Expressway Lighting

Single and double low pressure sodium lights on elevated section and ramps

ALLEN EXPRESSWAY

Night time view of Low Pressure Sodium lighting on Toronto's expressways


MERCURY LIGHTING ON PROVINCIAL FREEWAYS Mid 1960'S-1990'S
(Lamps remodelled into High Pressure Sodium in the late 1980's)



Complete replacement of expressway lighting (1990's-2000's)

In 1975, Metro Council approved the remodelling of its existing fluorescent lighting system on its expressways into yellow-orange low pressure sodium lighting using the existing poles and equipment for an inexpensive conversion. This was done to provide a more efficient lighting system which would reduce night-time accidents. Low pressure sodium had been tried out on a trial basis on the then Allen Expressway since 1969, and was very successful, so it was installed on the rest of the Metro expressways. By 1990, the lighting equipment on the Metro expressways was now thirty years old and needed major repairs. Metro officials announced that they were going to do a major repair to expressway lighting, and the Don Valley Parkway was given top priority. Metro Councillor Howard Moscoe, representing the area that the Allen Road passed through, noted that 60% of the lights on the Allen had burnt out, so he pushed for a complete replacement instead of just repairs. He also urged that the Allen should be done first due to the urgency of the bad state of its lighting. He even took staff on a tour of the expressway to show them how bad it really was. Metro staff agreed, and looked at a complete replacement, with the Allen Road being done before the Don Valley Parkway. A detailed lighting study was then carried out and it recommended that high pressure sodium was now the best long-lasting system. For the first time, lighting on the Provincial freeways and on the Metro expressways would be the same, except for different types of poles used. Fenco Engineering, a company which designed lighting for the Provincial highways, was retained to also design new lighting for the Metro expressways. Metro would replace the entire lighting system on all of its expressways for a cost of ten million dollars and the replacement would take five years to complete. However, since Metro wanted to widen the west end of the Gardiner Expressway from six to eight lanes, replacement of lighting on the Gardiner would be deferred until after the widening was done. Therefore, approval was only given for new lighting on the Allen Road and on the Don Valley Parkway. The existing low pressure sodium system would be maintained on the Gardiner Expressway for a while longer. Elsewhere, low pressure sodium would be replaced by high pressure sodium.

On the Allen Road, the existing 10 metre (30 foot) poles would be used. The low pressure sodium lamps would be replaced by new shaded cobra-shaped high pressure sodium luminaires designed so as not to obstruct the subway signals. Installation of new lights on the Allen began in 1991 and was completed along the entire length of the expressway from Eglinton Avenue to Wilson Heights Boulevard by 1993. Most of the poles were replaced because they were in poor condition.

On the Don Valley Parkway, due to its winding nature, Metro was having to replace four poles per week. Therefore, in order to solve this situation and to give drivers a better view of the Don River valley parkland, Metro decided to use a new technology known as high mast lighting. This consisted of tall 30 metre (100 foot) poles with a cluster of powerful high pressure sodium lights on the top. One of these poles would replace seven conventional poles on each side. The cluster of lights at the top could be brought down the pole mechanically to repair crews on the ground and then sent back up again. The Province was starting to use high mast lighting on its highways and planned to eventually convert all of the Provincial freeways to this technology. The Provincial Government had installed high mast lighting on sections of Highway 401 and was receiving complaints from nearby residents that these powerful lamps were giving off too much light, disturbing neighbourhoods. Metro councillors argued this point, but engineers came up with a solution. High mast lights would be uniquely designed for Metro which would be different from Provincial high mast lighting. Metro would use state-of-­the-art technology with shaded clusters of lamps which could be focused. The poles would also be painted black so they would blend in with surrounding parkland. High mast lamps would be installed on most of the Parkway on the east side, except for two sections which were alongside the Don River channel south of Bloor Street and under Hydro Towers south of Eglinton Avenue and on some of the ramps. A new type of 10 metre (30 foot) low mast pole, similar to conventional poles, also painted black, would be used on these sections. They would contain new round luminaires, rather than traditional cobra-shaped ones.

In 1991, Metro council approved the plan to install a combination of high and low mast lighting on the Don Valley Parkway in several stages. It was scheduled to be completed from the Gardiner Expressway to Bloor Street by 1995, to Eglinton Avenue by 1996 and to Highway 401 by 1997. Due to limited budgets, the scheduled replacement went on for much longer and would take several more years to complete. The replacement proved to be very expensive and was finally completed to Highway 401 by 2001.

In 1996, another new lighting system known as metal halide appeared. This was a white light with round luminaires. The City of Toronto needed to replace its obsolete incandescent lighting, which dated from the 1930's. City council did not want high pressure sodium, because they complained that these lights discoloured the community. They decided to convert their lighting to these new metal halide lights. Toronto streets were now unique in Metro in that they would have a different type of lighting from the rest of Metro, which now used high pressure sodium. 

