WR Allen Road and Spadina Expressway (unbuilt)

This 2013 photo shows the southbound W.R. Allen Road approaching the exit for Lawrence Avenue. Exits are not numbered on W.R. Allen Road. The TTC Line 1 subway line is shown in the center median. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

Length:
Constructed:

7.3 kilometers (4.5 miles)
1963-1982

PLANNED AS A SPUR OF SPADINA ROAD TO DOWNSVIEW: In 1943, the Toronto City Planning Board developed a preliminary master plan for expressways within a 15-kilometer (nine-mile) radius of Yonge Street and Queen Street. Four years later, the Board announced specific plans for a "Spadina Road Extension," which actually was a northwesterly spur of the existing Spadina Road.

One of the first projects undertaken by the newly formed government of Metro Toronto, and one of the earliest proposals from the city's 1943 master plan to be acted upon, the proposed Spadina Road Extension was designed to relieve congestion on Bathhurst Street, provide a high-speed connection to Highway 401, and promote the development of North York. The city's Board of Control approved the plan for the C$3 million expressway, and on January 1, 1948, the proposed expressway was presented to voters, at which time it won approval by a 34,261 to 32,078 margin.

The Third Report and Official Plan issued by the Toronto City Planning Board outlined the path of the Spadina Road Extension as follows:

"This route is designed to provide an additional adequate north-south central highway that will relieve other similar highways from much of the traffic now entering the City from the north and northwest. The work includes the widening of the pavement on Spadina Avenue between College and Bloor Streets (now completed), the widening of the pavement on Spadina Road between Bloor and Dupont Streets (to be carried out this year), and an overpass at Davenport Road leading to a cut at a reasonable grade through the hill east of Casa Loma. The further continuation of this route, as planned by the Toronto and York Planning Board, involves the use of the Russell Hill and Cedarvale Ravines with underpasses at St. Clair Avenue and Bathurst Street. The northerly terminus will be at the intersection of Dufferin Street Diversion and Wilson Avenue."

After plans languished for several years, owing to organized opposition to the route, a lack of dedicated funding, and material shortages, more detailed plans for the proposed route were released by the Metropolitan Executive Committee, which effectively served as the predecessor to the Metro Toronto ("Metro") government, in 1953. The Spadina Road Extension was to begin on Spadina Road at Sir Winston Churchill Park, extend northwest along Nordheimer Ravine, and tunnel under St. Clair Avenue West and the St. Michael's College grounds. It was to re-emerge above ground north of St. Michael's College, continuing northwest along the spine of Cedarvale Park. North of Eglinton Avenue, the Spadina Road Extension was to continue north along the present-day expressway alignment toward Highway 401 and Downsview Airport (then known as RCAF Station Downsview).

In 1954, what was then called the Township of North York agreed to develop its portion of the "Spadina Road Extension," with the provision that it be limited to four lanes with no overpasses, underpasses, or interchanges (except with Highway 401). A year later, Metro had changed the terminology of the "Spadina Road Extension" by re-categorizing it as an "expressway." In 1956, the Metro Toronto Planning Board announced plans to build a subway line in the median of the proposed Spadina Expressway, allocating C$5.4 million for initial studies for a depressed expressway and median transit line. At least initially, however, the board itself did not see the Spadina Expressway as a high priority, as Metro regarded the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, and the Bloor-Danforth rapid transit line as higher capital priorities.

YORKDALE REKINDLES INTEREST: In 1959, Metro appeared to regain interest in building the Spadina Expressway when department store rivals T. Eaton & Company (Eaton's) and Robert Simpson Company (Simpson's) announced plans to build a new superregional shopping mall on a 40-hectare (99-acre) site in North York at the corner of Highway 401 and Dufferin Street.

The developers of what would be known as the Yorkdale Shopping Centre--planned at the time as the largest enclosed shopping center in the world--predicated its development on construction of the Spadina Expressway, as well as a massive interchange connecting the expressway to Highway 401. This move effectively forced Metro's hand into formalizing the route for the Spadina Expressway, as well as approving $1,000,000 toward construction of the Spadina-401 interchange.

SOUTH TO THE ANNEX: Extending the route described in the 1953 plan, under the 1959 plan the Spadina Expressway was to continue south from Sir Winston Churchill Park along existing Spadina Avenue to Spadina Circle, about 500 meters (0.3 mile) south of Bloor Street and adjacent to the campus of the University of Toronto. The cost of the extended route had grown to C$27 million.

