At the corner of King Street (former Highway 2) and College Street in Cobourg, adjacent to Victoria Park on the eastern edge of Downtown Cobourg, there’s a marked pedestrian crossing, with clear “zebra” road markings on the pavement.
The sign, in bright fluorescent yellow, reads “PEDESTRIAN X.” Below, a second sign, also in bright yellow, reads “STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS.” The message is clear enough.
However, a smaller white sign below, facing the sidewalk, reads “CAUTION – VEHICLES NOT REQUIRED TO STOP.”
Earlier this year, I wrote about a major malfunction at a new Viva Rapidway station near Downtown Richmond Hill. The Major Mackenzie station on Yonge Street was built one block south of the busy east-west arterial road; passengers taking Viva buses were forced to walk from Major Mackenzie Drive south to the intersection of at the intersection of Elmwood Avenue and Hopkins Street, push a “beg button” and wait to cross to the bus platforms in the middle of Yonge.
The reason for this unusual situation was that the Yonge Street right-of-way narrows through Downtown Richmond Hill. At Major Mackenzie Drive, northbound Viva buses must enter mixed traffic for approximately two kilometres before returning to a median busway. (The northbound traffic signal at Major Mackenzie has a dedicated transit phase that allows Viva buses to exit the median ahead of general traffic.) This required the median Viva bus stop (called a VivaStation) to be located considerably south of the intersection of Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive.
Back in February, temporary barriers and YRT transit enforcement officers were used to dissuade transit customers from Back in February, temporary barriers and YRT transit enforcement officers were used to dissuade transit customers from taking the faster and direct, yet more dangerous, route to Major Mackenzie Drive and connecting east-west buses by crossing midblock north of the platform, the faster and direct, yet more dangerous, route to Major Mackenzie Drive and connecting east-west buses.
The Major Mackenzie VivaStation and layout, February 2021
To my pleasant surprise, York Region fixed its mistake. Though the revised station is not ideal (it is still a long walk from Major Mackenzie Drive itself), a new walkway alongside the east side of the bus right-of-way from the VivaStation to the Major Mackenzie intersection makes the transfer to and from buses on Major Mackenzie much simpler.
Looking south from Major Mackenzie Drive
Just north of the bus platforms, a signed crosswalk allows passengers to go from the walkway and northbound platform to the southbound platform on the west side of the bus right-of-way.
Looking north towards Major Mackenzie Drive at the new crosswalk, which allows passengers to go between the southbound bus platform to a new walkway connecting the Major Mackenzie VivaStation to its namesake street.
Permanent metal rails prevent passengers from crossing Yonge Street until they get to the signalized intersection at Major Mackenzie. But transit enforcement officers were nowhere to be seen on this visit, on a Friday afternoon.
Metal barricades deter pedestrian crossings outside of signalized crosswalks.
Unfortunately, to make room for the walkway between the station and Major Mackenzie Drive, the northbound bicycle lane was cut, and replaced with “sharrows.” Though the new bicycle lanes on Yonge ended at Major Mackenzie (not enough room if you have to maintain four through traffic lanes through a historic town centre), this diminishes the gains cyclists made with the reconstruction of Yonge Street for the BRT lanes.
When surface transit projects — like the Viva Rapidways — are designed to fit into existing suburban roadways, compromises to the passenger experience are made. At Richmond Hill, this meant maintaining two traffic lanes in each direction while trying to squeeze a bus rapid transit station into the roadway. This resulted in the original blunder, which should have been thought though earlier in the planning stages.
The fix is not perfect, but it at least addresses the problems with the Major Mackenzie BRT station. Perhaps, one day, we will plan for transit, walking, and cycling first in places like Downtown Richmond Hill, rather than planning for private motor traffic first.
Replacement high pressure sodium lamp on left, the white glow of Toronto’s classic “acorn” lamp on right.
