{"id":5121,"date":"2009-07-02T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2009-07-02T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=5121"},"modified":"2013-01-21T15:22:46","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T20:22:46","slug":"throwback-thursday-planning-for-the-future-the-bloor-street-viaduct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2009\/07\/02\/throwback-thursday-planning-for-the-future-the-bloor-street-viaduct\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback Thursday: Planning for the Future – The Bloor Street Viaduct"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

To escape the long shadow cast by Canada Day, this edition of Throwback Thursday jumps to July 3rd (tomorrow), when in 1965 the first subway train crossed the Don Valley on the lower deck of the Bloor Street Viaduct.<\/p>\n

Completed in 1918, the Don Valley Phase of the Prince Edward Viaduct has garnered a lot of popular attention in the past couple decades.\u00a0 Beginning with its role in Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion<\/em><\/a> in 1987, the growing awareness in 1997 of the many suicides occurring on the viaduct (ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in the world with over 400 suicides, or an average of one suicide every 22 days in 1997), the award-winning Luminous Veil<\/a> suicide barrier that was installed in 2003 and the recent release of many of Arthur Goss’ photos<\/a> taken for the City, the Viaduct has become one of the landmarks frequently associated with Toronto.<\/p>\n

Yet little recognition has been given to the original structural features of the viaduct.\u00a0 For although the then commissioner of public works R.C. Harris<\/a> is well known for his many achievements around the city – the water filtration plant<\/a> that goes by his name – not much has been said in regards to his foresight in pushing for a lower deck on the Viaduct that might one day accommodate a subway.<\/p>\n

Designed by architect Edmund Burke and engineered by Thomas Taylor, the only work needing to be done in order to have a subway run through the Viaduct over forty years after it was built was to lay down reinforced concrete on the lower deck to serve as a trackbed for the train.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Besides R.C. Harris, credit is also due to the New York City consulting firm Jacobs and Davies, whose engineering report in 1910 recommended provisions for a future subway system which, at the time, were beginning to be built in cities all over the world.\u00a0 Although it was an expensive addition to the Viaduct, which ended up costing a total of $2.5 million ($ in 1918), it saved at least $10 million 47 years later in the building of the Bloor-Danforth subway line.<\/p>\n

While there was also a lower deck built below the Rosedale Ravine Phase of the Prince Edward Viaduct, it was deemed too sharp of a curve for a subway to navigate and therefore the Rosedale bridge was built for the subway to use at Castle Frank station.<\/p>\n

Although I am only speculating, I wonder to what extent – if any – the Viaduct’s lower deck helped to propel a subway getting built along Bloor Street rather than Queen Street, as many in the city had wanted<\/a> and some continue to want<\/a>?\u00a0 Although the TTC was then financially independent from City Hall, the 1621 foot bridge would none-the-less have significantly reduced the cost of building a line strictly under Bloor-Danforth rather than a U-shape<\/a> which would partially run under Queen St.<\/p>\n

But then again, it may not have factored in at all.\u00a0 Your thoughts?<\/p>\n

Photos from Jenifa taught me<\/a> and the Toronto Archives<\/a> (fonds 1231, file 1231, item 0040)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To escape the long shadow cast by Canada Day, this edition of Throwback Thursday jumps to July 3rd (tomorrow), when in 1965 the first subway train crossed the Don Valley on the lower deck of the Bloor Street Viaduct. Completed in 1918, the Don Valley Phase of the Prince Edward Viaduct has garnered a lotContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Planning for the Future – The Bloor Street Viaduct”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21759,24,50],"tags":[368,11626,11965,2723,2497,12621,1011,12619,12622,8961,564,22085,2925,5098,316,12620,12618,98,19,391],"class_list":["post-5121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-history","category-infrastructure","tag-architect","tag-arthur-goss","tag-bloor-street-viaduct","tag-canada-day","tag-castle-frank-station","tag-commissioner-of-public-works-r-c-harris","tag-don-valley","tag-edmund-burke","tag-jacobs","tag-michael-ondaatje","tag-new-york-city","tag-politics","tag-prince","tag-prince-edward-viaduct","tag-queen","tag-rosedale-bridge","tag-thomas-taylor","tag-throwback-thursdays","tag-toronto","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThrowback Thursday: Planning for the Future - The Bloor Street Viaduct - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2009\/07\/02\/throwback-thursday-planning-for-the-future-the-bloor-street-viaduct\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Throwback Thursday: Planning for the Future - The Bloor Street Viaduct - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To escape the long shadow cast by Canada Day, this edition of Throwback Thursday jumps to July 3rd (tomorrow), when in 1965 the first subway train crossed the Don Valley on the lower deck of the Bloor Street Viaduct. 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