Some planners had suggested extending the Spadina Expressway south to the Gardiner Expressway, but the Metro Roads Committee had other plans. Instead of planning a direct route south to the Gardiner Expressway, the Committee planned to build an east-west Crosstown Expressway to distribute through traffic exiting the Spadina Expressway: southbound traffic would have used the Crosstown Expressway east to the Don Valley Parkway southbound, or west to a proposed southern extension of Highway 400.

NORTH OF HIGHWAY 401: Under the 1959 plan, the Spadina Expressway was to continue north of Highway 401 to Wilson Heights Boulevard, with provisions for a future northerly extension. Some plans had the Spadina Expressway continue as far north as the existing Highway 407 (407 ETR) in Vaughan, though any extension beyond North York may have had to have been coordinated with the Ontario Department of Highways, which did not have any plans for a "400 Series" highway on the Spadina corridor.

This 1969 photo shows the Spadina (Allen) Expressway looking north from the Lawrence Avenue overpass. Note the median reserved for a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) rapid transit line. Transit service was not provided in the area until 1978. (Photo from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

COMPROMISE AMID CONTROVERSY: As the 1960s began, Metro faced opposition to the route of the Spadina Expressway that it did not face in its construction of the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway, the latter of which did not require significant land acquisition or the demolition of many homes. In the Forest Hill, South Hill, and the Annex neighborhoods, residents began to organize in opposition to the Spadina Expressway, and later joined forces with neighborhoods to the east, such as Rosedale, which were fighting their own battle against the proposed Crosstown Expressway. As Metro stalled, costs were increasing significantly, such that by the end of 1961, the cost of the Spadina Expressway had risen to C$68 million for the expressway-only alternative, to as much as C$147 million for the expressway-and-rapid transit alternative.

There was little controversy on the route of the Spadina Expressway toward its northern end, indeed, there was outright support for the expressway in North York. Particularly north of Lawrence Avenue, the Spadina Expressway could be built with relative ease compared to more southerly sections as the proposed route traversed mostly empty space. Moreover, the builders of the Yorkdale Shopping Centre made construction of the expressway a condition of the construction of the mall. As Metro determined that the mall was essential to the development of North York, the expressway therefore would need to be built. As a compromise, however, Metro decided to build only a short three-kilometer (two-mile) section from Lawrence Avenue north to Wilson Heights Boulevard (Transit Road), including a massive interchange with Highway 401 (including the construction of collector-distributor lanes on Highway 401). Metro approved the route of the expressway on February 19, 1962 with provisions for a future subway line in the median.

This 1969 photo shows the Spadina Expressway looking south toward the Lawrence Avenue exit. The expressway was not extended south to Eglinton Avenue until 1976, though the rights-of-way had been set aside years earlier. (Photo from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

"If this does not get the motorist out of his vehicle and back to rapid transit, Metro Council cannot be blamed." - Metro Chairman William R. Allen, upon Metro's vote to approve the Spadina Expressway and the rapid transit extension

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS: Construction of the Spadina Expressway began in January 1963. Metro built most of the 3.0-kilometer (1.9-mile)-long expressway from Lawrence Avenue north to Wilson Heights Boulevard, but the province built the Spadina-401 interchange, and to this day, the province has jurisdiction over not only the interchange, but also the section of the Spadina / Allen Expressway that runs through the interchange. During this time, the province was rebuilding Highway 401 from a four-lane freeway to a 12-lane freeway with three-lane express lanes and three-lane collector-distributor lanes in each direction. It was also during this time that Metro acquired rights-of-way from Lawrence Avenue south of Eglinton Avenue, even though construction contracts had yet to be released for this section.

As construction got underway, concerns grew about the rising cost of the expressway, which had risen to C$73 million. Metro, which at the time was building not only the Spadina Expressway, but also the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, and the Bloor-Danforth (TTC Line 2) subway line, was scrutinized by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) over its spending, and as a result, the OMB had to approve Metro's budget. Despite objections from the townships of Forest Hill and York, the OMB upheld the Spadina Expressway project, stating that "sectional interest must give way to the public need of the larger area.