Street lighting is an important, yet overlooked, part of any city’s standard infrastructure. For over seventy years, Toronto’s streets were lit with an elegant and increasingly unique streetlamp design. But modern standards and a desire for standardization will see this change, just as Toronto’s streetcars and street signs have.
Toronto Hydro, which is responsible for Toronto’s street lighting, is replacing the older “acorn” lamps with high pressure sodium (HPS) cobra head lamps (so-called due to their shape when seen from the top or bottom). While surrounding municipalities are switching to white-burning LED lights, Toronto Hydro is installing the older beige-orange glowing lamps.
I asked Toronto Hydro what their long-term plans were for the city’s street lighting infrastructure. Read more on Spacing’s website.
On April 8, Toronto City Council approved a motion brought forward by Councillor Paula Fletcher to change that. Councillor Fletcher’s motion was titled “I’m Walking Here.” Only two months later, new signs are already appearing across Toronto — in Scarborough, Monarch Park, and Swansea. For a city that often takes years to adopt what may seem like simple, easy solutions, this was implemented impressively quickly. The new signs look like standard yellow “no exit” signs, but with a “pedestrians excepted” note at the bottom.
My hope is that these signs will entice Torontonians to get outside, go for a walk, and check out some new streets and parks, enticed by these signs inviting through passage.
In related news, this week Toronto Council approved the expansion of sidewalk slow clearance to all of Toronto’s streets, a service that was previously provided only to suburban areas, where unobstructed sidewalks made municipal slow clearance easy to do. With new snow equipment able to navigate narrow urban sidewalks, Toronto is now finally able to provide universal snow clearance services, a boon for full accessibility.
As public health restrictions ease and stores and restaurant patios reopen this Friday (supported by the city’s willingness to reallocate road space on streets like Yonge and Danforth), there’s never been a better time to for a walk.
Misleading “no exit” signs, like these on Maitland Place at Jarvis Street, will soon be changed by the City of Toronto to indicate that indeed, pedestrians can continue through
Though these signs are required under traffic codes and regulations, they do not reflect that in many cases, there is an exit for pedestrians.
I quickly created a Google map of all locations in the City of Toronto marking such locations. Through a social media campaign led by Walk Toronto, we were quickly able to map over 450 locations where a pathway, sidewalk, or staircase allows a pedestrian to continue their way where motor vehicles are forced to turn around.
The motion, which was amended to strengthen the wording, requests city staff to develop a new signage standard to indicate where “no exit” signage betrays a pedestrian passage, and to begin installing these new signs this year.
Councillor Paula Fletcher’s motion (inspired by @Walk_TO) to have staff modify “No Exit” signage in places where there are, in fact, exits for pedestrians carries via show of hands, with some amended wording. https://t.co/owNfqtPgNUpic.twitter.com/eevn2bMwkN
The map that I created based on Dylan’s initial suggestion will be used to help identify these locations.
Given the ongoing pandemic, where we are all subjected to yet another lockdown, walking is one of the few permitted ways for each of us to get outside, enjoy the fresh spring air, and get much needed exercise. Knowing where one can walk, especially away from heavy traffic or busy sidewalks and paths, will only help unlock the city for more Torontonians.
I want to thank everyone who submitted locations for the map to Walk Toronto or to myself via Twitter or directly to me on this website. This couldn’t have happened without the help of fellow Torontonians.
The starting wage for an Amazon fulfillment centre employee is $17.00 an hour, despite notoriously tough working conditions. With most professional and office workers at home, and with ongoing pandemic restrictions, Amazon has enjoyed significant sales increases. But those workers picking and packing orders are not able to work from home – and workplace spread has been a significant factor in COVID-19 transmission in Ontario.
Brampton, home to two of the GTA’s fulfilment centres, and close to Amazon’s Mississauga, Milton and Bolton warehouses, has been a COVID-19 hotspot. Like Toronto, Peel Region has been under lockdown and stay-at-home orders since November.
