighbourhood, connecting to an east-west "Crosstown Expressway" south of Dupont Street, and ended at the intersection of Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue. Spadina Avenue would be reconstructed with express lanes in the middle all the way south to the waterfront.

At the time, there was no north-south expressway in the area west of downtown Toronto, as Highway 27 (later Highway 427) was in the west while the Don Valley Parkway was east of downtown. Also at the time, a parallel development to extend the provincial highway 400 was proposed to the west, to connect to the Gardiner Expressway in the area of Fort York.

The project planned a rapid-transit line in conjunction with the expressway. It would operate above ground north of Eglinton Avenue, and travel underground south to connect at Spadina station of the Bloor-Danforth line. The above-ground section was situated between the lanes of the highway.

The construction of the expressway had the support of the developers of the planned Yorkdale Shopping Centre. At one point, the Yorkdale development was under the threat of cancellation without the approval to proceed with the Spadina. The interchange of the 401 with today's William R. Allen Road has connections with the private roadways of Yorkdale.

Estimates of the cost were first determined in 1961, of $65,000,000 CAD, with construction to proceed from 1967 until 1970. At that time, Metro and Toronto were in discussions about the route south of Dupont Street, as to whether it would be an elevated highway or at ground level in that section.^[3]

[edit] The Stop Spadina campaign

The debate over the Spadina Expressway, and its eventual cancellation, are regarded as a turning point in local history. It preceded the beginning of the "Reform Era" in Toronto politics, which brought to City Hall the likes of David Crombie, John Sewell, Allan Sparrow and Colin Vaughan.

Opposition to the project started before construction began. In 1960, members of the Cedarvale Ratepayers Association disrupted meetings of the Metro Toronto Roads Committee discussing the project.^[4] York Township, which became the Borough of York, opposed the construction of the highway through their municipality, and through the York Township-owned Cedarvale Ravine, characterized as "the only park area west of Bathurst Street and north of St. Clair Street available to serve 100,000 citzens", and members of the Association proposed a study of the need for the expressway, and to suggest studying the route of Dufferin Street instead.^[4] The Roads Committee turned down their requests. York Township threatened to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to block Metro from taking their park. Metro Chairman Fred Gardiner opined "I can't see how anyone would allow one of 13 municipalities to block an expressway."^[5]

As the route of the proposed Crosstown Expressway was being drawn up at the same time, neighbouring residents of Rosedale opposed the construction of the Crosstown Expressway intended to connect to the Spadina, through their neighbourhood. Routing of the Crosstown was proposed along Dupont Street in the area, although the City of Toronto proposed a routing north of the railway lines, closer to Davenport. The Crosstown would continue east through the Rosedale neighbourhood to connect to the Don Valley Parkway.

In 1961, Metro Roads Committee held meetings to hear submissions on the routing of the expressway. Forest Hill Village objected to the proposed route of the expressway though the village, as the village would suffer "serious economic loss" according to Reeve Laurie Simonsky. The road and the interchange at Eglinton Avenue would require the demolition of 276 building and bisect the village. Forest Hill proposed a tunnel from the Cedarvale Ravine north, under Forest Hill.^[6] Gardiner, former reeve of Forest Hill, admitted that the project would be harmful to the village, "but there is urgent need for an expressway to serve the northwest Metro area" and that the route through the village was the only one that would allow the expressway to enter the Cedervale Ravine.^[6]

In June 1961, the section of the Spadina Expressway south of the Crosstown Expressway was cancelled. The Spadina would now terminate at an interchange with the Crosstown, and Spadina Road north of Bloor Street would be widened. This ended a dispute between the City of Toronto and Metro Toronto. Metro wanted to build an expressway through to the Gardiner, while the city wanted to build an expressway further west, in the vicinity of Christie Street, which would connect the Crosstown to the Gardiner.^[7] The plan to build down Spadina Avenue would have demolished Knox College, in the centre of Spadina, just north of College Street.

As construction proceeded, opposition to the expressway grew among residents of the neighbourhoods in its path, Forest Hill and The Annex. Residents opposed the plan to tear down numerous homes in their neighbourhoods, bringing new traffic and air pollution. They also argued that it would ruin an irreplaceable natural ravine area and require the demolition of hundreds of homes, as well as historic buildings such as Spadina House and

Grassroots protests by downtown residents and, eventually, a considerable lobbying effort, turned the tide against the expressway. (Notable among the opposition was urban theorist Jane Jacobs, who moved to the Annex in 1969, fresh from a battle to stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway in New York City.) However, the Ontario Municipal Board backed the Spadina Expressway in a 2-1 decision.