On February 25, 1964, Metro opened a 1.1-kilometer (0.7-mile)-long, four-lane interim roadway from Lawrence Avenue north to Yorkdale Road ahead of the opening of the Yorkdale Shopping Centre the next day. On December 15, 1966, the full six-lane expressway opened from Lawrence Avenue north to Wilson Heights Boulevard.

Construction then commenced on the 2.0-kilometer (1.2-mile)-long section from Lawrence Avenue south of the Eglinton Avenue. Metro demolished dozens of houses on the right-of-way it acquired, dug a large ditch, graded land for the future carriageways, and built seven overpasses over the future expressway. Metro also began work on digging a large ditch through Cedarvale Park south of Eglinton Avenue in advance of future expressway construction.

In October 1969, the Spadina Expressway was formally renamed the William R. Allen Expressway, in honor of the second president of Metro.

STALLED FROM LAWRENCE SOUTH TO EGLINTON: Although the Lawrence-to-Eglinton section of the Spadina Expressway was ready to be paved by 1969, Metro already had spent all but C$10 million of the C$76 million that the OMB approved for its construction. Facing a total price tag of C$237 million for the combined expressway-and-transit line - a 40% increase in just eight years - Metro had to apply to the OMB to get permission to borrow additional funds to complete the project. Given rising costs, as well as rising opposition not only from community groups, but also within the mayor's office in the City of Toronto, Metro stopped all work on the expressway in September 1969 and conducted a review of the route.

In 1970, Metro completed its review, which recommended completion of the expressway south to the Annex, including construction of a tunnel under the Cedarvale Park ravine. Metro then went to the OMB for additional funding, which the provincial board approved in a 2-to-1 decision. Opposition groups, notably Stop Spadina, appealed this decision to the Ontario Cabinet, and Metro continued to halt construction pending the outcome of the appeal. Metro was eager to restart construction, given that the scheduled completion of the expressway was delayed by two years to 1977, as were unemployed construction workers, who demonstrated in front of Toronto City Hall to restart construction.

The year 1971 proved a pivotal year for the expressway. That year, Ontario Premier John Robarts retired, and William (Bill) Davis, a Cabinet member in the Ontario government, ascended to the Premiership. He agreed to hear the appeal and make a final decision prior to the provincial election scheduled for October of that year. On June 2, 1971, Premier Davis reached a final decision, siding with Stop Spadina and halting construction of the Spadina (Allen) Expressway south of Lawrence Avenue. It did, however, approve the mass transit portion of the project south to downtown Toronto with 75% provincial funding. The subsequent 1972 election of David Crombie, a pro-transit, anti-highway reformer, as mayor of the City of Toronto, along with City Council members sympathetic to the anti-expressway cause, added political muscle to similar efforts to cancel expressways, including the Crosstown Expressway north of downtown and the Scarborough Expressway east of downtown.

This 1969 photo shows the W.R. Allen Road -- then known as the Spadina Expressway -- looking south at the completed expressway ending at Lawrence Avenue. Right-of-way was set aside and overpasses were built for an extended expressway, though the southerly extension to Eglinton Avenue was not completed until 1976. (Photo from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

FILLING THE "DAVIS DITCH": In 1972, Metro conducted a study on possible uses for the incomplete section south of Lawrence Avenue, which soon came to be known as the "Spadina Ditch" or the "Davis Ditch" (named after the Premier who canceled the southern extension of the expressway). Some possible uses suggested by Metro included building an arterial roadway to Eglinton Avenue, constructing parking garages in the right-of-way, and closing the Allen Expressway south of Highway 401 (the latter of which was opposed by Yorkdale Shopping Centre). Other groups not affiliated with Metro had their own suggestions, including building apartment buildings and shopping centers in the right-of-way.

This study recommended building an arterial road from Lawrence Avenue south to Eglinton Avenue, as well as parking garages for the proposed TTC stations at Lawrence Avenue, Glencairn Avenue, and Eglinton Avenue. Metro approved construction of just the arterial highway, but even this proposal was opposed by the province, which saw the arterial highway as an extension of the expressway since the grade separations were already built. With Metro and the province at an impasse, the "Davis Ditch" lay format for several years, except for when it was used for dumping snow.

The anti-highway forces were not the only citizen groups organizing. During this time, North York resident Esther Shiner, who later served on North York's City Council, started a group known as Go Spadina to advocate completion of the expressway at least as far south as Eglinton Avenue. As a member of City Council, Shiner was able to convince other council members of the need to extend the expressway and pressure the province to follow suit.

