Allen Road

William R. Allen Road, known more commonly as Allen Road, The Allen Expressway or simply The Allen and formerly as the Spadina Expressway, is a short expressway/freeway in Toronto, Ontario, which runs from Kennard Avenue in the north, to Eglinton Avenue West in the south. The portion south of Sheppard Avenue was originally the completed section of the Spadina Expressway. Allen Road is named after late Metro Toronto Chairman William R. Allen and maintained by the City of Toronto. Landmarks along the road include the Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Downsview Park (formerly CFB Downsview).

Route description

A portion of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line from Sheppard Avenue in the north to Eglinton Avenue to the south runs along, within, or near to the highway. The portion from Wilson Avenue to Eglinton Avenue runs in the median of the highway.

South of Transit Road (a collector road just north of Highway 401), Allen Road is a four-lane urban freeway (with the Y-U-S subway line in the median, similar to the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line along the median of the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago) with varying speed limits throughout its length.

At the junction with Highway 401, the two freeways meet in an interchange which is a hybrid of the turbine and clover-stack. It is complex since some ramps are dedicated to serving the adjacent Yorkdale Mall rather than freeway to freeway traffic. The interchange, which was built when Highway 401 was expanded to its current collector-express configuration, is known for its poor sight lines, since not long after its completion, the speed limit on Ontario freeways was raised in 1968 from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 112 km/h (70 mph) (later reduced to 96 km/h (60 mph) in 1974, then 100 km/h (62 mph) with metric conversion in 1977). There are frequent complaints about the 401 westbound collectors exit to Allen Road, since it is located on the left-hand side instead of the conventional right. Most of the overpasses were rehabilitated in 1995. From 2001 to 2004, retrofitting and improvements have widened the westbound collectors to four lanes, eliminating the forced exit lane. Due to the interchange's complexity and lower standard design, it is one of the few on Highway 401 that uses conventional light poles instead of high-mast lighting.

North of Transit Road, Allen Road is a four-lane at-grade expressway with a speed limit of 70 km/h (45 mph) until it reaches Sheppard Avenue West to become an arterial route, still maintaining the higher speed limit. The route is two lanes plus a bus lane until just beyond Finch Avenue, where the bus lane exits Westbound to the York University Busway.

The first installation of low pressure sodium lighting on existing cobra-neck poles in Toronto was on the Allen in 1969. This was later introduced on to the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway. In 1991, the Allen became the first municipal expressway in Toronto to have its lighting converted to high pressure sodium with shaded luminaires. This was done using the existing cobra-neck style of poles unlike the Don Valley and Gardiner where a combination of high mast and new conventional poles was introduced.

The section of the Allen north of Highway 401 was to be the next phase of the Spadina Expressway, which was to be extended northwards to Highway 7. South of Eglinton Avenue, the Spadina Expressway would have been extended to Spadina Avenue and Harbord Street, with a potential link to the Gardiner Expressway.

History

• Lawrence Avenue West to Wilson Heights - December 1966^[1]
• Lawrence Avenue West to Eglinton Avenue West - September 8, 1976^[2]
• Clanton Park to Kennard 1982

Source: Toronto Expressways - Transfer Points - February 2004 - pp8

Future

During the 2010 Toronto mayoral election, Rocco Rossi proposed completing the expressway in a tunnel to meet the Gardiner Expressway.^[3] However, Rossi's position in favour of extending the expressway conflicts with the plans for the Lawrence Heights revitalization project. Later that week, after much criticism of Rossi by other candidates and the media, Rossi revised his position to one of "studying" building a tunnel.

Exit list

Like the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway, Allen Road exits are not numbered and simply identified by the exit street name.

North of Kennard Avenue Allen Road becomes Dufferin Street. Dufferin Street runs semi parallel with Allen Road south from Kennard. This lost section of Dufferin is a residential street and ends in a cul-de-sac.

See also

• Cancelled expressways in Toronto
• Spadina Expressway
• William Allen

References

1. ^ Unbuilt Toronto pp. 144 to 149
2. ^ Moore, Michael. The Globe and Mail. Nearby Residents Worry About Traffic, But Motorists Love Spadina Extension. September 10, 1976. p. 5.
3. ^ Paperny, Anna Mehler (2010-09-13). "Rossi pledges to tunnel Allen under downtown if elected". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/rossi-pledges-to-tunnel-allen-under-downtown-if-elected/article1705422/. Retrieved 2010-09-13. 
4. ^ The Toronto Star. "Toronto Neighborhood Map". The Star. http://www3.thestar.com/static/googlemaps/starmaps.html?xml=090120_shapetool_neigbourhoods.xml. Retrieved April 30, 2010. 

External links

• Map of Allen Road on Google Maps
• The Expressways of Toronto (built and unbuilt)
• Aerial view of the Highway 401 cloverstack