Results tagged “gardinerexpressway”

Eugene Levy? Comedy genius—love him.

Just weeks after City Hall's executive committee approved yet another lengthy analysis of the future of the Gardiner Expressway, a notable design firm has introduced a fresh concept into the twenty-plus-year-old debate. At last week's tenth annual ideaCity, Les Klein, founding partner of Quadrangle Architects, called for building a green roof on top of the roadway, complete with parkland, cafés, and bike paths stretching from Dufferin Street to the Don Valley Parkway. His proposal for the Gardiner, which was met with a standing ovation, demonstrated that thinking way outside the box might be the best way to move forward from this highly cyclical discussion.

Here's a film that should have been good. But it wasn't. Killshot is based on a Elmore Leonard novel which, amazingly enough, starts off in Toronto at the Hotel Waverly. It was directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) and the cast includes Rosario Dawson, pre-Wrestler Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Johnny Knoxville was also in the film but his scenes were cut.

Not long before dusk on Sunday night, several thousand Tamil protesters flowed onto the Gardiner Expressway, shutting it down shortly thereafter, to protest the ongoing violence in Sri Lanka. The Gardiner would remain shut down until about midnight, when the protest migrated off the roads and on to Queen's Park.

We showed you photos of the Urban Repair Squad's latest intervention in a post on Tuesday—wherein we firmly insisted that the future health of the region's transportation infrastructure hinges on the presence of two twelve-foot-tall plywood figures—but today we have a video for you! The clip is a "bit of a first," the URS tells us, in that "It was made collectively."

On first glance, the above shot could be a generic photo pulled from our Flickr pool to accompany any article about pedestrianism/cycling/active transportation/Toronto. But look at it for another moment, and you may notice that there's something amiss about the City's topiary logo alongside the Gardiner...

We darn near didn’t know what the heck to make of Shoot 'Em Up. Here’s a movie that’s basically an absurd, over-the-top action movie that seems to have a sense of humour about itself. So, is it an ironic send-up of such films or could they just not figure out what they were really going for? We’re still not sure, even though it starts with a dude killing another dude with a carrot.

Toronto's extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn't always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city.

Photo by citydweller from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve.

Every Wednesday, Torontoist receives transmissions from the travel log of Gleebax, the alien Urbanaut, as he explores the foreign land of Toronto.

Who knew that the Gardiner was good for more than traffic jams? Between the Ride For Heart today, and the controversial Critical Mass ride last Friday, Toronto's highways are getting plenty of bike traffic. As cycling continues to grow in popularity, could a bicycle expressway eventually become reality?

                       

Photo by TObike from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Photo by MarkyBon.

This evening, Toronto Culture and Fort York are unveiling a permanent public art installation under the Gardiner Expressway (off Fort York Boulevard, between Bathurst and Fleet Streets). In WATERTABLE, Toronto artists Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak use video and lights to create the effect of rippling water on the underside of the highway—a reminder that the Gardiner runs along what used to the original shoreline of Lake Ontario. Ever wonder why the the Toronto Harbour Commission building is notably not on the harbour? It used to be surrounded by water on three sides!

Will people ever appreciate the fine architecture or heritage value of such widely-detested buildings as Robarts Library or the Sheraton Centre? If history is any guide, they will—but only if the buildings manage to survive our collective hatred (or apathy) for another 40 years or so.

Anyone who grew up in Toronto has been on at least one school field trip to historic Fort York. You've smelled the horseshit, eaten the biscuits, and probably watched some corny performance by someone in a costume telling you how things used to be in the olden days. So it might be tempting to dismiss Crate Productions' new play The Fort at York as an educational play, or worse, historical reenactment. This would be a mistake. The site-specific play, directed by Tara Beagan and Chris Reynolds (pictured), is set the night before the War of 1812's Battle of York, which decimated the original fort, but the focus is on personal relations rather than military ones.

Each week, Torontoist shows off the most interesting, creative, and cool submissions to our Torontoist Flickr Pool. We're especially partial to photos that show our city in a new light, highlight a recent event, and remind us why we live here. Join the Flickr pool and show us what you've got.

The Gardiner Expressway re-opened this morning after closures due to deadly "ice missiles" falling from the CN tower. One ice sheet was reportedly 50 metres tall and 6 metres wide!

Police have closed the Gardiner Expressway after baseball-sized chunks of ice began flying off the CN Tower. Flying chunks of ice? Closing the Gardiner? Good ol' Mel would've just brought in the army and called a wrap on the day.

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve!

As pointed out by an astute reader, Spacing Wire and Ward 20 candidate Chris Ouellette's blog, there exists another option (that has been getting little media attention) for solving the dual waterfront barriers of the rail tracks and the Gardiner Expressway: the Toronto Waterfront Viaduct.

The TTC is apparently losing about a bus a day to repairs and safety issues. Many of the buses are around 18 years old and nearing the end of their lifecycle. By next year the TTC will lose around 320 buses, more than five a week.

Hello, class! Ron isn't here today. I will be your substitute Ron.

In the not-so-far-off future, we’ll be able to dial 511 to get told that it’s hot outside and that the Gardiner Expressway is backed up. The CRTC has assigned 511 as the new telephone number for weather and traveller information services. The 24-hour, cross-Canada phone service should be in full operation in 2007:

Six men have been arrested for an early morning home invasion in a condo near the Rogers Centre. This is the first time we've heard of a home invasion in a condo building and hope that it isn't a new trend in crime.