With provincial elections called for in the fall of 1975, the province's Transportation Plan Review group issued its final report, "Choices for the Future," in which it published six alternate plans. Four contained no new expressway development, one contained new expressways only in the northwest, and one retained the original system approved in 1966. The report said there was a "severe deficiency" of roads in the northwest area of Metro, and that an extension of the existing Highway 400 south to the Gardiner Expressway was the best way to address this deficiency.

A COMPROMISE IN THE NORTHWEST: In light of intense opposition to extending expressways in the northwest, Metro offered another alternative: extending the Allen Expressway as an arterial route to Eglinton Avenue, and extending Highway 400 south as an arterial route (today's Black Creek Drive) along province-owned land. The report did recommend extending the Allen Expressway north to Highway 407, making it function as a northern route rather than a downtown route.

Metro approved the two-arterial compromise involving the Allen Road and Highway 400 extensions in 1975, seeking to diffuse any potential northwest expressway battle. It also was approved by the province that year, as the province saw the four-lane arterial as a scaled-down compromise from the original six-lane expressway plan.

The Spadina/Allen Expressway extension was opened to traffic on September 8, 1976, after about a year of paving and final construction. As an arterial, the extension did not have expressway lighting originally, nor did it have the same 80 km/h (50 MPH) speed limit as the rest of the expressway. A later reclassification of the extension as an expressway brought both expressway lighting and speed limits to the extension. The extension of the Yonge-University (TTC Line 1) in the expressway median was completed in 1978.

This 2013 photo shows the southbound W.R. Allen Road approaching the exit for Lawrence Avenue. Exits are not numbered on W.R. Allen Road. The TTC Line 1 subway is shown in the center median. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

EXTENDING NORTH AS AN ARTERIAL: As part of the arterial compromise reached in 1975, Metro began work in May 1981 on a 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile), six-lane extension of Allen Road from Wilson Heights Boulevard north to Kennard Avenue. The extension, which was built on existing right-of-way as well as land from Downsview Airport, was a scaled-back version of the original plan to extend Allen Road north to the then-proposed Highway 407. As officials found it difficult to acquire rights-of-way north of Kennard Avenue for future rights-of-way, the northern terminus of Allen Road was designed to empty onto Dufferin Street.

After a little over a year of construction, the northern extension to Kennard Avenue was opened to traffic in the fall of 1982. As the extension had bus-only lanes (since converted to carpool lanes) in the right lane, the province considered the extension as a transit facility and picked up 75% of the cost of the C$8 million extension. The speed limit on the arterial is 60 km/h (37 MPH).

This plan from 1962 shows the proposed Spadina Expressway, including the directional-T interchange with the proposed Crosstown Expressway. Maps are oriented with north to the right. (Map from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

"Cities were built for people and not cars. If we were building a transportation system for the automobile, the Spadina Expressway would be a good place to start, but if we are going to build a transportation system for people, the Spadina Expressway is a good place to stop." - Ontario Premier Bill Davis, upon cancellation of the Spadina Expressway (1971)

OPPOSITION GAINS MOMENTUM: The development of the expressway network in Toronto took place at a slower pace than the pace in most major cities in the United States, where the Federal government encouraged the development of the Interstate highway system in cities with 90% reimbursement to the state governments that funded their construction. Toronto's expressway network also lagged behind that of Montreal, where Mayor Jean Drapeau pressured the Quebec government to accelerate the construction of the Bonaventure Expressway (A-10), Decarie Expressway (A-15), and Lafontaine Expressway (A-25) ahead of the city's Expo 67. These delays allowed opposition to the expressway, which had been evident since the early 1960s, to gain momentum.

In 1969, Alan Powell, a professor of urban sociology and mass communications at the University of Toronto, founded the Stop Spadina, Save Our City, Coordinating Committee (SSSOCCC) to mobilize citizens against the Spadina Expressway. The group organized demonstrations and stormed political meetings. The SSSOCCC had a sympathetic ear among Toronto City Council members, but less so among members of Metro, which still supported the expressway.

EXPERIENCED EXPRESSWAY FIGHTER, FUTURE MAYOR JOIN OPPOSITION: Shortly after the SSSOCCC was founded, journalist and activist Jane Jacobs joined the group. Jacobs, who fled with her family from the United States a year earlier to protest the Vietnam War (and perhaps out of concern that her two draft-age sons would be subject to conscription), was best known for her opposition to the Lower Manhattan Expressway (unbuilt I-78 and I-478) in New York City. She quickly found a home - and a ready-made cause - in Toronto.

