Dufferin Street bridges


The Dufferin Street bridges are two inter-connected vehicular bridges in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The bridges carry Dufferin Street over a railway corridor and the Gardiner Expressway to Exhibition Place. The bridges closed to vehicular traffic in 2013. Temporary structures, namely Bailey bridges over the railway tracks, will be built in 2013-2014 to allow a resumption of traffic in early 2014. Beginning in 2016 the bridges will be completely rebuilt to allow more tracks to cross underneath and create a single span to the CNE grounds. As of March 2019 the spans over the Gardiner Expressway remain in place and the bailey bridges replacing the older outer pedestrian bridges of the northern span with the inner vehicular steel plate box girder bridge still in place.

North span

The truss bridge is a steel truss bridge, built from 1911 to 1912 to cross over railway tracks south of Springhurst Avenue. Four tracks pass under the bridge. A 2013 engineering study determined that the bridge was unsafe and not viable to be repaired. However in 2014 only baily bridges were added for pedestrian traffic on the east and west sides, while the inner steel plate box girder bridge for vehicular traffic remains in place.

South span

The south span is a concrete overpass built in 1958 after demolition of the old Dufferin Gate to allow for clearance for the Gardiner Expressway below and will be replaced after 2016 along with the north span in 2016.

Deterioration and replacement

After a report from external inspections conducted in 2007 the city decided to replace both spans with a single span:
From June 2013 the bridges have been closed to vehicular traffic. Starting in November 2013, the north bridge superstructure will be replaced by three temporary bridges - two for traffic, and a third for pedestrians. These will open in early 2014. The temporary bridges will be used until 2016, when construction will begin on a new bridge to replace the two current spans.
City is still deciding the type of bridge that will span over the tracks.