Posts Tagged ‘401 hwy’

intersections – Bathurst and Wilson

Posted: June 23, 2026 in construction, history, locations, stores
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A look at another intersection (and its surroundings)…….

below: Swimming by the 401 highway – You might recognize this image as Georges Pierre Seurat’s  1884 pointillism painting, “Bathers at Asnières”.  Man in hat lying with his dog, sailboats in the distance, people sitting on the shore and people playing in the water – these are all elements in that famous Seurat painting.

mural, painted in pointilism style, of beach scene, on wall of 401 overpass at Wilson and Bathurst

It appears as part of a large mural that Ian Leventhal painted in 2006; it covers the wall that helps support the 401 as it cuts across the Bathurst and Wilson intersection.  The large triangle created by this wall and the two streets is a park with the very unimaginative name of Bathurst-Wilson Parkette.

below: Looking east on Wilson at Bathurst.

on wilson ave, just west of 401, beside street with traffic, a pole with directional sign for 401 highway as well as blue and white street sign for bathurst street

below: Both Bathurst and Wilson pre-date the building of the 401 highway.  This old photo (1950)  is taken from an excellent article in the Toronto Star written by Shawn Micallef, (28 Sept 2019) that details the history of the 401 highway development around Bathurst Street.  The brown lines show the original layout of the highway and the on/off ramps.  Not all of these ramps exist now.  I have added a bright red line to show the present day on-ramp from Bathurst (northbound) to the EB 401.  You may have noticed that the original on and off ramps were residential streets!

But changes are always happening.   Now it is the southwest corner of Bathurst and Wilson that is about to be transformed…. or at least it was.  At the moment the property is under court ordered receivership as the developer is having “financial issues” to the tune of at least 28 million dollars.  The property is for sale.   Tims is open but everything around it is vacant.  Condo development was booming in Toronto until it wasn’t.  I don’t have an exact number, but there are a lot of vacant/abandoned properties like this around the city.

below: Brooklyn Furniture Emporium – boarded up and forgotten.   They started business in 1958 and survived for more than 60 years.

boarded up old furniture store,

below: Gone is the gas station that was here.

below: Looking north up Bathurst.

The development property that is on the market also includes a couple of addresses on the next street west, Richelieu Road whose properties back onto Bathurst.

empty building, rear view, waiting for demolition

empty building, rear view, brick, two storeys, waiting for demolition

below: Another proposal includes the remaining houses on Richelieu (across the street from those backing onto Bathurst).   I am unsure of its status, but it makes for a rather sad looking little street.

redevelopment notice on wood fence in front of a house on Richelieu Road

below: This area was originally developed at a time when the 2 storey brick mini plaza (or strip mall) was popular.   A line of stores/restaurants/businesses with some parking in front became a feature of large segments of Toronto’s main streets.   Will we mourn their loss once it is their turn to be replaced?  They may be ugly but they provide a space for local businesses.

red brick strip mall on Wilson Avenue

below: Bathurst and Wilson has become predominantly Filipino.   This place specializes in ensaynadas which is something that I had never heard of.   It’s a Filipino bun with different flavorings/toppings such as cheese, or almond (or many others).   Filipino, but from Mallorca (Spain) too … and possibly with a Jewish origin.

looking southwest at corner of Bathurst and Wilson, pedestrian crossing the street, some traffic, Tims in the background

strip mall with small businesses, parking lot in front,

looking north up Bathurst, east side of the street, Flower Market with empty display shelves by the sidewalk, man on phone waiting for a green light

below: Beaver Cleaners – where to go when the beaver needs a good scrub.  More importantly, just beyond it is The Inside Scoop which sells fabulous ice cream!

Beaver Cleaners on Bathurst St., also The Inside Scoop ice cream shop

below: You can also find a mural by Nick Sweetman nearby.  It lines both sides of the Bathurst underpass at the 401.  I have blogged about it previously – in fact, it was the previous post: Animals under the 401

part of an animal themed mural by Nick Sweetman in Toronto, bee and butterfly

below: A banner to advertise a production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in Yiddish with English subtitles that was playing at the Elgin Theatre (downtown).

