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Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway runs through the parklands of the Don River valley, after which it is named. It has a maximum speed limit of 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) for its entire length of 15.0 kilometres (9.3 mi). It is six lanes for most of its length, with eight lanes north of York Mills Road and four lanes south of Eastern Avenue. As a municipal road, it is patrolled by the Toronto Police Service.
The parkway was the second expressway to be built by Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) after the Gardiner Expressway. Planning began in 1954, the year of Metro's formation. The first section opened during 1961 and the entire route was completed to Sheppard Avenue by the end of 1966. South of Bloor Street, the parkway was constructed over existing roadways. North of Bloor Street, it was built on a new alignment through the valley, requiring the removal of several hills, diversion of the Don River and the clearing of woodland. North of Eglinton Avenue, the parkway follows the former Woodbine Avenue right-of-way north to Highway 401. A proposed extension to Steeles Avenue was instead taken over by the province and built as Highway 404, which also absorbed the Metro-built segment between Sheppard and Highway 401. The parkway was planned to be one of several municipal and provincial north–south expressways into downtown Toronto. The others, the Spadina Expressway (Allen Road) and a proposed southern extension of Highway 400 were truncated due to public opposition, leaving the parkway as the sole north–south expressway connecting downtown to the northern areas of Metro; the only other complete north-south freeway connecting to the Gardiner Expressway is Highway 427 at Toronto's west end.
Traffic conditions on the parkway often exceed its intended capacity of 60,000 vehicles per day. Today, some sections carry an average of 100,000 vehicles a day and have bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions during commuting hours. The parkway is also used by regional transit buses which can access designated lanes to pass slow-moving traffic. Locals refer to the parkway as the "Don Valley Parking Lot" due to slow-moving, congested traffic.
In November 2023, the municipal and provincial governments announced a tentative deal which will see responsibility for the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway transferred to the province and both maintained as provincial highways.
The Don Valley Parkway begins at an interchange with the Gardiner Expressway near the mouth of the Don River in downtown Toronto. From there, the parkway runs northwards on the eastern bank of the valley, between the river and the developed city to the east. Beyond the southern, older section of the city, the valley widens and the parkway continues northwards through the parklands along the river to Don Mills Road. The route leaves the valley, rises to meet Eglinton Avenue, descends into the valley again and goes through the park lands of Milne Hollow to Lawrence Avenue. The parkway ascends to meet York Mills Road and ends at Highway 401, with the physical road continuing as Highway 404.
At its southern end near the mouth of the Don River, the parkway begins in a multiple-level interchange with the ground-level Lake Shore Boulevard and the elevated Gardiner Expressway directly above the boulevard. The Gardiner–Don Valley ramps provide access to the section of the Gardiner Expressway west of the parkway. There is no access either from or to the Gardiner east of the parkway (before the Gardiner's east end realignment that commenced in 2021, the Gardiner ended shortly after crossing the Don River as it descended and merged into Lake Shore Boulevard via the Logan Avenue ramp from 2002-2021, prior to that the elevated Gardiner extended to Leslie Street from 1966-2001 where it was known as Gardiner East). To travel east from the southbound lanes of the parkway, motorists must exit via an off-ramp that meets the Lake Shore Boulevard at a signalized intersection.
Less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) north of the Gardiner, the Canadian National Railway (CNR)/GO Toronto railway viaduct passes over the parkway. The interchange is constrained by that distance for the Gardiner—Don Valley two-lane ramps bridge the difference in height from ground-level under the viaduct with the height of the Gardiner. Acceleration and deceleration lanes for the Lake Shore—Don Valley ramps connect under the viaduct.
From the viaduct, the parkway proceeds north as a four-lane freeway on a straight course along the east bank of the channelized Don River, passing beneath the Eastern Avenue Bypass viaduct and veering slightly to the east as it passes below Queen Street East. On- and off-ramps project northward from the Eastern Avenue viaduct, each adding a lane to both carriageways. The expressway continues northward, with the Don River sandwiched between the highway and Bayview Avenue. The Parkway passes beneath Dundas and Gerrard Streets and rises onto the 'Don Flats' plateau at Riverdale Park. In this section, the elevation of the highway is close to the level of the river and is liable to flood after heavy rains, as occurred in June 2010, for example.