Like most new logistics facilities, the new Scarborough warehouse, like the other five GTA Amazon fulfillment centres, is in an industrial area on the city’s outskirts, where land is plentiful, but transit and pedestrian access is lacking. East of Tapscott Road, Steeles Avenue narrows from four lanes to two, and there are no designated pedestrian crossings at the intersection with Eastvale Drive. The eastbound TTC stop at Eastvale Avenue was removed in 2018 after a passenger was struck and killed trying to cross the street after disembarking from a 53 Steeles East bus. The next nearest stop, at Tapscott Road, is 300 metres west.
Steeles Avenue, looking west towards Eastvale Drive and the signalized intersection beyond, at Tapscott Road
The sidewalk on the south side of Steeles Avenue ends at Tapscott, a few hundred metres west of the Amazon fulfilment centre. On the north side, the sidewalk ends at Ferncliffe Crescent in Markham. Despite a new residential area in Morningside Heights, to the east, there is no sidewalk along Steeles to connect to it. Pedestrians heading to Amazon or towards Staines Road must choose whether to walk in the mud, or on the busy roadway. Though the posted speed limit is 50 km/h, motorists regularly travel at 60 km/h or faster.
Looking east on Steeles from Tapscott Road – despite the sign advising motorists of pedestrian activity, there are no sidewalks leading east towards the new Amazon fulfillment centre (Sonali Praharaj)
A stairway and ramp were built on the north end of the Amazon property, likely with the expectation that a sidewalk on the south side of Streeles Avenue would soon be installed. This would provide improved pedestrian access to the fulfillment centre. But without a safe and logical way to get to it from the street, it remains largely unused.
Passmore Avenue, on the south side of the fulfillment centre, was rebuilt with a sidewalk in the late fall of 2020, months after Amazon opened. However, it requires a lengthy walk north to Steeles Avenue up Tapscott, and there are no sidewalks on Tapscott from Passmore south, towards McNicoll Avenue. The intersection of Passmore and Tapscott itself – controlled by an all-way stop – still does not feature proper crosswalks.
Looking east on Steeles from Tapscott Road – despite the sign advising motorists of pedestrian activity, there are no sidewalks leading east towards the new Amazon fulfillment centre (Sonali Praharaj)
Though there are two TTC bus routes that operate to the corner of Tapscott Road and Passmore Avenue – 53B/953B Steeles East and 102B/C Markham Road – for months, workers had to walk on the roadway, through a construction site to access those buses. Anyone looking to go east, towards Morningside Heights, or southeast, towards Malvern, still face a long, dangerous walk or a lengthy bus commute.
The corner of Tapscott Road and Passmore Avenue
The TTC, starting January 11, 2021, began diverting the 53B Steeles East bus to directly serve the Amazon fulfillment centre, finally serving a major industrial trip generator and reducing essential workers’ travel times. Even still, the new sidewalk on Passmore ends at the warehouse entrance – anyone waiting for a bus must still walk and wait in the snow or mud.
Eventually, Steeles Avenue will be widened, with new sidewalks and bike lanes, and Morningside Avenue will be extended north to Steeles Avenue. However, these improvements have been planned for years and completion is still several years away. Though new warehouses have opened here, civic infrastructure has not caught up.
New TTC bus stop serving the Amazon Fulfillment Centre on Passmore Road (Sonali Praharaj)
The TTC’s service change, adding a new bus stop on Passmore Avenue, was a welcome – yet overdue – acknowledgement that essential workers, especially racialized and lower-paid workers, deserve better. It is inexcusable that new employment uses are planned, approved, and constructed before the appropriate pedestrian infrastructure and transit services are in place. It is also inexcusable that after a TTC customer was killed that a nearby bus stop was removed, rather than safety improvements added instead. This is not just a matter of ensuring a basic level of safety for pedestrians – this is a matter of justice for those we consider essential workers.
