Despite its significant status, there's plenty of mostly unknown information about the bridge, not the least of which is that it's actually not one bridge at all!
Here are 5 quirky facts you might not about the Bloor Prince Edward Viaduct.
Most people think of the Bloor Viaduct as the bridge that spans the Don Valley, but the project took shape as three distinct parts: fill was used to build up the roadway between Sherbourne and Parliament, a first bridge spans Rosedale Valley, followed by the iconic section over the Don.
Although not technically part of the original design, the covered subway bridge built in 1966 between Castle Frank and Sherbourne stations is an honourary part of the structure as the curve between the subway platform underneath the Don section and the Rosedale section was deemed too much for TTC trains to handle. You can see this bridge when driving on Rosedale Valley Rd.
There were many designs for this bridge, most of which initially conceived of the route spanning directly from Bloor St. East to the Danforth. Ultimately, the three-part design was selected for its lessened impact on the Rosedale ravine, which the initial designs would have cut right through (now only one section does this).
The bridge was initially quite controversial (as all major infrastructure projects seem to be in Toronto). There were four public referenda on the construction of the bridge, the last of which finally resulted in public approval once the current meandering route was adopted in 1913.
The Luminous Veil, the elaborate suicide-prevention collar that was installed back in 2003, might not have lived up to its name until last summer when the lights were installed, but it immediately stopped approximately 60 people a year from jumping off of the structure. That's a considerably higher number than the TTC deals with.
by Derek Flack via blogTO
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