Leaside Bridge (Confederation Bridge) | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°41′57″N79°21′01″W / 43.699065°N 79.350356°W Coordinates: 43°41′57″N79°21′01″W / 43.699065°N 79.350356°W |
Carries | 6 lanes of vehicular traffic, 2 bike lanes and sidewalks for pedestrian traffic |
Crosses | Don River |
Locale | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Other name(s) | East York-Leaside Viaduct |
Maintained by | Toronto Transportation Services |
Characteristics | |
Design | Truss bridge |
Total length | 1,443 feet (440 m) |
Clearance below | Don River Valley and Don Valley Parkway |
History | |
Designer | Frank Barber |
Opened | October 29, 1927 |
Statistics | |
Toll | No |
Location | |
The Leaside Bridge, formerly the East York Leaside Viaduct, and officially commemorated as the Confederation Bridge, spans the Don River in the City of Toronto, Ontario. The Truss bridge carrying Millwood Road was built to connect the then Town of Leaside, including Thorncliffe Park, to the then Township of East York, and was completed on October 29, 1927. The construction time of only 10 months was record breaking at the time. [1]
During the 1920s, as the new communities surrounding Toronto grew rapidly, several bridges were constructed to overcome the barrier of the Don Valley. Among these were the Vale of Avoca (St. Clair Avenue east of Yonge Street) and the East York – Leaside Viaduct. The town of Leaside, built by Canadian Northern Railway in the late teens and early 1920s, sought to attract investors and homebuyers. A connection over the Don Valley to the town of Todmorden Mills and on to Toronto would provide this.
Sod was turned in mid-December and active construction began in January 1927 [2] under the direction of bridge designer Frank Barber. The bridge was rapidly assembled throughout the spring and summer, and inaugurated on October 29 as the Confederation Bridge, in honour of the sixtieth anniversary of that event. The tiled mosaic handrail was designed by New York architect Calude Bragdon with tiles supplied by Italian Mosaic and Tile Company. [3]
In the late 1960s, as the first of numerous plans appeared to extend Leslie Street south of Eglinton, plans were initiated to widen the bridge to support six lanes of traffic. The bridge was closed beginning September 16, 1968, and reopened February 8, 1969. [4] Girders were attached to the sides of the bridge to widen the deck to either side [3] and the piers were reinforced on the corners to carry the additional weight.
Between 2004 and 2006, the bridge was rehabilitated. [3] The second of two contracts to rehabilitate the bridge was awarded in 2005 and included the restoration of the decorative handrail from the original 1927 design. [5] [6]
The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario that empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Harbour. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of York, Upper Canada, the municipality that evolved into Toronto, Ontario. The Don is one of the major watercourses draining Toronto that have headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine.
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway runs through the parklands of the Don River valley, after which it is named. It has a maximum speed limit of 90 km/h (56 mph) for its entire length of 15.0 km (9.3 mi). It is six lanes for most of its length, with eight lanes north of York Mills Road and four lanes south of Eastern Avenue. As a municipal road, it is patrolled by the Toronto Police Service.
The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The system includes the Rosedale Valley phase and the Sherbourne Phase, an embankment built to extend Bloor Street East to the Rosedale Ravine from Sherbourne Street. The Don Valley phase of the system, the most recognizable, spans the Don River Valley, crossing over the Bayview Avenue Extension, the Don River, and the Don Valley Parkway.
East York is a former municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The borough was dissolved in 1998 when it was amalgamated with the other lower-tier municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto to form the new "megacity" of Toronto. Prior to its amalgamation, East York was Canada's last remaining borough.
Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. The area takes its name from William Lea and the Lea family, who settled there in the early years of the 19th century. The area first developed as farmland along with Toronto through the 19th century. It was incorporated as a town in 1913. In 1967, it amalgamated with the township of East York to form the borough of East York. In 1998, it became part of the city of Toronto. It is commonly seen as one of the most expensive and exclusive neighbourhoods in the city with a median household income of $129,930, serving upper-middle-class families.
Thorncliffe Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former Borough of East York.
Sherbourne is a subway station on the Bloor–Danforth line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station, which opened in 1966, is located west of Sherbourne Street on the south side of Bloor Street East. The station primarily serves the St. James Town neighbourhood and the southern portion of Rosedale. Wi-Fi service is available at this station. In December 2021, this station became an accessible subway station after undergoing renovations that began in August 2019.
Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 at the western limits of Mississauga, as a continuation of Lower Baseline in Milton. It traverses the midsection of both cities and ends at Kingston Road. Eglinton Avenue is the only street to cross all six former boroughs of Metropolitan Toronto.
Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. North of Toronto, in York Region, Bayview is designated as York Regional Road 34.
Hoggs Hollow Bridge, originally known as the Yonge Boulevard Viaduct, is a set of four separate highway bridges that span the West Branch of the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and carries 14 lanes of Highway 401. The four structures are the busiest multi-span bridge crossing in North America, surpassing the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Leaside Towers are the tallest buildings in the East York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are a twin set of Brutalist-style apartment towers, with one facing north-south, and another facing east-west. Located at 85 and 95 Thorncliffe Park Drive near Overlea, it is the tallest building in East York prior to amalgamation.
The Don Mills LRT was a proposed light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was part of the Transit City proposal announced March 16, 2007, to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It was expected to cost approximately $675 million, with construction to begin in 2012, and an expected opening in 2016. It would have been the fifth of the seven Transit City lines to be complete after the Sheppard East, Finch West, Waterfront West, and Eglinton lines. Ridership was estimated to be 21.2 million trips in 2021.
Thorncliffe Park Raceway was a Toronto-area racetrack that operated from 1917 until 1952. It was located east of Millwood Road, south of Eglinton Avenue East and the CPR's railroad tracks. It was the first home of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The name is retained today by the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood.
The Toronto Central LHIN is one of fourteen Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) in the Canadian province of Ontario.
East York Town Centre is a neighbourhood shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Overlea Boulevard in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood.
The Don Mills Trail is a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) cycling and walking trail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The trail runs south from York Mills Road, east of and roughly parallel to Leslie Street. The city built the trail on the roadbed of a former railway line, known as the Leaside Spur.
Leaside station is a former railway station in Toronto that served Leaside and Thorncliffe Park. The Canadian Pacific Railway built the station in 1894 to serve the new community of Leaside, on a railway line leased from the Ontario and Quebec Railway.
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