Damaging Underlying Rivers
The east/west subway system in Toronto between Kipling station in the west and Victoria Park station in the east (the last station directly on the Bloor/Danforth roadways) has five distinct sites where the tracks rise out of the ground. The TTC engineers, Toronto city planners and provincial authorities were very smart and designed the optimum system. Each of the five “above ground” areas have a river running beneath. At Keele and High Park, the river was “infilled” and pushed further down into the earth. To ensure the safety of the subway from water damage, these portions were built above ground.
RIVERS ALONG THE LINE
The three images here show the subway tracks/bridges above the rivers: Mimico Creek (between Royal York & Islington Subway stations); the Humber River (east of Old Mill Subway station); and the Don River (between Castle Frank and Broadview).
RAVINE BRIDGES
These two images show the subway tracks/bridges above the rivers: Wendigo Creek (west of High Park subway station, top image) now paved over by Clendenan Avenue and Spring Creek (Keele subway station) now paved over by Keele Street. Between 1895 and 1905, the City of West Toronto (before its amalgamation with the City of Toronto in 1909) and the provincial government at the time infilled the ravines and buried the creeks north of Bloor Street under 5 - 15 meters of rock and dirt. Fortunately, for us the water never stopped flowing it was just hidden.
THE CREEKS
The Wendigo (to the left) and Spring Creeks are clearly indicated (by the black circles south of Bloor Street) in the first High Park Survey map by John Howard (the Founder of High Park) in 1864.
WENDIGO & SPRING
The Wendigo (to the left) and Spring Creeks are indicated (by the black circles north of Bloor Street) in the West Toronto Junction Map of 1886. This was of course before they were infilled and seemingly erased from public memory. We now know this is absolutely not the case.
TOPOGRAPHY
The City of Toronto released its High Park Apartment Neighbourhood Area Character Study of 2018, and it clearly shows the Wendigo (to the left) and Spring Creeks ravine systems (by the black circles). The red area between the two ravines is the current High Park Apartment Neighbourhood. The green areas are deemed ravine areas within the city of Toronto and are, or should have, increased environmental protection from the impact of further development.
LAURENTIAN RIVER
In 2003, researchers confirmed the mouth of the ancient Laurentian River in High Park. Dating back over 10,000 years, this underground river flows through an aquifer above the bedrock, originating from Georgian Bay about 200 km away. It supplies fresh water—along with storm runoff—that feeds the Wendigo and Spring Creeks and replenishes High Park’s ecosystems.
