Streetscapes

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QEW/Gardiner Expressway - merging lanes

There was plenty of talk last month about the eastern end of the Gardiner (which I already covered from below a few years back, here: http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/streetscapes.17737/page-2#post-645879 and here: http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/streetscapes.17737/page-2#post-647306). Today, however, I'm tackling the western half along with its inseparable sister, the Queen Elizabeth Way, to bring to a close my overpass overview of the city's expressways. So let us begin the beginning of the end with the last little bit of QEW in Toronto, as seen from Evans Avenue:

 

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Past the 427 interchange, the Queen Liz now technically merges into the Gardiner. But this, of course, was not always the case. Originally, the QEW continued east to the mouth of the Humber (as evidenced by the QEW Monument which still stands there). However, on April 1st, 1997, this stretch of Elizabeth's oriental extremities was handed over to the city to become the occidental endpoint of Frederick G's expressway. That being said, given the date of this transaction is it not possible that this was all just a big April Fool's Day prank, and that this section of road is actually still the QEW, and has been all along? Take a look for yourself from Kipling Ave:

 

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Still not convinced? Take a gander from Islington Ave...:

 

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...or Royal York Road:

 

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The last overhead views of the great Gardiner/QEW conjunction can be seen from Grand Avenue:

 

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After exiting Etobicoke, the first overpass vistas aren't to be seen until reaching the Roncesvalles/Budapest pedestrian bridge where, though we are now firmly ensconced in Gardiner territory, the situation is again confused by the parallel running of Lake Shore Boulevard to the south:

 

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The scenic views from Dowling Ave:

 

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Further confusion as we come across the first of two Lake Shore Boulevard cross-overs:

 

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Jameson Avenue in the middle:

 

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Finishing the trip - and the series - on the second Lake Shore cross-over, with the Dufferin Street overpass off in the distance where I finished my last exploration of the Gardiner, which was also the first installment of this series - beginning and ending in one... life is a circle... et cetera, et cetera... blah, blah, blah...: