Dismantling the F.G. Gardiner Expressway East: Removing Toronto's Elevated Expressway One Piece at a Time

Dismantling the easterly portion of Toronto’s elevated F.G. Gardiner Expressway has
opened the lands adjacent to it for redevelopment, encouraged cycling and walking in a
highway corridor previously dominated by vehicular traffic, and created an urban place for
a residential community living in the shadow of the elevated expressway for close to 40
years. In every sense the Gardiner Expressway East Dismantling has demonstrated the
principles of sustainable urban transportation – encouraging varied modes of transportation
and supporting urban intensification to maximize use of existing infrastructure while
minimizing taxpayer’s costs. The project replaced 1.4 km of the 6 lane elevated
expressway with a 4 lane arterial road paralleled by a pedestrian /cycle path and landscaped
boulevard. The project featured public art elements and an environmental cleanup of
contaminated soils. The following sections detail the history of the project and its
construction. The remaining sections detail the ways in which this project exemplifies the
New Vision for Sustainable Urban Transportation.