At least the new Yonge Street Rapidway would serve York Region’s busiest transit corridor, supporting new high-density development in Richmond Hill. Unlike on Highway 7 or in Newmarket, there are no two-phase pedestrian crossings on this part of Yonge. Unfortunately, a botched connection between the new Rapidway at Major Mackenzie Drive created a new problem for the YRT/Viva transit network.
This issue — along with the other problems with York Region’s Rapidways that I discussed previously — should be held up as lessons on what not to do when building new transit rights-of-way in street medians, be it on Hurontario Street in Mississauga and Brampton, planned BRT lines on Dundas Street in Mississauga, or Queen Street in Brampton.
Earl Place, where “No Exit” signs betray through access for pedestrians and cyclists
Last week, Dylan Reid and I, both co-founders of Walk Toronto, decided to create an inventory of all instances in the city where “No Exit” signs do not apply to all road users. Though these signs are required under traffic codes and regulations, they do not reflect that in many cases, there is an exit for pedestrians. Some of those offer through passage for cyclists as well. We were inspired by a Twitter thread that expressed the frustration of getting around the city by foot, where signage is designed entirely for motorists.
Instances where pedestrians or cyclists may continue past a “No Exit” sign include traffic calming measures meant to keep out through motor vehicles on once-continuous roads. The intersection of Earl Place, Earl Street, and Huntley Street is just one example: curbs and bollards restrict motorists from continuing through, though a narrow passage allows cyclists to continue past; sidewalks also allow through pedestrian movement.
Earl Place and Huntley Street
In many other cases, suburban street designs, such as cul-de-sacs, limit vehicular movement though residential subdivisions, but narrow public walkways allow pedestrians access to parklands and neighbouring streets. In other cases, changes in grade between streets allow for a staircase, but not a through roadway down a steep hill. These are common in the Swansea, Baby Point, Silverthorn, and East Toronto neighbourhoods.
As of January 30, 2021, I have mapped over 250 misleading “No Exit” signs throughout the City of Toronto, though I know there are many more. Please send them to me via Twitter or via a direct message, and I will be sure to add your submission.
Our goal is to convince the City of Toronto to add signage recognizing where pedestrians and cyclists do have an exit. Perhaps too, this might inspire you to get outside, and walk around the neighbourhood, checking out passageways you might have not known about.
In June 2020, Toronto-based artist and activist Andrew Lochhead launched a petition to rename Dundas Street, one of Toronto’s oldest, longest and best-known arterial roads. Lochhead states that Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville “actively participated in obstructing the abolition of slavery in the British Empire from 1791 to the end of his political career in 1806.” While some historians may argue that Dundas was a pragmatic moderate, rather than an anti-abolitionist (unlike slave-owning Torontonians like William Jarvis or Peter Russell, who have streets named after them), it’s still worth wondering why Toronto has a street named after the Scottish politician, who had nothing to do with Toronto’s colonial history.
Until recently, I gave Dundas Street little thought. Years ago, I wrote about how the street was pieced together in the late 19th and early 20th century to provide a new through east-west route across central Toronto. Though I was aware that Dundas Street began at the present-day corner of Queen Street West and Ossington Avenue, I had long thought the road was named for the town of Dundas, to which it leads.
The end of Desjardins Canal, in the old Town of Dundas
Dundas Street was established as a military supply route by order of John Graves Simcoe, the first British governor of Upper Canada. At first, it was surveyed and cleared in 1794 and 1795 between Cootes Paradise (at the very end of Lake Ontario, beyond Burlington Bay) and the Upper Forks of the Thames River, at what is now Woodstock. From there, small boats could be used to travel downriver to London and to Lake St. Clair. Though there were several Indigenous trails connecting Lake Ontario and the Thames River (the western part of Mohawk Road in Hamilton follows one such route), the new British colonial government favoured a straight, direct road.
A federal plaque on a cairn in front of Dundas Valley Secondary School in Dundas
Though Dundas Street (which is known as Governor’s Road between Dundas and Paris) features a gentle climb up the Niagara Escarpment, detours were quickly established to get around challenging terrain, such as the confluence of Grand and Nith rivers near Paris. Dundas Street was soon extended westward, to Simcoe’s preferred capital site at London, and extended eastward, to York (Toronto).
