Posts Tagged ‘Commissioners Street’

opened! – the first new Port Lands bridge

Posted: October 7, 2022 in construction, locations, transportation, waterfront
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The middle of three new bridges built for the Port Lands redevelopment has just been opened to traffic.

looking north up cherry street through new yellow and white curvy bridge

The bridge may be open to traffic, but the area is still a construction zone!

Eventually Cherry Street will be realigned so that there is no jog in it at Lakeshore.    At this point in time, the south part of the realignment is closer to completion.  This is where the new bridge is.

Commissioners Street has been extended westward to join the new segment of Cherry Street.

 below: This is the east intersection of Commissioners and Cherry (looking east).  Yes, it’s a mess!  There are traffic signals even though only two of the four approaches are open.  If you are traveling south on Cherry, you have to turn right onto Commissioners.

cherry street and commissioners street intersection, canary diner restaurant, construction, port lands redevelopment

below: Same intersection, looking west.

intersection of Cherry and Commissioners street, construction, police watching over, trucks in intersection, new traffic signals

below: New part of Commissioners Street

construction along the west end of Commissioners street in the port lands, with the toronto skyline in the background

below: The west part of Commissioners ends here

dead end street, Commissioners street, west end, fence and no entry signs, traffic lights

below: If you stand in the same place as the above photo but turn to your right, this is the view that you see.  This is the new part of Cherry Street being realigned to match the section north of Lakeshore Blvd.  The new bridges over the Keating Channel are in place but there is still a lot to be done before this part of Cherry Street can be opened.

Glooking north where the new part part of Cherry Street is being built, new double bridge to go over the Keating channel as well as condos in Distillery District are in the background

below:  Looking south… It is the middle bridge that has been opened to traffic first.  It is located approximately where the T ‘n T grocery store used to be.  An interesting line of large boulders!

new Cherry Street bridge with its yellow curved lines, large rocks in the dirt in the foreground, construction still in progress

below: This is the view from the new bridge looking west.  The large white crane structure predates the construction.  The channel has always been here as it provides water/ship access to the Lafarge cement site on the south side of the waterway.  What is new is that the channel is being extended eastward to join the mouth of the Don River.

view from the Cherry Street bridge new bridge, towards Lake Ontario, Toronto skyline in the background, construction equipment in the foreground for the redevelopment of the Port Lands

below: Traveling northbound

a cement truck and a ttc bus on Cherry street on the new bridge

two cyclists pass over the new Cherry Street bridge in the bike lane

below: Looking east from the bridge.   Pinewood studios in the background on the right.

looking east from port lands yellow bridge, overlooking construction in port lands

below: Another view to the east but slightly more south.  This time Pinewood Studios is more to the left in the photo.   A pedestrian bridge is already built to span the new water channel that is under construction.

port lands redevelopment, noew pedestrian bridge over new water channel that is being created

temporary pole with pedestrian crossing light at an intersection in a construction zone, a cyclist is passing through, new port Lands bridge in the background

below: Looking north up Cherry Street towards the Distillery District.  The old, and now closed part, of the street is being torn up.  The new street and bridge are to the left in this photo.

port lands construction site, starting to tear up the old part of Cherry Street, distillery district condos in the background

port lands construction site, starting to tear up the old part of Cherry Street, distillery district condos in the background

big yellow machinery digging up the asphalt from an old road and placing it in a dump truck

a man in a red shirt walks two dogs on the sidewalk along Cherry street, towards construction and the new bridge, TTC bus in the oncoming lane of traffic

orange construction sign that says be prepared to stop, haul trucks entering and exiting, with construction, and a large dump truck beside and behind the sign

below: To the south, the lift bridge on Cherry Street is being refurbished but not replaced.  This part of Cherry Street is not being moved.

looking south at Cherry Street to lift bridge that is being refurbished

in the early morning sun, stairs in the sunlight beside a bridge, going down to the water, an old building and its reflections behind

the new Cherry Street bridge

Posted: November 13, 2020 in construction, locations, public art
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people standing on the cherry street bridge taking pictures of the new bridge

The latest attraction is the new Cherry Street bridge pictured here just after its arrival by barge from Nova Scotia where it was manufactured by Cherubini Group.   It’s a shiny white steel bridge with a red racing stripe.  It is 57 metres long and wide enough to carry LRT tracks and a pedestrian walkway.  Another identical bridge to go beside it for road traffic comes later.

new Cherry street bridge on a barge in the Keating channel, just arrived from Nova Scotia, CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the distance

construction ahead sign off to the side beside a chainlink fence with weeds growing behind it, afternoon sun is shining through fence

below: Digging up the city. Sometimes it seems like we are living in one big construction zone.

