Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection

This flood protection landform protects land immediately north of the railway corridor on the east side of the Don River, and parts of South Riverdale south and east of the rail corridor.

Flood protecting the eastern waterfront has been a multi-stage process. The first phase was the flood protection landform that we built as part of Corktown Common. That project protected 210 hectares of land to the west of the Don River, in the West Don Lands precinct. The Port Lands Flood Protection (PLFP) project is the next phase, protecting a large area south and east of the Don River, protecting existing neighbourhoods and unlocking development of new neighbourhoods in the Port Lands.

The Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection (BEFP) project will protect the final area still at risk of flooding after PLFP’s completion. BEFP will address flood vulnerability for urban land east of the Don River, between Eastern Avenue and rail corridor, the existing underpass at Eastern Avenue, and the proposed underpass at Broadview Avenue. It allows for the future Broadview Avenue extension and is the final piece to enable the rezoning of the East Harbour Precinct for mixed use development.

Quick Facts

BEFP Environmental Assessment Study Boundaries:

The area bound by the Don River to the west, the Metrolinx Rail embankment to the south, Eastern Avenue to the North, and Broadview Avenue to the east.

Design Team:

Stantec

Construction Manager:

PCL Construction

Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Environmental Assessment

The Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Project is guided by the Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (BEFP EA). The EA commenced in September 2018 and was adopted by Toronto City Council in April 2021. A notice of completion for the EA was filed in April 2021. Learn more about the EA on the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s website.

The goals of the Environmental Assessment were to:

Address flood risk up to and including the Regulatory Flood Event to the area north of the railway corridor, east of the Don River;
Not increase flood risk elsewhere; and
Integrate with, to the extent possible, current and future infrastructure and development initiatives for the area.

What are we building

The preferred design from the Environmental Assessment (EA) is to build a flood protection landform (FPL) on the east side of the Don River, between the Metrolinx Rail Embankment and Eastern Avenue. As part of this construction, there will be significant utility relocations and reconstruction in this area, including city storm and sanitary sewers that run along Sunlight Park Rd. Buildings related to one business within the project footprint will be removed to allow for construction of the FPL and other necessary local infrastructure. The removal also enables future projects by others such as the Broadview Avenue Extension, East Harbour Transit Hub & Development and the Ontario Line.

This work also includes removal of the decommissioned Old Eastern Avenue Bridge. A recent structural assessment study determined that the bridge is in poor condition with a significantly weakened structure that puts it at risk of failing. Further, removing the bridge is required to achieve flood protection. In a flood, the bridge would impede the flow of water, causing it to build up and flood more deeply, or it would collapse, which could make the flooding significantly worse and potentially damage downstream infrastructure and the new PLFP river valley.

Construction

The first phase of construction is to remove the open truss, Old Eastern Avenue Bridge. There is no impact to travel, as the bridge is not in use.

The bridge is listed by the city of Toronto but did not meet the criteria for heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. The project team is working with City of Toronto Heritage Planning on a commemoration plan.