Speaking of brick roads in Forest Hill, I've always found the short stretch of brick to be such a tease on Highbourne Road, just south of Oxton Avenue. It looks great but it's a shame that it's such a short section.
Google Street View:
http://goo.gl/maps/X3Jm6
That's a great find! I've added it to the Google map. I like that at Oxton Avenue, the brick pavement is separated from the asphalt pavement by three rows of
granite block pavers. But it looks like it isn't in good shape. The brick pavement might have been recovered from under a layer of asphalt.
Isn't that just a traffic calming device? I've seen residents there complain about Avenue road traffic using Highbourne as a shortcut and assumed this was to discourage that. It reminds me of
these traffic calming devices used in the Bridle Path.
Forest Hill has such traffic calming devices, but Highbourne Road looks to have a traditional brick pavement. Then again, the city might have removed the asphalt as a novel traffic calming measure.
So here's my brief write up for Highbourne Road for
the Google map, and entries for a couple of other new finds that are now on the map:
Highbourne Road:
Highbourne Road south of Oxton Avenue has a short stretch of traditional red brick paving. It appears crudely patched with asphalt and in need of restoration. Interestingly, the brick pavement is separated from Oxton Avenue's asphalt pavement by three rows of granite block pavers.
Courts of Clanton Park:
In a rare suburban example of brick street paving, several streets in this Clanton Park (Wilson Heights) subdivision have lengths of modern brick paving. The most prominent instance is the landscaped traffic circle at Joel Swirsky Boulevard. Two colours of bricks are used in a herringbone pattern: grey at the intersections, and red-grey around the traffic circle. A small park is attractively landscaped and was evidently designed as meeting space with a sense of place. It has a sidewalk around the traffic circle with smaller grey concrete pavers. Square slabs of natural stone are used for the park's walkways.
The other examples of modern brick paving in this area are at the ends of the cul-de-sacs on Thamesford Court, Ambassador Place, Fairgate Close, Tillingham Keep, and a small circular patch at Clanton Court. Unfortunately, the modern concrete bricks are in bad shape with many off-colour patch repairs. But the traffic circle on Joel Swirsky Boulevard remains a unique place in a sea of generic suburban streets. It could use a formal name for the park.
Scrivener Square:
A part of Scrivener Square is paved with grey concrete bricks in a herringbone pattern around Summerhill-North Toronto Station. This landmark Beaux Arts train station from 1916 was restored and is now used as an LCBO with its ornate interior intact. Bands of lighter grey pavers run perpendicular to the road surface, adding visual interest to the pavement.
Walton Street:
Walton Street has a short stretch of modern grey concrete pavers in the cul-de-sac leading up to the entrance to the Delta Chelsea hotel from Yonge Street.
