Gardiner Expressway

The Gardiner Expressway, known locally as "The Gardiner", is an expressway connecting downtown Toronto, Ontario with its western suburbs. Running in close proximity to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends from the junction of Highway 427 and the Queen Elizabeth Way in the west to the foot of the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) in the east, just past the mouth of the Don River. East of Dufferin Street, the roadway is elevated, running above Lake Shore Boulevard east of Bathurst Street. For some years, the Gardiner has been the subject of controversy, with repeated calls from many citizens and politicians to demolish it or move it underground.

The Gardiner Expressway, along with the Don Valley Parkway and the Allen Road (the short completed section of the truncated Spadina Expressway), form the municipal expressway system in Toronto. These are the expressways which are owned and operated by the City of Toronto. The remainder of the highways operating within the city's boundaries—Highways 401, 427, 400, 409, 404, and the Queen Elizabeth Way—are 400-Series Highways, which are owned and operated by the Province of Ontario.

It is named for the first chair of the now-defunct Metro Council, Frederick G. Gardiner, who championed the project and was responsible for the building of the Don Valley Parkway.

History

The Gardiner Expressway was one of the first projects undertaken by the newly formed government of Metropolitan Toronto. Construction on the expressway began in 1955. The Gardiner was built in segments, with the final section being completed in 1966.

The original route of the Expressway called for the demolition of historic Fort York. Community groups fought hard and eventually won to save the fort over the wishes of Mr. Gardiner. The highway was re-routed to the south of the grounds, and is at its highest point there. It's rumoured the the highway was constructed higher at that point as to exact revenge over the redesign of the road.

Segments

Humber River to Jameson Avenue was completed in 1958.
Jameson Avenue to York Street was completed in 1962.
York Street to Don Valley Parkway was completed in 1964.
Don Valley Parkway to Leslie Street was completed in 1966.

Scarborough Expressway extension

The stretch east of the Don Valley Parkway was part of a planned extension through the eastern suburb of Scarborough, that would eventually connect with Highway 401. This extension, which was to be known as the Scarborough Expressway, was never completed, apart from a short spur east of the Don Valley Parkway, which was demolished in 2001, as the level of traffic it carried was considered too low to justify the high maintenance costs of the elevated roadway. As a result, the Don Valley Parkway is clogged with traffic due to that incompletion.

Municipal downloading

Subsequent to the 1998 amalgamation of the Metro municipalities into a single Toronto government, the stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Way between Highway 427 and the Humber River was downloaded from the provincial Ministry of Transportation to the new City of Toronto and was redesignated as part of the Gardiner. Partially due to its status as a former Ontario 400-series highway, and partially due to its more recent design (rebuilt in the 1970s), this section was built to higher standards than the Metro-constructed Gardiner. A system of express and collector lanes serve Kipling and Islington Ave and this segment has a speed limit of 100 km/h rather than 90.

Present

In the wake of the eastern demolition, Lake Shore Boulevard East has been revealed from the cover of the highway. Green boulevards have been implemented along the wide thoroughfare. Paved bicycle paths extend eastward for approximately two kilometres from the Martin Goodman Trail at Cherry Street to Coxwell Avenue. A local artist has created a commemorative piece for the demolished elevated expressway out of several of its giant supportive concrete pillars. However, critics noted that the demolition ending up was almost as costly as the alternative repair solution. In addition, the revealed Lake Shore East never lived up to expectations.

There are increasingly frequent calls to turn the expressway into a toll road, with funds going to improve GO Transit and TTC services. This proposal was extremely unpopular since it would add to the hardship of existing commuters. It appeared briefly during the 2003 municipal elections but the issue was dropped. An alternative solution is to place the entire Gardiner and Don Valley Parkway into the provincial inventory. 403 and 404 are provincial, although their commuters are heavily urban as opposed to rural.

Even though the population of downtown Toronto and the number of jobs in the city core have greatly increased, the capacity of the Gardiner has not increased since it opened in the 1960s. Historical traffic and transit data indicate that automobile traffic and TTC ridership entering downtown has remained relatively stable since the 1980s, while GO Transit ridership has increased to meet the additional demand, particularly for suburban residents commuting to jobs downtown.

As one of the few express routes for motor traffic into the downtown core, the Gardiner is regarded by many as essential to the city's economy, but its presence remains one of the most contentious urban planning issues in Toronto. Critics of the expressway have long decried its appearance, referring to it as "The Mistake by the Lake", and have argued that it cuts off the city from its waterfront. In recent decades, several proposals have been made to dismantle it or replace its central section with a tunnel. The most recent and detailed of these proposals was part of a wide-ranging report presented by the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Task Force in 1999. Lack of municipal funds and political will have repeatedly stalled such plans. Lately, anti-Gardiner rhetoric has died down, not only due to lack of funds, but also due to an increasing number of condo developments which really cuts the city off from the waterfront.

Interchanges from West to East

Municipality	Intersecting Roads
Toronto	Queen Elizabeth Way/Highway 427 Brown's Line/Sherway Gardens Road (westbound only)
Toronto	Kipling Avenue
Toronto	Islington Avenue
Toronto	Park Lawn Road (eastbound only)
Toronto	Lake Shore Boulevard
Toronto	South Kingsway (westbound only)
Toronto	Jameson Avenue/Dunn Avenue
Toronto	Spadina Avenue
Toronto	Yonge Street/Bay Street/York Street
Toronto	Jarvis Street/Sherbourne Street
Toronto	Don Valley Parkway/Lake Shore Boulevard

References

Fulford, Robert. "Fred Gardiner's Specialized City", in Accidental City: The transformation of Toronto (1995). Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross.

External links

Photos of the Gardiner East demolition from the City of Toronto Archives
Missing Links, A Complete History Of Toronto's Controversial Expressway System
City of Toronto RESCU Traffic Cameras (also includes traffic cameras for the Don Valley Parkway and Lake Shore Boulevard)
About Fred Gardiner