in the foreground, a red digger digs soil in the port lands, the CN Tower and toronto skyline in the distance

Cherry street in the midst of construction

The bridge is not the only “sight” at the Port Lands.  There is also a photography exhibit of pictures taken of the buildings before they were demolished.  ‘Framework’ by Vid Ingelevis and Ryan Walker.  This is part of the CONTACT Photography Festival that was originally scheduled for May.

below: Interior, 130 Commissioners Street (Coopers Iron and Metal, an old metal recycling facility).  The photograph is mounted on the roll-up door of one of the ESSROC cement plant silos –  now a heritage site.

large photo of an empty old warehouse mounted on an exterior metal door

below: Cleaning the streets.  The ESSROC silos dominate the streetscape here on Cherry Street (looking north towards the condos in the Distillery District).

three tall silos that were part of essroc cement plant, now a heritage site in the port lands, a street cleaner is parked on the road, two condo towers in the distillery district can be seen in the background

below: The back of one of the few remaining buildings as seen from Cherry Street.   It fronts onto Munitions Street.

back of an empty building, vacant lot behind, graffiti on walls

below: Cherry Street bascule bridge in the upright position.   Most of the Framework exhibit is down the center of Villiers Street on top of the remains of the old railway line. There are five panels like this one, each with a picture on both sides.

large photo being displayed outside at Port Lands, part of Framework exhibit by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

below: Most of the Port Lands redevelopment is occurring behind fences.

a wire gate on wheels in front of a construction site

piles of dirt, film studio, hydro wires,

below: A very large spike!

giant spike sticking out of an old piece of wood,dirty, on ground, in construction zone

hydro poles and wires in the distance, piles of dirt in the foreground

below: 130 Commissioners Street, September 2019

large photo being displayed outside at Port Lands, part of Framework exhibit by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

below: Abandoned gas station with its rusting gas pump.

old gas pump at now abandoned marine gas station beside the Keating channel, Gardiner Expressway, CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the distance

below: 99 Commissioners Street, July 2019

large photo being displayed outside at Port Lands, part of Framework exhibit by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

an old round rusty Viking brand sprinkler alarm on the outside of a building

corrugated metal cladding on a building with a window and an old rusty sign with graffiti on it

below: 97 Commissioners Street, August 2019

large photo being displayed outside at Port Lands, part of Framework exhibit by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

below: Commissioners Street closed to traffic.

road closed sign in the middle of the street, commissioners street in the port lands

Commissioners street construction in the port lands

below: Control room, Cherry Street bridge, July 2019

large photo being displayed outside at Port Lands, part of Framework exhibit by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

a bike leaning against a tree, the Keating channel behind it, as well as Port Lands construction.

a window with on old rusty metal grille covering it, and a white bucket hanging by a chain

below: 130 Commissioners Street, September 2019

large photo being displayed outside at Port Lands, part of Framework exhibit by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

draped black fabric forms a fence at a construction site, CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the distance

a vine with dried berries and leaves grows on a barbed wire fence

below: An old Urban ninja squadron sticker on a TTC bus stop sign

an old urban ninja squadron tbonez sticker on a ttc pole

below: Dump truck on Villiers Street

dump truck on road in Port Lands, construction

a tree with crooked branches in front of an Ellis Don blue fence around Port Lands construction site, CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the distance

Later: Just before sunset, the new bridge in the Keating Channel.  It has since been rotated ninety degrees into the proper alignment for the new segment of Cherry Street.   This job was made it easy by the fact that the bridge was mounted on a large turntable on the barge.  It now has to be welded into place.   The old bastule (lift) bridge now in place is slated for demolition in late 2021.

cherry street bridge and portlands from above

‘Framework’ will be on display until August 2021.

Port Lands update

Posted: April 6, 2020 in construction, locations, waterfront
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Work continues on the Port Lands redevelopment with more buildings being demolished to make way for the new mouth of the Don River.

view of portlands includingLafarge silos, gas tanks, and construction

below: Cherry Street bridge

Cherry street bridge over the Keating Channel, green metal bridge

below: Don Roadway looking north.  The southern part is now closed (south of Lakeshore Blvd)

a pile of tree trunks, recently cut down, on a road that is now closed

looking north on the closed portion of the Don Roadway, lumber pile in middle of road, large metal hydro poles,

below: Villiers Street at the Don Roadway.  A couple of old buildings remain on Villiers but many structures between Villiers and the Keating Channel are now gone, especially at the east end of the channel near the present mouth of the Don River.

