History
By 1966, the province had completed the first leg of the Highway 400 Extension southeasterly to Jane Street, and had acquired the necessary lands through the Black Creek Valley down to Eglinton Avenue (which, at the time, was mostly farmland). This was part of an ambitious project, which included links to the proposed Crosstown and Richview Expressways, and would continue down from Highway 401 along its present alignment (connecting with the Richview at present-day Eglinton Avenue), then following Weston Road and the CP alignment along Dupont Street (connecting with the Crosstown at present-day Christie Street), before continuing southward along Christie and Clinton Streets to the Gardiner Expressway. Alternate alignments included one following Parkside Drive south to the Gardiner, and one following the CN tracks south to Front Street, before continuing onto the Gardiner.
The cancellation of the Spadina Expressway in 1971 spelled the end of expressway projects in Toronto, including the Crosstown and the Richview Expressways. However, the Highway 400 Extension was still being considered as a possibility, and the Province still intended to extend Highway 400 south to Eglinton Avenue.
The provincial government still owned the right-of-way along the Black Creek Valley and agreed to construct it as a four-lane arterial road, instead of a grade-separated expressway. The Metro Toronto government agreed to extend it farther south to St. Clair Avenue. The Province began construction on the 400 Extension in 1976.
Fresh from battling the Spadina Expressway, anti-Spadina groups started battling the extension and soon, Parkdale residents joined in the debate, fearing an extension would pass directly through their neighbourhood. Additionally, the City of Toronto objected to the construction of the road south to St. Clair Avenue. A compromise was reached over Weston Road; the 400 Extension would end there, but Weston Road would be widened to support the flow of traffic from Black Creek Drive.
The roadway opened in 1982 from Jane Street south to Weston Road. On March 1, 1983, Metro Council performed a land transfer in which the right-of-way for the Spadina Expressway south of Eglinton was assumed by the province in exchange for Black Creek Drive being transferred to Metro. In 1989, Metro Toronto initiated a study of the extension of Black Creek Drive south to the Gardiner Expressway.
Read more about this topic: Black Creek Drive
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