John Sewell, a local community activist who later served as Toronto's mayor from 1978 to 1980, joined the SSSOCCC. Sewell made the fight against the Spadina Expressway the key focus of his 1969 campaign for Toronto City Council. Once in City Council, Sewell galvanized the opposition to the expressway.

This 1970 map shows the proposed route of the Spadina Expressway from Eglinton Avenue south to Spadina Expressway. From north to south, there were to have been three tunneled sections: one through Cedarvale Park, one at St. Clair Avenue near St. Michael's College, and one at Casa Loma / Spadina Park. (Map from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

"We spent 10 to 20 years planning this expressway and, with two weeks' study and the stroke of the pen, they kill it. God… it's unbelievable." - Metro Toronto Chairman Albert Campbell, in a press conference upon Premier Bill Davis' decision to cancel the Spadina Expressway extension in 1971

METRO REFUSES TO GIVE UP: Albert Campbell, the chairman of Metro Toronto, was upset that not only was the expressway extension canceled, but also the provincial government bypassed Metro Toronto in local and regional matters. Given this decision, he questioned the need for regional governments like Metro Toronto. Sam Cass, who served as Metro's roads commissioner, said that the existing plan for proposed expressways was "pointless" without the Spadina Expressway, and that it would take as long as a decade to develop a new regional expressway plan. Metro felt it was betrayed to the point it considered suing the province for breaching its 1963 contract to build the expressway.

In the meantime, Metro sought to complete what soon came to be called the "Davis Ditch" from Lawrence Avenue south to Eglinton Avenue. The province countered with its Transportation Plan Review group report in 1975, which called for the extension of Highway 400 south to the Gardiner Expressway. Still, the province defended its decision to cancel the Spadina Expressway extension. Seeking to avoid another expressway battle, Metro offered its own alternative expressway to extend the Spadina Expressway and Highway 400 as arterials. Even though the Spadina extension was effective a freeway extension with grade separations, the province still approved the proposal in 1975 as it saw the four-lane extension as a compromise from the original six-lane plan.

DAVIS LEAVES HIS MARK: Upon his retirement in 1983, Premier Bill Davis announced that one of his last acts would be to keep his promise not to extend Allen Road south of Eglinton Avenue. To accomplish this, Davis announced that Metro would receive Black Creek Drive - which had been completed a year earlier - from the province for free if it transferred the Spadina/Allen right-of-way from Eglinton Avenue south to Bloor Street to the province, which then would lease out the land for non-road purposes. A one-meter (three-foot)-wide strip of land along the length of the right-of-way would be given to the City of Toronto, thus barring any expressway extension.

Metro agreed reluctantly; if it had not done so, the province would have seized the Allen/Spadina right-of-way, and would have charged Metro with half of the construction costs for Black Creek Drive. At the time, Metro believed a change in provincial government would lead officials to reverse its decision, but new Premier Frank Miller abided by his predecessor's decision, despite his earlier comments that he would consider reviving the expressway as a tunnel. The death of Esther Shiner, a key pro-expressway advocate, in 1987 laid to rest all plans for extending the Spadina Expressway for the rest of the 20th century.

TAPPING TUNNEL PLANS ONCE AGAIN: In 2010, Rocco Rossi, candidate for Toronto mayor, proposed extending the Allen Expressway as a tunnel south to the Gardiner Expressway. Rossi pitched the so-called "Toronto Tunnel" as a means to alleviate congestion while leaving untouched the neighborhoods through which it was to traverse. He estimated that the eight-kilometer (five-mile)-long tunnel, which was to have no entrances or exits between Eglinton Avenue and the Spadina Expressway, would cost C$110 million per kilometer to build. It was to have privately funded and financed through tolls.

Other mayoral candidates, along with Councillor Adam Vaughan, whose father, Colin Vaughan had fought the original Spadina Expressway plan, opposed the "Toronto Tunnel." Rossi's exit from the 2010 mayoral plan laid to rest the "Spadina 2.0" plan, and no other public official has advanced a similar plan since then.