Villiers street at Don Roadway, two school buses parked here, Gardiner Expressway in the background

below: Commissioners Street, looking east.  Everything in that block, on the south side, has been levelled – the blue and white building is on the other side of the Don Roadway.

Commissioners street in port lands, with road closed sign

a glass bus shelter behind a construction fence

below: The west end of Commissioners street

Commissioners street in the port lands, road closed, yield sign on road yield to oncoming traffic, black and orange traffic cones, a plywood booth for security guard to sit in,

below: Commissioners Street, north side

construction, signs on a wood pole, Toronto skyline in the background

TTC bus stop for route 72 on Commissioners street but pole is now in the middle of a construction site, lots of dirt, orange and black traffic cones, Gardiner Expressway in the background

below: T’nT grocery store is now closed.  The red sign by the door advertises Chinese New Year specials.

back of a large laker boat parked beside an empty parking lot

below: The same boat, the NACC Argonaut, but from the south, from Polson Street.    NACC = Nova Algoma Cement Carriers.  She was built in Japan in 2003 and converted into a cement carrier in 2017.  The next year she entered service on the Great Lakes.

ship parked in channel, beside an empty parking lot with a small booth for attendant of parking lot

below: As you can see more clearly here, the Argonaut was actually parked beside the Lafarge facility.  T’nT is behind the Lafarge Cement round towers (building on the left).

large empty parking lot in the foregraound, largare cement facitily in the background, with a large laker docked beside it

large laker ship docked beside Lafarge cement

below: Shipping Channel

two boats parked in the shipping channel, one is the white and yellow Iroquois

boats parked in the shipping channel

shipping channel, port lands

below: There are quite a few old railway crossing signs in the Port Lands for tracks that have been torn up or long unused. I am surprised that no one has stolen them.

old car parked beside an old railway crossing sign, for a railway track that is no longer there

below: Boats of a different kind –    RCYC (Royal Canadian Yacht Club) on Cherry Street.

a line of large sail boats in storage, on land, covered with tarps, masts in the air, no sails,

below: Cherry Beach

a woman walking her dog beside a forest, on a beach

No construction affects the beach but these days, people are keeping their distance. Since taking these pictures the beach may have been closed, I’m not sure. The parking lot will be closed for sure.

cherry beach with not many people and cherry lifeguard station

below: Unwin Street, looking east towards the old Hearn Generating Station

unwin street in port lands

hearn generating station from the west side

part of Hearn generating plant, upper level with watch tower

below: Another Port Lands view from above.  North of the Gardiner is the construction site for the rebuilding of the Gardiner.  To the south is the Port Lands with the tall smokestack/chimney of the Hearn.   The white building with the two chimneys on the far left is the Portlands Energy Centre, a natural gas powered electricity generating station.

view of port lands and gardiner expressway from above including hearn generating station

below: The entry to the Portlands Energy Centre which is the property of Hydro One.

closed and locked gate with warning signs on it

a concrete road barrier with blue spray paint words that say have a good day

Port Lands update

Posted: September 6, 2019 in construction, landmarks, locations, old buildings
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Work on the Port Land redevelopment continues.  The area is changing fast enough that I thought another visit would be a good idea.

below: Cherry Lifeguard Station, calm and peaceful in the early morning.  On a weekday in September all is quiet here.

cherry lifeguard station, with dock in front, very calm and still water, reflections of the building in the water, early morning,

below: A new red lifeguard chair sits on a freshly raked beach.  In the distance, a tug pushes a barge out of the harbour and onto Lake Ontario.

red lifeguard station on cherry beach in the morning

below: A family of Canada geese rest on the embankment of the Keating Channel. The white concrete supports of the Gardiner Expressway are reflected in the water.

white concrete supports of the elevated Gardiner Expressway are reflected in the water of the Keating Channel while a family of Canada Geese sit on the bank

below: Looking west along the Keating Channel. The Don River empties to the bottom right, just out of the picture. At the moment, the Keating Channel is the only route to Lake Ontario but this is about to change.

looking west along the Keating Channel, trees on the left, Gardiner Expressway on the right

below: The Cherry Street bridge, a lift bridge, was broken in the open position for about a month at the end of the summer.  It was fixed in time for Labour Day weekend so it is down now (can it go back up?  It will soon be demolished so maybe that doesn’t matter)

view from above, Cherry street bridge in open position, port lands, cement silos, Lake Ontario, construction

below:  From above, the Keating Channel is in the foreground and it is here that construction on a new Cherry Street bridge is just beginning.  This is west of the present bridge because Cherry Street is going to be straightened as it passes under the Gardiner.      There is another small channel behind the Keating Channel but it ends at the T&T store… for now.    Cherry Beach and Lake Ontario are in the background.