banner on hydro pole that is advertising a production of Fiddler on the Roof, in Yiddish, with English subtitles

commercial buildings on Bathurst street, Alminz bakeshop, Le Rich,

businesses on Bathurst, north of Wilson, inclusing breezy vapes, also pho duong vietnamese restaurant, billboard on top of building for clutch dot ca,

looking south on Bathurst past lowrise brick apartment buildings

brick apartment buildings

Sixplex residential building with balconies across the front

Sixplex residential building with balconies across the front, side angle

large sign in parking lot in front of commercial buildings, smile dentistry, also words in arabic, also sign for Pancers original deli

brick wall with black and white no dumping sign. Sign is faded, and some layers are peeling off

side of metal bell box on sidewalk painted with red and white checkerboard pattern with some pink hearts. Sticker telling us that Jesus is coming back soon and that the rapture in imminent

painted metal Bell telephone box beside a residential street

metal bell box on sidewalk painted with the word smile such that letters look like slices of watermelon

 

where the 401 passes over the Humber River

Posted: May 29, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Highway 401 passes over the Humber River just west of Weston Road. Beside the river is the Humber Recreational Trail that follows the river.  Just south of the 401 there is a break in the trail because of the train tracks so a short detour via Weston Road is needed if  you want to continue walking.  Otherwise, the trail runs south to Lake Ontario and north to the city limits at Steeles Ave.

Just north of the 401 is Pine Point park and that is where I went to access the bridge under the 401.   It is a big bridge with a lot of concrete surfaces.  In other words, it is a large canvas for street art.

The most eastern wall of concrete has been painted with a mural by Shalak, Smoky and Fiya as part of the the Pan Am Path.  The path is a “legacy” from the Pan Am games and will result in a trail the goes from Brampton to Pickering.   Most of this path will incorporate existing trails but new sections are also being built.   Anyhow, the mural consists of two women lying on a bed of flowers, one at each end of the bridge.  Both are holding a white mask.  In the middle is a heart and a pair of lovebirds on the branch of a tree.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, looking along the length of the wall with a woman's head lying on a bed of pink flowers in the foreground.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, a hand holding a white mask.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, an anatomical painting of a heart that looks #D, surrounded by a yellow circle

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, two green lovebirds on a tree branch, with a background of multicoloured diamond shapes arranged concentrically

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, a hand is holding a white mask.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, looking along the south end of the wall with a woman's head lying on a bed of pink flowers in the foreground.

 Facing the above wall, and on the other side of the trail, is a wall that has recently been painted by a group of street artists.  A picture is better than my attempts at translation!

graffiti signatures, tags, on a wall beside a large red and black tag. Smoky, Shalak, Own, HEC, Ren, Mska, ctr, wey, wisper are some of the ones that I can read.

 The following photos are from that wall.

large grominator street art painting, along with a small lovebot

a little lovebot in the mouth of a large grominator, a close up of details of a larger painting.

street art picture of a poser bunny with an outstretched skinny arm pointing to the left. He's on a large intricate tag.

part of a mural under a bridge - lovebot, a giant light blue lovebot swirls on a wall

part of a mural under a bridge - a wacky white face with open mouth. One hand of the creature is holding a sign that says 69 and the other hand has one finger pointed upwards

part of a mural under a bridge - large mantishrimp creature with long antennae (tentacles?) emerging from behind a tag

part of a mural under a bridge - two paintings. On the right is a very realistic growling wild cat (bobcat) wearing a blue and white baseball cap. On the left is a large spray paint can with a picture of a seated person on it. A large red dragon is behind that person, although the head of the dragon is coming forward above the person's head

part of a mural under a bridge - a tag in oranges blues and purples

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a very large rooster in profile with its tail feathers reaching to the top right of the picture

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a human like figure, with South American influences, lying on its side, the word WASTOID written across its belt

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a large toucan head with a pink beak and yellow and orange head plume

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, tag like painting with a white hand, an eye and a small pyramid

part of a mural under a bridge - a large multi coloured wolf head that is in the process of being painted. A woman is positioning a ladder so that she can paint the upper parts of the piece.

part of a mural under a bridge - a large multi coloured wolf head

There are at least four more walls in this underpass.  Running parallel to the trail (all the photos above) is a tunnel like part of the underpass to the west.  There is no trail or river in this section, just dirt and rocks.   There is some older graffiti on the walls here as well as the beginnings of newer paintings.  I think that the plan is to complete these walls too.  In the meantime, this is a sample of what’s there now.

graffiti painting - Lovecat and a Japanese girl in pink kimono hiding her face behind a blue fan. A cute little blue bunny is in the bottom right.

lovebot genie painting on a concrete wall.

mural painting on a wall, looks like a green zombie head coming out of the ground. photo taken from a low angle

street art - a memorial in greys, a man with a tear on his cheek is holding a skull

a yellow grominator street art painting, bulging veiny eyes and many crooked sharp teeth

 And lastly, along the river edge

street art on a concrete bridge support, reflected in the river beside it is a yellow lovebot as well as some large tag letters