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Fort Erie, ON
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| reply to PX Eliezer
Re: Sell the Gardiner Expressway - Adam Vaughn All of Toronto's expressways, both built and unbuilt, were intended to be municipally-controlled and maintained extensions of the provincial freeways. The Gardiner was the municipal extension of the QEW. The Richview Expressway would have been the municipal extension of the 403. The DVP is the municipal extension of the 404. What is now Black Creek Drive would have been a full freeway and a municipal extension of Highway 400. The Spadina (now Allen Road) and Crosstown would have tied them all into each other.
Though, at least prior to 1997/98, the non-QEW portion of the Gardiner Expressway had the status of provincial connecting link - a municipal road that received occasional provincial funding in return for carrying a provincial highway number. Allen Road and the DVP were never so lucky.
Toronto wasn't the only one. Windsor has a municipal freeway (though it has bounced back and forth between provincial and municipal more times than I can count). Ottawa planned a bunch that were never built and eventually had a provincial freeway downloaded to them. Hamilton has two that were always planned to be municipal and they had planned three more that were never built. London has the first-leg-of-the-402-that-ended-up-never-being-a-part-of-the-402 that was downloaded to them in the early 90s and has plans for more municipal freeways. Niagara Falls has part of Highway 420 downloaded to Niagara Region. This is par for the course in Ontario. It's really nothing unusual. It is also my understanding that in Alberta Edmonton and Calgary maintain significant portions of the freeways that pass through their borders, too. |
