Roads

Toronto has not built any major roads since 1971 when construction of the Allen Expressway was cancelled. The only new road to be built since then was Black Creek Drive and that was constructed by the Provincial Government in 1982. The lack of road construction has been due to political reasons. Toronto's traffic has grown three times since the 1970's and congestion levels are reaching gridlocked proportions. It is time for Toronto to start building roads again in addition to subway construction, but on a moderate scale and only using existing available rail and utility corridors in order to preserve neighbourhoods. Two new expressways between Highway 401 and the Gardiner Expressway are needed - one in the northwest as a southern extension of Highway 400 and one in the east as an eastern extension of the Gardiner Expressway. The Highway 400 Extension can be built in twin tunnels under the existing Georgetown rail corridors, not requiring expropriation of homes and businesses. The Gardiner eastern extension can be built in a covered trench along the wide Gatineau hydro corridor across Scarborough. Public-private partnership funding can be used and these roads can be operated and maintained as toll roads similar to the Highway 407 ETR system. The future of the elevated section of the Gardiner Expressway needs to be finally decided and the time has come for a total rebuild with  a new structure. Gaps in the arterial road grid also need to be filled in to maintain a continuous network of streets which carry buses, pedestrians and bicycles as well as cars.

Provincial Freeways and Municipal Expressways and Roads

In the City of Toronto (formerly Metropolitan Toronto or Metro), the expressway system is divided into two parts - Provincial freeways and Municipal (formerly Metropolitan) expressways. Provincial freeways are under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Province of Ontario and include the Queen Elizabeth Way and all of the 400-series highways such as Highways 400, 401, 427. Municipal expressways are under the jurisdiction of the City of Toronto (formerly the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto).

Some Provincial highways have been transferred to the City of Toronto (formerly Metropolitan Toronto) over the years. In recent years, some of these include Black Creek Drive (Highway 400 Extension), Highway 27 and Highway 2A.

Municipal expressways include the Gardiner Expressway from Highway 427 to the Don Valley Parkway (the section east from the Don Valley Parkway to Leslie Street was demolished in 2001), the Don Valley Parkway from the Gardiner Expressway to Highway 401, the Allen (Spadina) Expressway (later called the Allen Road) from Wilson Heights Boulevard to Eglinton Avenue West, and finally Highway 2A from Kingston Road to Highway 401, which would have acted as the eastern end of the Gardiner Expressway if it had been completed across Scarborough as originally planned. The City of Toronto also has jurisdiction over all arterial roads, local roads and laneways within its boundaries.

Road Proposals:

• Construction of a Highway 400 Extension from Highway 401 to the Gardiner Expressway by upgrading Black Creek Drive to become a full expressway and extension south under the Georgetown GO rail corridor in a cut-and-cover tunnel to meet the Gardiner Expressway at Strachan Avenue. This will serve as a new route to L.B. Pearson International Airport from Downtown. The Highway 400 Extension can be constructed by a public-private partnership and operated as a toll road similar to the Highway 407 ETR route.
• Improved access ramps to the Allen Road at Lawrence and Eglinton Avenues and replacement of all traffic signals on the Allen north of Wilson Avenue with ramps and overpasses and the Allen Road wil be renamed as the Allen Expressway
• Construction of a new eastern Highway 448 along the wide Gatineau hydro corridor from the Don Valley Parkway south of Eglinton Avenue East to Highway 401 at Morningside Avenue. This will divert the heaviest traffic congestion on the Don Valley Parkway which is north of Eglinton Avenue. Highway 448 can be constructed by a public-private partnership and operated as a toll road similar to the Highway 407 ETR route.
• Maintenance of the entire elevated Gardiner Expressway in the short term
• Eventual replacement of the elevated section of the Gardiner Expressway with a new cable-stayed viaduct above the parallel Lake Shore railway lines known as the Toronto Waterfront Viaduct
• Filling in 18 missing links in the arterial road grid system - a total of 30 km of new arterial roads
• Installation of traffic roundabouts to improve intersection safety and traffic flow
• Removal of streetcars from downtown streets and their replacement with electric trolleybuses with the same seating capacity as streetcars 
• No more traffic lanes to be converted to bicycle lanes on major arterial roads. Bicycle lanes should only installed on collector and residential streets and where two traffic lanes in each directions can be maintained
• Level crossings at railway lines with gates and warning bells should be removed and replaced with underpasses and overpasses to improve safety and traffic flow
• Inexpensive multi-storey parking garages should be constructed at public transit hubs such as Yorkdale, Eglinton West, Yonge-Sheppard, Yonge-Eglinton, Yonge-Bloor, Dundas West, Greenwood, Kennedy and Scarborough Centre stations and the proposed Sherway Gardens station

Map of Toronto's road system showing new expressway and arterial road extensions as completed
Click on this map to enlarge it

Click on the images below for the detailed Highway 400 Extension and Allen Expressway reports

       

The first step will be to upgrade the Allen Road (to be renamed as Allen Expressway) and Black Creek Drive (to become part of the Highway 400 Extension) as full six-lane expressways with ramps and overpasses. These will be followed by the construction of the Highway 400 Extension tunnel and Highway 448. Replacement of the elevated section of the Gardiner Expressway with the Toronto Waterfront Viaduct would be done afterwards.

Click on the image below to enlarge it to see the designs for the proposed Allen and Black Creek upgrades:

 

Map of the Highway 400 Extension plan
Click on this map to enlarge it

         

                                            Diagram of open-cut sections of depressed    Diagram of tunnelled sections of expressway
                                            expressway through industrial areas only      under railway lines through built-up areas
                                            Click on this picture to enlarge it                 Click on this picture to enlarge it

View a video of the Highway 400 Extension corridor from Weston to Bloor

View a video of the Highway 400 Extension corridor from Bloor to Downtown Toronto

Highway 400 Extension tunnelled under the Georgetown rail corridor with Union-Pearson rail link with bicycle trail and landscaping above

(refer to the above enlargeable map of Toronto's road system showing new expressway and arterial road extensions as completed to view the Highway 400 Extension route along the rail corridor)



Map of Highway 448
Click on this map to enlarge it



Highway 448 along the wide Gatineau hydro corridor

(refer to the above enlargeable map of Toronto's road system showing new expressway and arterial road extensions as completed to view the Highway 488 route along the hydro corridor)

 

For plans for replacement of the existing elevated Gardiner Expressway, see Waterfront page

A new traffic roundabout in central Toronto. More of these can be built even at major intersections