Needing to reconfigure Downtown’s aging F.G. Gardiner Expressway York-Bay-Yonge eastbound off ramp, the City of Toronto commissioned WSP to complete the detailed design of a new ramp that would accommodate space below for another lane of traffic, wider sidewalks, treed boulevards and a 3 m wide paved multi-use trail.
Modernizing One of Toronto’s Busiest Off Ramps
The new Lower Simcoe Street (York-Bay-Yonge) Off Ramp is a concrete slab on steel plate girder bridge that conveys traffic from Eastbound Gardiner Expressway into downtown Toronto. It is curved in plan, superelevated, and tapers from two lanes plus shoulder to three lanes plus shoulder. The bridge carries new street lighting, new advanced traffic management system hardware, and a fixed automated anti-icing spray technology system that includes a weather station. A pumphouse for the anti-icing system is contained entirely within the abutment and contains two 10,000 L tanks of anti-icing agent.
Reconnecting Toronto with Lake Ontario
Completion of the project means that existing parkland within the York Street ramp site can be improved and made visually more accessible to further enrich the waterfront.
