ThenWhat
New Member
Some serious work around the second bridge coming from the south (so south of the tunnel). Not sure what their work hours are. A weekend would be a better chance for getting through.
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- Thread starter Allandale25
- Start date
TwinHuey
Active Member
TwoWheelPoli
Active Member
Thanks as always, @TwinHuey! Basically, they paved the part from Bridge 2 to the Tunnel, while they're still grading Bridge 2. Think they need to finish that grading before the rest of the trail can be paved to Forks of the Don, as well as remove that temporary bridge. And then the bridge at Forks of the Don would probably end up being replaced as the current one is meant to carry heavy equipment per earlier posts here.
DSCToronto
Superstar
As of a couple of weeks ago, 95% of the trail from Bridge 2 to the tunnel below GO was paved - all that was left was about 20 metres just north of the bridge and from the excellent ariels above, this is now being graded and paved. Once there is no need for heavy machinery on that section, the temporary bridge will be removed and they will be able to finish grading the section south to the Forks - much of which was already almost ready for paving when we were there 2 weeks ago.
The bridge AT the Forks (below, not my photo) is, I think, temporary but it is resting on what look like permanent supports so removing it and putting a 'proper' span in place ought to be fast and easy - well, we shall see.
smallspy
Senior Member
The original plans had the permanent bridge crossing over not Taylor Creek, but the Don River to meet in the parking lot just under the overpass over the railway tracks. Is that no longer the case?
Dan
pawlyshyn
New Member
That would be exciting, but it doesn't look that way on the map from 2020 posted earlier:
DSCToronto
Superstar
From the Plan posted on TRCA site it appears NOT. Plan A-L1 does not seem to be posted but the A plan from which this is snipped looks clear to me. SEE: EAST DON TRAIL DESIGN PHASE 1 at https://trca.ca/conservation/infras...trail-project/resources/#construction-notices
Attachments
TwoWheelPoli
Active Member
Got some ground photos earlier today to complement the aerials @TwinHuey posted here on Friday which I shared on my blog, but here are a couple of stand outs to explain why the paving ended short of the bridge.
https://www.twowheeledpolitics.ca/2025/08/late-august-don-trail-exploring.html
https://www.twowheeledpolitics.ca/2025/08/late-august-don-trail-exploring.html
EnviroTO
Senior Member
I rode the trail this past weekend so here are my thoughts not just of this path itself but the surrounding bike network:
- Bravo to the city... the results look great (although you can tell it has taken a long time to complete since the rock walls lining the trail look slightly overgrown and aged)
- The climb up to the Meadoway is a big one. Someone was mentioning that the work to connect the East Don trail to the Meadoway was going to happen in the near future but I can't find any evidence of that online. Hopefully the work involves getting rid of the perpetually unsuccessful car dealership property in the hydro ROW and an underpass or overpass to get by Eglinton.
- The intersection of the Taylor Creek trail, East, West, and Lower Don Trails all that the same place being mixed with cars seems like something that will lead to an accident. A mix of cars and biking all reaching the same place trying to figure out where to go. This needs a bit of a redesign.
- The connection of the Lower Don Trail to the West Don Trail at ET Seaton has bad wayfinding. All the pavement paintings would have you go anywhere but north on the West Don Trail.
- Bravo to Metrolinx (not sure what pressure was applied if any to make it happen) for keeping the trails open through construction. The city can't seem to keep a streetcar line with upwards of 50,000 riders open during construction events, but Metrolinx kept a principal bike path open.
DSCToronto
Superstar
Yes, it's a great trail and both City & TRCA should be congratulated. It would have been finished far sooner if Metrolinx had made it easier to build the tunnel below the tracks and I am not sure it's fair to compare Metrolinx 'keeping a trail open' as they build a bridge above it to the City rebuilding a streetcar line (or the infrastructure under it).
ThenWhat
New Member
(Assuming this refers to the construction of bridges over the river and the Don Trail) I second that. Metrolinx is doing their best to keep those sections open, in spite of some construction work with heavy machinery etc. We have examples elsewhere in the city where the construction company simply closes the trail and there is no effort to find a detour. Somebody at Metrolinx has thought this through and decided that it was the right thing to do and worth the effort.
Of course, we don't know how long it will last. They may have to close the trail at some phase of the project.
smallspy
Senior Member
In the context to this trail specifically, to the contrary. This trail would have and should have been done far earlier if it wasn't for Metrolinx's doing.
Elsewhere? While it may not seem like it, Metrolinx always tries their best not to intrude on surrounding properties. But that's not to say that they haven't required trail closures - they absolutely have, and some have been decently long.
Dan
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Northern Light
Superstar
I'm going to join in the parade here...........Mx delayed this project by many, many years and made it vastly more expensive than it needed to be.
Mx are also one significant factor in delays getting the Lower Don Trail work done (though there's plenty of blame to go around there)...
They've also caused far longer than promised closures of the Rail Path.
TwoWheelPoli
Active Member
Yup. @EnviroTO is smoking some serious herb with that Metrolinx remark.
There's still Phase 3 of the East Don Trail project to contend with which will have another bridge and tunnel crossing the Richmond Hill GO line, while the Meadoway is supposed to be getting a new crossing over the Metrolinx owned Stouffville GO corridor. And don't get me started about that $150 million price tag for the West Toronto Railpath extension!
EnviroTO
Senior Member
I'm not talking about Metrolinx's involvement with the new trail... that wasn't their project to manage and schedule. I have no idea how organized the TCRA and/or city have been on planning construction or working with Metrolinx to book times to close the rail corridor briefly to build the underpass or to lift bridges over the tracks. Nor do I know if Metrolinx was unreasonable about design constraints they may have imposed on the design or unreasonable about making the corridor available. Someone from the team building the trail would need answer the question of "how long in advance did you request a weekend closure from Metrolinx, did Metrolinx provide a date and then renege, and when the corridor was made available was the team ready when that time came". It seems people on this forum might know.... did Metrolinx "make building the pedestrian tunnel difficult" and if so, how so? Clearly if it wasn't for Metrolinx and the existence of a rail corridor the project would have been done quicker... the existence of a river probably made building the path take longer too with the damned TCRA and their need to have rivers.
What I am talking about is the paths that previously existed that pass under the Ontario Line construction site. Those trails were open and they have put significant protections up to separate the construction site from the trail passing through the middle of it.
What I am talking about is the paths that previously existed that pass under the Ontario Line construction site. Those trails were open and they have put significant protections up to separate the construction site from the trail passing through the middle of it.