Port Lands from above, Keating Channel, beginning of construction of a new bridge at Cherry street,

below: Reflections of the T&T sign.  Soon this store will be gone.  The path of one of the new waterways for the Don River goes right through the middle of their property to join with the channel that is already there (picture above).

reflections of the green T and T supermarket sign in a car window

below: Villiers Street, looking west from the Don Roadway.   The new path of the Don River is going to make an island of this part of the Port Lands as it runs parallel to, and immediately west of, the Don Roadway.

railway crossing sign on Villiers Street in the PortLands, some remnants of train track still there bu no trains

below: Villiers Street is actually two streets running parallel, both of which have two-way traffic.  This is left over from the days when the railway ran down the middle of the street.

green road sign that says Traffic operates two way on both branches of Villiers street

below: Remaining fragments of railway track can be found all over the Port Lands. This is Villiers Street at the Don Roadway. The Gardiner Expressway is in the background.

street with remnants of railway tracks on it

below: Old gas pump on Villiers.

rusty old gas pump

below: The northwest corner of Commissioners and the Don Roadway. The green mound is the beginnings of the flood protection work there. Flood protection means work on the re-routing of the mouth of the Don River.

the north west corner of Don Roadway and Commissioners Street

below: Looking west on Commissioners Street from east of the Don Roadway (at the traffic lights).  This is one of several large hydro structures that run from the Portlands Energy Centre (a natural gas burning electrical plant).   Hydro infrastructure changes are part of the Port Lands redevelopment.

a very tall metal hydro pole and structure above the street, Commissioners Street, Port Lands

below: Work on the south side of Commissioners.

cranes, workers, construction site

Soon Commissioners Street will be closed between the Don Roadway and Cherry Street.  All of the buildings there will be demolished.  At the moment, most of them are empty.

below:  Old abandoned buildings on Commissioners

old buildings on Villiers Street, with CN Tower in the background

part of an empty and abandoned building, two storeys, old windows, the number 130 written in large white numbers

side of an old abandoned building, top part is rusted pale green metal, bottom is painted dark grey

below: United Rentals on Commissioners Street, now empty. Soon gone.

empty United Rentals building in the Port Lands

below: Chained and locked.

a rusty chain and a padlock keep a gate closed

old brick building

construction on flood control measures in the Port Lands

below: North side of Commissioners, east of the Don Roadway. You can see the Gardiner Expressway and the old Lever Brothers factory.

a plant grows up agains a chain link fence, pile of dirt and industrial buildings behind the fence

a red and white danger due to sign that someone has written radioactive signs on so sign says danger due to radioactive signs

below: South end of the Don Roadway.

very south end of Don Roadway, south of Commissioners street, dead end, dirt road, no trespassing construction site entry

below: Looking west towards downtown from the Don Roadway

view of Toronto skyline and CN tower from Don Roadway

fence with signs, danger due to sign, plus sign that says Port Lands Flood Protection

below:  Back in July the demolition of the GFL (Green For life) buildings was well underway.

the last part of GFL (Green For life) structure to be torn down in the Port Lands, cement truck, dirt road, vacant land

below: This is the GFL recycling transfer station during the demolition process.  At the same time, the shoreline was being reconfigured and “naturalized”.  The trees in the water in the foreground have since died but this is part of the plan – they are to become part of a new fish and wildlife habitat.

west end of portlands early on in the redevelopment process, partially demolished building, barge in water creating new land, reconfiguring the shoreline

below: Access to the northwestern part of the Port Lands has been very limited.  Cherry Street and the T&T parking lot are as far as you can go … if you obey all the signs.    (photo from July)

black and orange cones line the route of entry to cement making facility in the Port lands

below: September

CN Tower and Toronto skyline from Cherry street, T and T market parking lot

below: The sea gulls have the parking lot to themselves, between Lafarge and the lake at the west end of the Port Lands.  There are no plans (that I can find) to remove or relocate Lafarge.

lots of sea gulls sitting on a parking lot behind Lafarge cement silos in the Port Lands

below: If you stand looking at the view above, and then turn around, you get the image below. Polson Pier view of the Toronto skyline.

view of Toronto skyline across Toronto Harbour from Polson Pier

a path leads to a fence, construction site behind the fence, including a cement truck

torn and shredded black fabric caught on a barbed wire fence

below: Map of the area.  As you can see, I have only covered a small part of the Port Lands.  There is so much more to explore!

map of the Port lands area