Old Eastern Avenue Bridge

Cyclists who bike the Don River trail in Toronto will be familiar with the forlorn sight of this abandoned, fenced-off bridge that crosses the river just south of Eastern Ave.

Made of steel and concrete, the bridge is 45 metres long and 19 metres wide. The Old Eastern Avenue Bridge, as it is called, was built in 1933. It replaced a bridge that had been wrecked during the spring thaw of that year.



The bridge once joined Sunlight Park Road, which meets Eastern Ave. about 300 metres to the east. It was closed in 1964 after the construction of a new bridge just to the north removed the need for the old one. Eastern Ave. had been rerouted to the new bridge at that time because of the construction of the Gardiner Expressway–to–Bloor St. section of the Don Valley Parkway.

Because it was cheaper to leave the bridge in place than to remove it, the bridge was left intact. It is still periodically inspected by the city.



↑ The concrete arch that runs beside the old bridge on its north side supports a large gas main. This arch was built for Consumers’ Gas (later Enbridge) in 1930. It is also 45 metres long and is not a pedestrian bridge.

While I was near the bridge, I saw what I thought was a groundhog. I hope the groundhog doesn’t rely on the river for water. The water is none too clean…



↑ Looking south along the Don River. The Don Valley Parkway is on the left.



↑ The bridge ends at the Don Valley Parkway now.



↑ Looking north. The concrete arch carrying the gas main can be seen.

All photos by Rob Tilley.

Sources:

Bateman, Chris – “A Brief History of Crossing the Don River”
Brown, Edward – “Ask Torontoist: A Grey Bridge To Nowhere”
HistoricBridges.org – "Eastern Avenue Bridge"
Wikipedia – "Old Eastern Avenue Bridge"

Cycling Chaos

More cycling follies. This time I watched as a cyclist who was approaching an intersection saw an opportunity to make an early left and took it. Instead of making his left at the intersection, he abruptly crossed to the other side of the road several car lengths before arriving at the intersection. He proceeded to ride against traffic on the wrong side of the road and then cross in front of the path of a driver who was about to turn right. Once past the surprised driver, the cyclist finally made his left.

In Toronto, many cyclists follow the traffic rules only when it is convenient or when they have no choice; i.e., when traffic is so heavy it would be impossible to do anything but follow the rules. I still see many almost daily examples of such make-it-up-as-you-go-along cycling.

Many cities in the world have looser approaches to traffic rules. Ho Chi Minh City is such a place. This short video made by Rob Whitworth shows some excellent examples of the wild traffic in this Vietnamese city.

My feeling is that it is more pleasant to observe such traffic from a bird’s-eye view than it is to take part in it at ground level. Unlike in Ho Chi Minh City, in Toronto cyclists are still in the minority of road users. While Whitworth’s video show traffic moving fairly easily, I don’t think this kind of functional chaos could be successfully transplanted to Toronto’s car and truck–dominated roads.

Toronto traffic is not yet Ho Chi Minh City traffic. In Toronto, traffic proceeds in a—usually—orderly fashion. Drivers and pedestrians still expect their fellow road users to follow the rules. As Toronto's population grows, chaos on the roads will increase everyone’s travel times and make their trips more dangerous and stressful.

Cyclist to Pedestrian and Back Again

One neat trick I often see cyclists perform is the instant transformation from cyclist to pedestrian. This often happens when a cyclist reaches a red light and then turns left into the pedestrian crossing area in order to get to the other side of the street. If cyclists dismount and walk their bikes across the street, I don’t see a problem. But I more commonly see them remain on their bikes as they turn into the pedestrian area.

This is a dangerous manoeuvre. Pedestrians are not expecting cyclists to do it; nor are drivers. I’ve seen cyclists swerve into walkways at a fair clip, then weave among the startled pedestrians. There is a good chance of running into someone this way. And what of the driver at the intersection who is about to turn right? This driver will expect a cyclist to stop, not abruptly cut into the car’s path.

Another sudden cyclist-to-pedestrian-and-back transformation occurs when cyclists approach red lights at three-way intersections. If the sidewalk is on their right, some cyclists will jump to the sidewalk, bike past the intersection, and then jump back to the road. I imagine this must be very irritating to the drivers (and cyclists) who are patiently waiting for the light to change. I think cyclists, if they are not going to wait for a green light, should not bother with the pretense of biking onto the sidewalk. No one buys their bogus cover act of “Hey, look! Suddenly I’m a pedestrian—and suddenly I’m not!” They might as well just own what they are doing and bike through the red light.

Cyclists in Toronto still have a reputation for ignoring traffic rules. Pedestrians and drivers alike regularly complain about this. I feel the situation has improved in recent years, but cyclists’ reputation for road-warrior like behaviour is still well deserved.