In 1997, Metro decided that it was time to go ahead and replace the lighting on the Gardiner Expressway. The system to be used would be designed to accommodate the proposed widening of the western end of the expressway, which had not yet occurred. A detailed lighting study was done and both high pressure sodium and metal halide were looked at. It was decided that metal halide was not bright enough for expressway use and that high pressure sodium was still the best system. Using the existing poles with new cobra-shaped luminaires, as had been done on Eastern Avenue at the Don Valley Parkway and on the Allen Road, was studied, but was ruled out, because the existing poles had deteriorated. Fenco Engineering was retained and the same new lighting system being installed on the Don Valley Parkway would be used on the Gardiner. It would be a combination of the shaded high mast and low mast high pressure sodium lighting, with poles also painted black. High mast lighting would be installed along the south side of only the surface section of the expressway around Humber Bay in the west end from the Humber River to Dufferin Street, with low mast on some of the ramps. High mast poles could accommodate any widening of the Gardiner. They could not be installed on the elevated section of the expressway, so low mast poles would be used on this section from Dufferin Street to Leslie Street in existing davits. The Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway were now to have the same style of new lighting. The replacement of lighting on the Gardiner Expressway would be done in three phases. Firstly from the Humber River to Dufferin Street, secondly to Yonge Street, and finally to the expressway's east end. Work was scheduled to begin on the first phase at the west end, in the summer of 1998. A 1997 proposal to turn off some of the lighting and only leave them on at interchanges, due to severely tight budgets, was dropped due to safety concerns. Metro was planning to demolish the east end of the Gardiner Expressway from the Don River to Leslie Street, so the plan for the new lighting would now only stretch from the Humber River to just east of the Don Valley Parkway interchange. Opposition to these new lights existed, and some appeals against them were heard. Some people complained that they would be too bright and that the existing low pressure sodium was sufficient. Nevertheless, the first phase of lighting replacement for the Gardiner, around Humber Bay, was approved and carried out in 2000 with a combination of high and low mast high pressure sodium lighting.

New high pressure sodium lights on black low mast poles were also installed on the new ramps at the new east end of the expressway at Bouchette Street after the section to Leslie Street was demolished. The remainder of the elevated expressway from Dufferin Street to the Don River continued to have low pressure sodium lighting, as the replacement was put on hold in 2002 due to the discussion of the possibility of burying the expressway. It was also decided in 2002 to install high mast high pressure sodium lighting on the section of the Gardiner across Etobicoke which had been transferred from the Province, formerly part of the Queen Elizabeth Way. This work was carried out throughout 2003.

By 2004, no final decision had been made over the future of the elevated central Gardiner Expressway. Plans were still being discussed on whether to bury it or to leave it as it is and spruce it up and beautify it. However, in the meantime, maintenance on this section of the expressway would continue. During maintenance, the Toronto Transportation Department found that they could not get any more low pressure sodium lamps, so high pressure sodium lamps were installed into the existing poles between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue and at the Don Valley Parkway. When new low pressure sodium lamps became available again, the remaining low pressure sodium lighting on the elevated Gardiner between Strachan Avenue and the Don Valley Parkway would be maintained until a final decision on the future of this section of the expressway is made.

Black Creek Drive and Highway 27 are controlled access arterial roads, so they are lit with regular high pressure sodium street lighting and Highway 2A has no lighting, as it is a rural expressway. Therefore, upgrading expressway lighting was only required on the Allen, Don Valley and Gardiner Expressways.

Once all of the remaining Gardiner lighting work was done, the replacement of all expressway lighting in Toronto was completed. The total replacement of lighting on the three Municipal expressways would finally take over twelve years to complete due to budget constraints. In 2005, the City of Toronto’s budget did not adequately cover all basic services, so the City had to come up with ideas to raise extra funds. This included a controversial plan to sell its street lights to help pay for basic services such as police and parks The deal would sell an undisclosed number of street lights and the poles they hang from to Toronto Hydro Street Lighting Inc., a subsidiary of Toronto Hydro Corporation, which is wholly owned by the City of Toronto. There are 160,000 lights on City streets in Toronto, half of which shine from City-owned poles. The other half hang from Toronto Hydro poles supplying electricity to the City. On average, it costs $3,000 to erect each pole, plus $800 for the light, but they devalue over their 40-year lifespan.

The deal would also include the lights on the Don Valley Parkway, Gardiner Expressway and Allen Road, which include 15,000 conventional poles and 145 high-mast poles. In May 2006, the last low pressure sodium lighting on the Gardiner Expressway from Strachan Avenue to the Don Valley Parkway was replaced by conventional high pressure sodium lighting utilizing existing poles. Toronto’s entire expressway system was now lit with high pressure sodium lighting.

HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM LIGHTING ON MUNICIPAL EXPRESSWAYS 1990'S- 2000'S



GARDINER EXPRESSWAY

Shaded high mast on surface section