Yonge Street, which was originally surveyed and cleared between Lake Ontario and the Holland River near Lake Simcoe, served a similar purpose as Dundas Street. Combined with Penetanguishine Road, Yonge Street provided a military supply route to Lake Huron, though bypassing the established Toronto Carrying Place trail. Though Dundas and Yonge Streets were built with military goals in mind, they, like many other early colonization roads, helped to promote new settlement of lands claimed from local First Nations. Like Dundas Street, Yonge Street was named for a senior British official — George Yonge, who was the British Secretary of War in 1793.
In its early years, Dundas Street’s position inland from Lake Ontario was advantageous as it provided an alternate route in case of invasion. The winding route through Etobicoke and West Toronto to Ossington Avenue allowed travellers to avoid deep ravines and Grenadier Pond.
Lambton House, Old Dundas Street
Other early settlement routes, such as Weston Road, branched off of Dundas Street, leading to newly settled lands to the north and northwest of Toronto. Taverns dotted the route, providing accommodation and libation to travelers, several of which — including Lambton House and Montgomery’s Inn — survive to this day.
In London and Woodstock, Dundas Street formed the basis for each city’s downtown core. In London, it was recently rebuilt as a two-lane flexible street called Dundas Place, intended to host public events and revitalize the street, which has seen a loss of business to suburban malls and big box stores and to trendier bars and restaurants on Richmond Street, closer to Western University.
Dundas Street in Downtown London was recently rebuilt as a flexible street
Outside the cities, though, other routes surpassed Dundas Street in importance by the mid 1800s. The Lakeshore Road soon became the preferred route between Toronto and Hamilton (which overtook the town of Dundas in size and importance), while the railways, established between Toronto, Hamilton, and London in the 1850s, further eroded Dundas Street’s importance as a major through route until the automobile gained in popularity.
Much of the road between Paris and London became part of interprovincial Highway 2, which extended across Eastern Canada from Windsor, Ontario to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Waterdown-Etobicoke section became part of Highway 5, while the lesser-travelled section between Paris and Dundas (which today is known as Governor’s Road) was established first as Highway 5B in 1938, then as Highway 99 in 1940.
The remains of the old Dundas Street bridge over the Humber, removed in 1928, looking west to the former settlement of Lambton Mills. The replacement high level bridge is seen to the left. The approaches to the old bridge are named Old Dundas Street.
The Dundas-Waterdown section, which winded its way up the escarpment (only to descend it again a short distance east), became a minor road, with part of the original alignment abandoned by the 1850s.
Though it never held the status of Toronto’s main street, Dundas Street would gain in importance and length in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As Toronto grew beyond its early street grid, it came up against the park lot system devised by Governor Simcoe and other officials to establish a landed gentry in the new colony (including the slaveholding Jarvis and Russell families, who worked to prevent Simcoe from instituting a complete abolition in Upper Canada). These lots which were long and narrow, extended north from Lot (now Queen) Street, and each were developed independently. This resulted in a mess of east-west streets that did not necessarily meet each other. Though College Street was laid out with minimal difficulty, there was no continuous east-west street between College and Queen Streets east of Ossington Avenue.
Dundas Street West, looking southeast from Dovercourt Avenue towards the downtown skyline. This is part of the 220-year old western extension of Dundas Street from the head of lake to York (Toronto).
But by the early 1910s, Dundas Street was extended eastward, at first to Bathurst Street, following Arthur Street — which was widened to permit Toronto Railway Company streetcars — and then east to Yonge via St. Patrick, Anderson, and Agnes Streets. Jogs between these streets were slowly realigned, starting with the St. Patrick-Anderson-Agnes jogs between McCaul Street and University Avenue. However, it wasn’t until 1953 that the jog between former Arthur and St. Patrick Streets at Bathurst Street was eliminated. Scadding Court Community Centre now sits on the old roadway, though a small part survives as the centre’s staff parking lot.
