Thursday, 7 May 2009

Municipal expressways in Toronto

I want to introduct something about Access Control. Access Control For PABX The City of Toronto, Ontario maintains a system of expressways and arterial highways at the municipal level. They are fully managed and operated by the City of Toronto, and are typically characterized by reduced speed limits on expressways (80-90 km/h instead of 100 km/h on provincial freeways), increased speed limits on arterial highways (70 km/h instead of 50-60 km/h on most other roads), and limited access. Most of them were built by Metro Toronto in the 1960s to complement Ontario's 400-Series Highways; others are former provincial highways that were transferred to municipal jurisdiction.Contents1 History 1.1 Construction begins 1.2 Problems and protests 1.3 Cancellation 1.4 Aftermath 2 Controversy 3 Expressways 4 Arterial highways 5 Unbuilt expressways 6 See also 7 References 8 External links // HistoryMap showing the planned development of Toronto's expressway system.With the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953, a series of ambitious plans developed to greatly expand the network of municipal expressways inside the Toronto city limits. These expressways would connect the downtown core with the provincial freeways that bordered the city, reducing the need to drive on the heavily congested city streets. In particular, Highway 401 on the northern border of most developed portions of the city was difficult to get to; the only mid-town routes were on adapted city streets like University Avenue, which were far from ideal. Likewise, Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) on the western edge of the city had fairly limited access via The Queensway and Lake Shore Boulevard.Construction beginsConstruction of the network started with what was then known as the Lakeshore Expressway, which would connect the QEW from its terminus at the Humber River with the downtown core. The initial western section opened in 1958, continuing eastward as an elevated highway to York Street in the city core in 1962, and further to the Don River by 1964. During construction the Lakeshore was renamed the Gardiner Expressway, after the first chair of Metropolitan Toronto and major supporter of the expressway plans, Frederick Gardiner. A second expressway, the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), opened between Bloor Street and Eglinton Avenue in 1961, and continued to develop north and south until it connected to Highway 401 in the north and the Gardiner in the south.These plans were only the beginning of an even larger network that was first proposed in 1959, and fully developed by 1966 when it became the Official Plan. Of particular importance was the Spadina Expressway, which ran north-south and connected the middle of 401 with the downtown core, ending on Spadina Avenue near the University of Toronto. The 400 Extension, also known as the Christie/Clinton Expressway, extended the existing Highway 400 south and east, eventually connecting to the Gardiner near Fort York just west of the downtown core. The Crosstown Expressway bisected the city into north and south, running roughly along Dupont Street for much of its length, connecting to the 400 Extension in the west and bending southward towards Bloor Street in the east where it connected with the DVP. The Richview Expressway was a shorter at-grade expressway connecting the western end of the Crosstown at the 400 Extension with Highway 27 further west, and eventually connecting to the proposed Highway 403. Finally, the Scarborough Expressway would connect the Gardiner in the downtown core with Highway 401 in the far eastern reaches of the city. The resulting network would provide three east-west expressways, and five north-south ones, dividing the city into a grid.Construction on portions of all of the planned expressways started in the late 1960s. The provincial portion of southern extension of Highway 400 was completed to Eglinton where it would be continued by the city-built road, and the Gardiner was widened near the Canadian National Exhibition grounds where it would meet the 400 Extension. Interchanges for the Crosstown, Richview and Scarborough Expressways were constructed at their terminating points, and full construction of the Spadina Expressway started at its northern end.Problems and protestsThe construction plans became a point of growing protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The route of the Gardiner and DVP had run mostly through industrial areas, parkland or generally unused areas, and had not generated much public concern during early construction. This changed as the Gardiner approached the downtown area, which resulted in the demolishing of long-established neighborhoods. The planned expressways would require the same throughout the city, and with the exception of the northern ends of the roads, generally ran though well-settled areas. In particular, the Spadina Expressway ran through the upscale...(and so on) To get More information , you can visit some products about smart battery system, Graphic Display System, . The Access Control products should be show more here!

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