THE LEGACY LIVES ON: Perhaps the most tangible evidence of the once-proposed Spadina Expressway lies in the small enclave of Rathnelly, an area that was threatened by the path of the expressway. In 2017, a half century after local activists announced the "Republic of Rathnelly" to protest the expressway, several public lanes were renamed in honor of these activists. One other lane was renamed "Stop Spadina Lane" in honor of the protests.

This artist's conception from 1970 shows the proposed Spadina / Allen Expressway at the Bathurst Street interchange. View is looking northwest. The expressway would have built through Cedarvale Park, and specifically within Cedarvale Ravine. (Sketch from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

This artist's conception from 1970 shows the proposed Spadina / Allen Expressway at the Davenport Road interchange. View is looking northwest, with Casa Loma to the west and Spadina Park to the east. The expressway would have been tunneled in the vicinity of Casa Loma and Spadina Park. The flyover ramps shown here would have connected to Davenport Road. (Sketch from Toronto City Archives / Toronto Public Library.)

SOURCES: "Call It Inglorious Retreat As Expressway Vote Off," Toronto Star (12/20/1947); "Spadina Widening Must Go Through, Mayor Asserts, The Globe and Mail (1/06/1948); "Cedarvale Folk Oppose Spadina Road Extension," Toronto Star (10/16/1953); "Study St. George Street Extension, Shelve Spadina Road," Toronto Star (11/17/1954); "Pass $1,800,000 for Spadina Extension," Toronto Star (5/04/1955); RCAF Insists on Extending Downsview, May Need Roof on Expressway," Toronto Star (4/05/1956); "Propose Spadina Expressway As Vital Part of 25-Year Metro Transportation Plan," Toronto Star (4/16/1956); "Planning Board Seeks $60,000,000 To Extend Three Expressways," Toronto Star (4/18/1957); "Subway for Queen-Pape in $250,000,000 Plans," Toronto Star (7/03/1959); "Spadina Expressway Coming," Toronto Star (10/20/1959); "Prepare Final Plans for New Expressway," Toronto Star (11/17/1959); "North Shopping Plaza Forced 'Y' Change" by Ron Haggart, Toronto Star (6/03/1960); "Metro To Speed Up Spadina Expressway," Toronto Star (3/29/1961); "Metro Dealys Spadina X-Way Proposal," Toronto Star (11/18/1961); "FG's Vote Shelves Four-City Metro Plan," Toronto Star (12/13/1961); The Bad Trip: The Untold Story of the Spadina Expressway by David and Nadine Nowlan, New Press / House of Anansi (1970); "Spadina Killed: Transit Future Left in Chaos," Toronto Star (6/04/1971); "Spadina's Rejection 'Endangers' Metro's Self-Rule," Toronto Star (6/04/1971); "Stop-and-Go History of the Spadina Expressway" by Frank Jones, Toronto Star (6/04/1971); "Spadina Ditch To Be Paved Next Spring," Toronto Star (8/11/1975); "Spadina Extension Opens to Eglinton Despite Protests," Toronto Star (9/08/1976); "Allen Road Extension to Finch To Cost $8 Million" by Harold Hilliard; Toronto Star (5/25/1981); "Approval of Spadina Expressway Was the Beginning of the Highway to Nowhere" by Evelyn Kwong, Toronto Star (10/21/2016); "Toronto's Quirkiest Neighborhood Is Renaming a Bunch of Streets" by Derek Flack, BlogTo.com (6/13/2017); "Missing Links: A History of Toronto's Controversial Unfinished Expressway System" by James B. Alcock (2017); "Reconstructing the Past: The Case of the Spadina Expressway by Alicia M. Grubb and Marsha Chechik, University of Toronto (2018); "The History of the Spadina Expressway Debacle in Toronto" by Agatha Barc, BlogTo.com (10/18/2020); "The Expressways of Toronto (Built and Unbuilt)" by Sean Marshall, TransitToronto.ca (12/28/2020); "'The Streets Belong to the People': Why a Premier Killed the Spadina Expressway" by Jamie Bradburn, TVO (6/03/2021).

  • Allen Expressway shield by James Alcock.
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ALLEN ROAD / SPADINA EXPRESSWAY LINKS:

GARDINER EXPRESSWAY CURRENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS:

ALLEN ROAD / SPADINA EXPRESSWAY VIDEO LINKS:

THE EXITS OF GREATER TORONTO:

  • Allen Road exit list by Steve Anderson.

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