Roads over the Humber River
The array of traffic lanes at the mouth of the Humber River began with an Aboriginal footpath, formed along the lakeshore thousands of years ago. By 1798, a wider wagon path had been cleared to become the Lake Shore Road - a vital link between new settlements along Lake Ontario.
In the early 1800s, travellers along the Lake Shore Road crossed the Humber River by ferry. A log viaduct was constructed in 1824, then replaced by a swing bridge in the 1840s. With the decline of shipping on the river in the 1850s, the swing bridge was replaced by a fixed bridge. In 1893, an adjacent second bridge allowed electric streetcars also to cross the river.
Automobiles changed the landscape yet again. The vehicular crossing here was widened in 1931, then dramatically altered in the 1950s with the construction of the Gardiner Expressway and The Queensway. As in ancient times, the lakeshore continues to be one of Toronto's most important travel routes.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.