Roads: Gardiner Expressway catch-all, incl. Hybrid Design (2015-onwards)

[pman]

I love how you know its the future because of all the drones flying around

 

[MetroMan]

Some of the new sections and various stages of completion.

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Hey, on the bright side, modern engineering will enable the new Gardiner to be far more visually lightweight than the monster that's down there now. It's hard to tell in the picture but if those pre-fab sections are complete parts, it's going to be almost invisible. Of course, paving and guardrails will be added but that's a fraction of the size of the existing elevated platform of the 60s.

 

[Tuscani01]

Hey, on the bright side, modern engineering will enable the new Gardiner to be far more visually lightweight than the monster that's down there now. It's hard to tell in the picture but if those pre-fab sections are complete parts, it's going to be almost invisible. Of course, paving and guardrails will be added but that's a fraction of the size of the existing elevated platform of the 60s.

I don't know... looks about the same as the portions of the Gardiner you can see in the background of those photos. Those just look like the deck portion of the roadway, not the piers/bents that hold it up. Regardless, this portion of the Gardiner has always appeared lighter than the central portion. Quite a bit of light gets through, and the highway is pretty high up.

 

[darth_freeman]

The current project is a like for like replacement of the section between Jarvis & Cherry Streets.

The future hybridization will be east of Cherry.

 

[mburrrrr]

It should be fun to watch the deck replacement. Anytime entertainment. All lanes moving to the south side for next week.

 

[cc46]

New lane configurations, rainbow pic is from sept, other pics oct 13th.

 

[cc46]

Opened this morning, first accident this afternoon, haven’t even gone through a rush hour. Hope no one was hurt. Tomorrow will be interesting.

 

[CapitalSeven]

This picture reveals something sad. The rebuild of the structure could have involved knocking down half of the roadway and reconfiguring it as 4 lanes with a better Lake Shore below. But no, every lane is sacred.

 

[innsertnamehere]

This picture reveals something sad. The rebuild of the structure could have involved knocking down half of the roadway and reconfiguring it as 4 lanes with a better Lake Shore below. But no, every lane is sacred.

Except for the fact that, you know, they are doing *exactly that*.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From link:

The elevated section between the Don River and Leslie Street, intended for connection to the cancelled Scarborough Expressway, was eventually demolished in 2001. Demolition was first proposed in 1990 by the Crombie Commission and the Lake Shore-Gardiner Task Force. The segment was in need of expensive repairs and a 1996 environmental assessment determined that it would cost $48 million to refurbish the Gardiner from the Don Valley Parkway to Leslie St., but only $34 million to tear it down. The final cost of the demolition was $39 million. Eastbound traffic now exits to a newly constructed off-ramp that connects with Lake Shore Blvd. East, just west of Carlaw Avenue. In the wake of the eastern demolition, Lake Shore Boulevard East has been revealed from the cover of the highway. Green boulevards have been implemented along the wide thoroughfare. Paved bicycle paths extend eastward for approximately two kilometres from the Martin Goodman Trail at Cherry Street to Coxwell Avenue. A local artist created a commemorative piece for the demolished elevated expressway out of several of its giant supportive concrete pillars.

The highway has not been expanded since its initial construction. Commuting traffic into and out of the downtown core moves very slowly during the rush hours, which has led to growth in commuting by other modes. Introduced in the 1960s, the province's GO Transit has increased train frequency and capacity along the Lakeshore route to the point where GO now carries 19% of inbound commuters to downtown, while the Gardiner carries 8%. The TTC carries 47% of commuters and other auto routes account for 26% of inbound commuters, according to 2006 figures.

 

[salsa]

Except for the fact that, you know, they are doing *exactly that*.

Aren't we getting 6 lanes on the Gardiner, not 4?

 

[innsertnamehere]

Aren't we getting 6 lanes on the Gardiner, not 4?

Since the Lake Shore off ramp is moving from Booth Avenue to Cherry, the stretch of the Gardiner from about Parliament to the DVP will be 4 lanes, compared to the current 8 lanes. West of that it will be 6 lanes like the current configuration beyond a small 4 lane section westbound from the Lake Shore on-ramp to the Yonge Street off-ramp.

It's easy to forget that the Hybrid solution getting built is actually going to effectively demolish another 600m or so of the highway (the Lake Shore ramps), create a much smaller structure for another 800m or so, as well as shifting the highway north from the Keating Channel.

The highway is going to be a lot less oppressive than it is today, it'll feel a lot smaller east of Parliament.

West of Parliament the highway will be more or less the same as today though.

 

[Fritter]

GO now carries 19% of inbound commuters to downtown

I'm surprised with this stat. I thought it would be a much higher percentage.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I'm surprised with this stat. I thought it would be a much higher percentage.

The TTC is the oft forgotten workhorse in getting people into the downtown.

When you think about it GO carries a little less than half as many passengers as the TTC into downtown, which is honestly higher than I expected it to be.

It does still amaze me how high the auto modal share still is. I wouldn't be surprised if most of those cars aren't actually originating from the 905 however, but rather from inner suburbs and areas just outside of downtown. If the Gardiner carries 8%, the DVP probably carries 6-7%, and the rest (19-20%) is local roads from near-downtown neighbourhoods.

 

[jje1000]

It does still amaze me how high the auto modal share still is. I wouldn't be surprised if most of those cars aren't actually originating from the 905 however, but rather from inner suburbs and areas just outside of downtown. If the Gardiner carries 8%, the DVP probably carries 6-7%, and the rest (19-20%) is local roads from near-downtown neighbourhoods.

The wealthy executives and their cars coming down from Rosedale and the wealthy portions of North Toronto and York + the 905 & Oakville? It also sort of reminds me of the time when drivers made a fit about removing the reversible lane on Jarvis because of the inconvenience it would cause, even though people sort of knew it was a way of getting from Rosedale to downtown quickly by car.

Personally I would imagine driving into the Financial District in as a status of convenience, as parking rates are a bit too expensive to be sustainable for the average middle class.