Marshall McLuhan, too, was opposed to the expressway and said: "Toronto will commit suicide if it plunges the Spadina Expressway into its heart... our planners are 19th century men with a naive faith in an obsolete technology. In an age of software Metro planners treat people like hardware — they haven't the faintest interest in the values of neighbourhoods or community. Their failure to learn from the mistakes of American cities will be ours too."

Announcement in the June 4, 1971 Globe and Mail

In June 1971, an appeal led the provincial government of Bill Davis to withdraw its support, effectively killing the project. Speaking in the Ontario Legislature, Davis said:

“If we are building a transportation system to serve the automobile, the Spadina Expressway would be a good place to start. But if we are building a transportation system to serve people, the Spadina Expressway is a good place to stop”^[8]

Davis announced that there would be no further funding for the freeway's completion, but the province would support the new Spadina subway line extension instead. Sam Cass, Commissioner for Roads and Traffic Engineering for Metro Toronto, criticized Davis for basing his decision on political considerations rather than sound planning because of an impending provincial election to be held later that year.

Toronto Mayor William Dennison was shocked at the result. "It's shocking that a group who never at any time suggested workable alternative routes has successfully opposed something as important in the growth of Metro as was the Don Valley".^[9] Metro Toronto chairman Albert Campbell was incensed at the provincial government. He was quoted with prophetic words: "It may mean that we will never build another expressway."^[10]

[edit] Completion as arterial road

Allen Road, the only completed portion of the Spadina Expressway.

When construction was halted in 1971, the expressway was paved to Lawrence Avenue while the portion running further south to Eglinton Avenue had only been graded, giving it the nickname "Davis ditch". Traffic from and to the southerly end of the road spilled onto neighbourhood streets, as the activists predicted, especially Marlee Avenue. North York councillor Esther Shiner led a counter campaign to get the expressway completed to Eglinton Avenue. Shiner also supported the building of the Highway 400 extension, a highway intended to connect to the Gardiner Expressway west of Strachan Avenue. While the highway has not been built through Toronto, the efforts of her and her group led to the building of Black Creek Drive an arterial road on the 400 right-of-way as far south to Weston Road. The Spadina was paved to Eglinton Avenue in 1976 and Black Creek Drive opened in 1982. The Spadina Expressway was renamed as the W.R. Allen Expressway in late 1969 and then as the W.R. Allen Road, its current name, in 1980. A northern extension was built north of Wilson Avenue, which becomes Dufferin Street north of Sheppard Avenue.

In 1985, when Davis announced his retirement from Provincial politics, one of his last acts was to grant a 1 metre wide strip of land on the south side Eglinton Ave. West to the City of Toronto to ensure that no southerly extension would ever be built. Had Metro not agreed to this, then the province would seize the land and have Metro pay half the cost of the Highway 400 extension. The land barrier was rendered moot when Metro was abolished in 1997, with the existing City of Toronto being amalgamated into a "megacity" which was also known as the City of Toronto.

[edit] Subway line

The Spadina subway line, opened in 1978, runs down its median from Wilson to Eglinton, where it descends underground and follows the approximate route planned for later sections of the expressway, albeit underground. In 1996, the line was extended north to Downsview station at Sheppard Avenue and Allen Road. There are now plans to extend the subway line north to the city of Vaughan.

[edit] See also

• Allen Road
• Richview Expressway
• Scarborough Expressway
• Don Valley Parkway
• Gardiner Expressway

[edit] References

• Colton, Timothy J. (1980). Big Daddy. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802023932. 
• Sewell, John (1993). The Shape of the City: Toronto struggles with modern planning. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Nowlan, David and Nowlan, Nadine (1970). The Bad Trip: The Untold Story of the Spadina Expressway. Toronto: new press/ House of Anansi. 105 pgs.

[edit] External links

• The Expressways of Toronto (Built and Unbuilt)
• Toronto singer-songwriter Dan Bryk's song Spadina Expressway (CBC Radio link)