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Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway runs through the parklands of the Don River valley, after which it is named. It has a maximum speed limit of 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) for its entire length of 15.0 kilometres (9.3 mi). It is six lanes for most of its length, with eight lanes north of York Mills Road and four lanes south of Eastern Avenue. As a municipal road, it is patrolled by the Toronto Police Service.
The parkway was the second expressway to be built by Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) after the Gardiner Expressway. Planning began in 1954, the year of Metro's formation. The first section opened during 1961 and the entire route was completed to Sheppard Avenue by the end of 1966. South of Bloor Street, the parkway was constructed over existing roadways. North of Bloor Street, it was built on a new alignment through the valley, requiring the removal of several hills, diversion of the Don River and the clearing of woodland. North of Eglinton Avenue, the parkway follows the former Woodbine Avenue right-of-way north to Highway 401. A proposed extension to Steeles Avenue was instead taken over by the province and built as Highway 404, which also absorbed the Metro-built segment between Sheppard and Highway 401. The parkway was planned to be one of several municipal and provincial north–south expressways into downtown Toronto. The others, the Spadina Expressway (Allen Road) and a proposed southern extension of Highway 400 were truncated due to public opposition, leaving the parkway as the sole north–south expressway connecting downtown to the northern areas of Metro; the only other complete north-south freeway connecting to the Gardiner Expressway is Highway 427 at Toronto's west end.
Traffic conditions on the parkway often exceed its intended capacity of 60,000 vehicles per day. Today, some sections carry an average of 100,000 vehicles a day and have bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions during commuting hours. The parkway is also used by regional transit buses which can access designated lanes to pass slow-moving traffic. Locals refer to the parkway as the "Don Valley Parking Lot" due to slow-moving, congested traffic.
In November 2023, the municipal and provincial governments announced a tentative deal which will see responsibility for the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway transferred to the province and both maintained as provincial highways.
The Don Valley Parkway begins at an interchange with the Gardiner Expressway near the mouth of the Don River in downtown Toronto. From there, the parkway runs northwards on the eastern bank of the valley, between the river and the developed city to the east. Beyond the southern, older section of the city, the valley widens and the parkway continues northwards through the parklands along the river to Don Mills Road. The route leaves the valley, rises to meet Eglinton Avenue, descends into the valley again and goes through the park lands of Milne Hollow to Lawrence Avenue. The parkway ascends to meet York Mills Road and ends at Highway 401, with the physical road continuing as Highway 404.
At its southern end near the mouth of the Don River, the parkway begins in a multiple-level interchange with the ground-level Lake Shore Boulevard and the elevated Gardiner Expressway directly above the boulevard. The Gardiner–Don Valley ramps provide access to the section of the Gardiner Expressway west of the parkway. There is no access either from or to the Gardiner east of the parkway (before the Gardiner's east end realignment that commenced in 2021, the Gardiner ended shortly after crossing the Don River as it descended and merged into Lake Shore Boulevard via the Logan Avenue ramp from 2002-2021, prior to that the elevated Gardiner extended to Leslie Street from 1966-2001 where it was known as Gardiner East). To travel east from the southbound lanes of the parkway, motorists must exit via an off-ramp that meets the Lake Shore Boulevard at a signalized intersection.
Less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) north of the Gardiner, the Canadian National Railway (CNR)/GO Toronto railway viaduct passes over the parkway. The interchange is constrained by that distance for the Gardiner—Don Valley two-lane ramps bridge the difference in height from ground-level under the viaduct with the height of the Gardiner. Acceleration and deceleration lanes for the Lake Shore—Don Valley ramps connect under the viaduct.
From the viaduct, the parkway proceeds north as a four-lane freeway on a straight course along the east bank of the channelized Don River, passing beneath the Eastern Avenue Bypass viaduct and veering slightly to the east as it passes below Queen Street East. On- and off-ramps project northward from the Eastern Avenue viaduct, each adding a lane to both carriageways. The expressway continues northward, with the Don River sandwiched between the highway and Bayview Avenue. The Parkway passes beneath Dundas and Gerrard Streets and rises onto the 'Don Flats' plateau at Riverdale Park. In this section, the elevation of the highway is close to the level of the river and is liable to flood after heavy rains, as occurred in June 2010, for example.