Update on Pottery Road closing

Pottery Road goes under the Don Valley Parkway and connects Broadview Avenue with the Bayview Extension. It’s an old road that climbs down into the valley. A new retaining wall has been installed north of the road. However, engineers weren’t satisfied that the hill slope was stable and have nibbled the hill back further. The road is currently scheduled to re-open November 30th.

Pottery Road update

Torontonians will recognize Pottery Road as the space warp that gets them from the Bayview Extension to Broadview Avenue north of Danforth. As such, it takes a lot of pressure off other arteries to and from downtown, such as the  big bridge (the Princes’ Viaduct) over the Don Valley Parkway. It’s an old road that winds down a steep hill, ducks under the Don Valley Parkway, and  crosses the Don River via an old cement bridge. This summer the city undertook to improve the road and sidewalk and install street lights. It was supposed to open September 7th.

Pottery Road in the Don Valley

I hope you haven’t been holding your breath.

It didn’t open on time. It was going to open September 30.

I hope you weren’t holding your breath.

The latest is that the hillside above the road is safe but not up to safety standards. I’m not sure which retaining wall  they’re talking about since most of the north side of the road is natural slope. Did I mention that someone just built an apartment building looming over the road? Regardless, the engineers aren’t satisfied and they’re taking measurements and considering what to do.

“The wall is safe…but, it’s not within acceptable engineering limits,” said Gord MacMillan, director of design and construction for the City of Toronto.

Here’s the update. I think they’ll be finished about February. What do you think?

 The City’s design consultants have been working on an engineering solution to increase the stability of the embankment above the newly constructed retaining wall on the north side of Pottery Rd, east of the Don Valley Parkway which remains the sole reason for the continued road closure.   

 On the basis of engineering designs prepared by the consultant, Technical Services is in the process of obtaining price quotations and realistic construction timelines. The General Contractor’s sub-contractors are expected to submit quotations and construction schedules by October 7th 2011.

Unfortunately, we still do not have a date for the re-opening of Pottery Road

For the seriously budget traveller

Try www.couchsurfing.org. The name says it all.

Studded tires and avalanches

This summer, I noticed on the Trans-Canada Highway through the mountains in B.C. there were many “pull-offs” where trucks could put on tire chains where they were required or take them off. In addition to “chain required on trucks” stretches of highway there were also stretches marked by signs that said, “Avalanche area: do not stop,” which was kind of exciting. We went through avalanche sheds, which protected both the highway and the rail lines by deflecting snow over them. There’s also a government service that tests the snow and sets off avalanches, then cleans them off the highway before they can kill anyone. Many of the parking areas and scenic lookouts are, oddly enough, just across the highway from avalanche or landslide scars.

Traveller’s road information for Ontario

Here’s a portal for road information updates: Travellers’ Road Information Portal (TRIP).

Darwin at the Royal Tyrrell Museum

I visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta today. In addition to an evolutionary perspective throughout, it has a small but lovely gallery explaining Darwinian natural selection, its principles, and its importance. There was also a replica of Darwin’s notebook with his famous branching diagram of speciation. Pictures on Flickr next month, probably, if not sooner.