多伦多滨水区改造项目之一The future Villiers Island
Lake Fill Complete as New River Valley Being Carved Through Port Lands
Generations after the lower stretch of Don River and its mouth into Lake Ontario was straightened
and channelized for industry, the mistakes of the past are being corrected. The undoing of
what was called the ‘Don Improvement Project’—from a time when environmental issues were not well understood
—is part of Waterfront Toronto‘s wider redevelopment of Toronto’s Port Lands.
Aerial view of the Lower Don Lands project, image by Forum contributor sky candy
While re-naturalizing the Don River’s mouth with a new curving channel, the current work creates an island
by separating the northwest chunk of the Port Lands from the mainland. To be known as Villiers Island
for its main east-west street, the area is being decontaminated, provided with infrastructure to house people,
and will be surrounded by new parkland.
The future Villiers Island, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto
The south and east shores of the future island remain connected to land for now, as crews work away
on the new river channel. This new channel will augment the flow capacity of the existing outlet:
the river currently makes a sudden right-angle turn into the artificial Keating Channel, which requires regular dredging to maintain its flow.
Shape of new river valley emerging, image by Forum contributor skycandy
To create new parkland alongside Toronto Harbour, Waterfront Toronto has been undertaking
the Cherry Street Lakefilling project. It commenced in winter 2017 and has now wrapped up.
An element of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, the lakefilling process formed new land around Essroc Quay,
replacing its hard edges with a more natural shoreline for the northwest corner of Villiers Island. (Essroc manufactures cement,
and will be moving its operations eventually.)
The lake filling work is best summarized in a brief time-lapse video released by Waterfront Toronto last month.
Certain elements of Villiers Island shown in pre-construction renderings and models are now starting to materialize.
One area known as the ‘fish cove’ is located at the west end of the island, and is protected bay divided from the lake by a fish gate,
and traversed by a pedestrian bridge. This and some other features have been designed to bring wildlife back to the mouth of the Don,
looking to undo decades of industrial damage to the area.
Lake Fill Complete as New River Valley Being Carved Through Port Lands
and channelized for industry, the mistakes of the past are being corrected. The undoing of
what was called the ‘Don Improvement Project’—from a time when environmental issues were not well understood
—is part of Waterfront Toronto‘s wider redevelopment of Toronto’s Port Lands.
Aerial view of the Lower Don Lands project, image by Forum contributor sky candy
While re-naturalizing the Don River’s mouth with a new curving channel, the current work creates an island
by separating the northwest chunk of the Port Lands from the mainland. To be known as Villiers Island
for its main east-west street, the area is being decontaminated, provided with infrastructure to house people,
and will be surrounded by new parkland.
The future Villiers Island, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto
The south and east shores of the future island remain connected to land for now, as crews work away
on the new river channel. This new channel will augment the flow capacity of the existing outlet:
the river currently makes a sudden right-angle turn into the artificial Keating Channel, which requires regular dredging to maintain its flow.
Shape of new river valley emerging, image by Forum contributor skycandy
To create new parkland alongside Toronto Harbour, Waterfront Toronto has been undertaking
the Cherry Street Lakefilling project. It commenced in winter 2017 and has now wrapped up.
An element of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, the lakefilling process formed new land around Essroc Quay,
replacing its hard edges with a more natural shoreline for the northwest corner of Villiers Island. (Essroc manufactures cement,
and will be moving its operations eventually.)
The lake filling work is best summarized in a brief time-lapse video released by Waterfront Toronto last month.
Certain elements of Villiers Island shown in pre-construction renderings and models are now starting to materialize.
One area known as the ‘fish cove’ is located at the west end of the island, and is protected bay divided from the lake by a fish gate,
and traversed by a pedestrian bridge. This and some other features have been designed to bring wildlife back to the mouth of the Don,
looking to undo decades of industrial damage to the area.