East of Yonge Street, Wilton Avenue was extended across the Don River in 1911, extending just east of Broadview Avenue, incorporating Elliot and Crawford Streets. Though the new bridge was built with streetcar tracks and overhead poles, through service did not begin until 1923, as part of a major TTC route restructuring.
By 1920, Wilton Avenue was renamed Dundas Street East, though the through connection across Yonge Street was not completed until 1922, with the block long section east of Yonge left over from the realignment renamed Dundas Square.
Though the early extensions of Dundas Street through the city simplified the street grid and allowed for through streetcar service between West Toronto and Broadview Avenue, the eastern extension built in the 1950s was done entirely for the benefit of the automobile.
Though Dundas Street extended east of Broadview for one block to Boulton Avenue, it was as a narrow residential street, and did not continue beyond (this is why the Harbord Streetcar took a convoluted route via Dundas, Broadview, and Gerrard to get to Carlaw and Pape Avenues). New roadways were planned to expand traffic access to Downtown Toronto from the burgeoning suburbs, including a new extension of Dundas Street east to Kingston Road.
From Boulton Avenue, a new alignment was built east to Pape Avenue, resulting in the demolition of over a dozen houses on Boulton Avenue, De Grassi Street, West Avenue, and Wardell Street, before ducking under the Canadian National mainline in a new underpass built in 1953, and through an industrial area, avoiding major factory buildings.
East of Pape Avenue, the new roadway followed a widened Dagmar Avenue, before bending south though a former alley to Jones Avenue to connect with former Doel Avenue to Alton Avenue. Between Alton and Woodfield Road, another new section of roadway was built, through an old brickyard in the late 1940s, connecting with Applegrove Avenue to Coxwell Avenue. The final section, between Coxwell Avenue and Kingston Road, was built through a minor ravine, connecting with, and replacing part of, Maughan Crescent and Edgewood Avenue.
Plan for Dundas Street extension through the rear yards and laneway between Dagmar and Mallon Avenues. From City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 2277, Item 32.Just west of Jones Avenue, Dundas Street East is lined with garages, as it passes through an old alley between Dagmar and Mallon Avenues.
Though Dundas Street East was shoehorned into several east-end neighbourhoods through the 1940s and 1950s to provide a new route for automobile traffic, over fifty years later it became an important cycling route. In 2003, the speed limit was reduced to 40 kilometres per hour, and the four traffic lanes reduced to two, with new bike lanes and a centre turning lane. Without streetcar tracks (unlike neighbouring Queen and Gerrard Streets), and with few storefronts, Dundas Street was simple to reconfigure. In 2020, the bike lanes were extended west across the Don River and into Regent Park, as part of the new ActiveTO measures.
Within Toronto, Dundas Street has gone by many names: Arthur, St. Patrick, Anderson, Agnes, Wilton, Elliot, Crawford, Dagmar, Doel, Applegrove, Maughan, and Edgewood. At various times in the first half of the last century, city officials have decided to change their names to Dundas Street.
It would not be without precedent to change Dundas Street’s name as well. Henry Dundas has no connection to local history, and even the historic road that bears his name did not extend any further east than Ossington Avenue.
Retain the legal street names with additional interpretation and recognitions
Retain the legal street names but rename those civic assets with Dundas in their name, except TTC facilities (there are three parks and one library branch that include the Dundas name, and Yonge-Dundas Square; there are two TTC subway stations and one streetcar line that also bear the Dundas name)
Rename the streets and all other civic assets now carrying the Dundas name (including Dundas Street East, Dundas Street West, Dundas Square, and Old Dundas Street).
