Yesterday we broke the rules to include two photos in our Daily Photo feature, and we're repeating that unorthodoxy again today with these images by UrbanToronto Forum contributor mburrrrr. It's all been in aid of watching water make its way up from Lake Ontario into the new mouth of the Don River. Yesterday's shots by UrbanToronto Forum contributor skycandy, both facing south from the Commissioners Street Bridge, were taken on Thursday and Friday last week as water got deeper in the new channel. Today, both shots by mburrrrr face north from the same bridge, both taken about noon on Saturday, and this time capturing the two channels of the new riverbed, the first looking between them…

Looking north from the Commissioners Street Bridge towards Toronto's skyline and Gardiner lines, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor mburrrrr

…and the second focusing more on the side channel and its pond, a wetland separated from the main channel by a concrete control structure called a carp gate. The bars in the carp gate are close enough together that the large, invasive species won't be able to swin through them, but not so close that smaller native species will have an issue with them. The wetland will become a place for the native fish to live without having to compete with the carp. There is still another metre or so of water to rise in the new riverbed before it reaches its normal depth.

Looking north from the Commissioners Street Bridge towards Toronto's skyline and Gardiner lines, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor mburrrrr

At the back of both photos is where Villiers Street used to run through. With this portion now closed, Waterfront Toronto can move ahead with removing the road and what was below it, and then finally the "north plug" to connect the new riverbed with the existing river beyond. Gardiner Expressway ramps that form the horizon behind it are planned to be reconstructed in a less obtrusive fashion in the coming years.

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