I would agree with at least the third option, and likely the fourth option, even in part. As one of the city’s most famous and popular meeting places, a better name can be found for Yonge-Dundas Square. As Dundas Street East is a 20th century construct, and less than half the age of the historical road, it too, would be a great candidate for renaming to something meaningful. There are many other streets, towns, and parks in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario that carry names given by early colonial officials, eager to leave their mark on newly claimed lands. Some are also worthy candidates for renaming.
Other municipalities, including Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Woodstock, and London, will also have to decide what they will do with their sections of Dundas Street. There is also the matter of the former Town of Dundas, the Dundas Valley, the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry in Eastern Ontario (and two townships within it). There are also Dundas Streets in Belleville, Trenton, and Napanee along Highway 2, but otherwise unrelated to the historic road.
But the process must be thoughtful and considerate, and not just a another feel-good exercise that distracts from the real economic and racial inequities in our city.
The interactive map below illustrates the history of Dundas Street, from London to Kingston Road.
Earlier in September, I paid a visit to Woodstock, Ontario, to check out one of several new intermunicipal transit services that launched across the province this year. While in Woodstock, I paid a visit to the Highway 401 interchange at Highway 59.
In 1968-1969, London, Ontario artist Jack Chambers painted 401 Towards London No. 1, which depicts a tranquil scene from the Highway 59 overpass, looking west. The highway, just two lanes in each direction, bends slightly to the southwest as it heads towards London and Windsor. On either side, autumn trees, farm fields, and gentle hills stretch out. The only buildings visible are farm silos, and two truck terminals on the north side of the highway. Only a few vehicles on Highway 401 are visible in the scene.
Chambers became well known for photorealism in his work. The scene in 401 Towards London No. 1 is slightly askew, as if this was a Kodachrome snapshot.
Highway 401 was only fully completed between Windsor and the Quebec border in 1968, the year the painting was started, though the section between Woodstock and London was completed in 1957, bypassing an especially congested section of Highway 2. Like many interchanges built by the province in the 1950s and early 1960s, the junction of Highways 59 and 401 was an eight-ramp cloverleaf.
A contemporary view towards London
By the 1990s, Highway 401 was widened to six lanes. The cloverleaf interchange, like most others in Ontario, was removed and replaced by a simpler interchange. (As traffic levels increased, the danger of vehicles entering and exiting the highway with little space to merge became apparent.)
Woodstock’s sprawl caught up to the highway, with new warehouses, motels, subdivisions, and a hospital joining the original freight terminals. Though the distant trees and hills are the same as those in Chambers’ painting, the gentle curve in the distance remains the easiest way to match the two views, fifty years apart. Highway 59 itself was downloaded by the province in 1997. To the south, the old highway is Oxford County Road 59. To the north, it is simply Norwich Street.
Breezewood, Ontario: former Highway 59 looking north towards central Woodstock, where chain hotels, restaurants, and gas stations line the road
As I climbed over guardrails and navigated sidewalk-less embankments and road shoulders to capture the contemporary image of Jack Chambers’ painting, I was surprised by two things. The first were fully AODA-compliant crossing treatments at the highway ramps, despite there being no safe and marked way to get to those crosswalks.
I had to climb over the guardrail to get to this crosswalk at the westbound ramps to Highway 401
I was even more surprised to see an engraved version of the Jack Chambers painting embedded in the guardrail. When the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) rebuilt the overpass in 2017-2018, it thoughtfully included this nod to a local artist.
Plaque embedded in the guardrail at the Highway 59 overpass in Woodstock
Unfortunately, given the isolation of the plaque, few will actually see it, even if thousands pass by it daily. Larger signs mark the overpass as the Constable Jack Ross Memorial Bridge, in honour of a Ontario Provincial Police officer.
But it will always be the Jack Chambers bridge to me.
A larger sign right above the Jack Chambers plaque commemorates a different Jack
Though 401 Towards London No. 1 has long been one of my favourite Canadian paintings, it is not typically on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I would love to see this work put on permanent display, either at the AGO, or at another gallery that will appreciate the ode to Ontario’s mother road.
Sean Marshall 