The Spadina Expressway was a Metro Toronto highway planned in the 1950s to run south from Highway 401 toward downtown. Residents and activists, including Jane Jacobs, organized against it in 1969. On June 3, 1971, Premier William Davis announced that the province would stop supporting it. Only the northern part was finished, and it is now William R. Allen Road, with the Spadina subway line in its median.
A highway planned in the 1950s
The Spadina Expressway grew out of postwar plans for a network of highways across Toronto. A 1943 planning board plan had already called for superhighways inside a nine-mile radius, according to the Wikipedia article on Allen Road. After Metropolitan Toronto was formed in 1953, the expressway was first conceived that December. By 1959 it was part of Metro’s official transportation plan. The regional government itself is explained in our Metropolitan Toronto article.
The road was meant to bring suburban drivers from Highway 401 into the city. A related project, the lakeshore highway, is told in the Gardiner Expressway article.
Approval and early construction
Metro Council approved the first section, from Lawrence Avenue to Highway 401, on December 12, 1961, by 13 votes to 8. It approved the whole project in March 1962, by 14 to 8. The Ontario Municipal Board upheld the plan in 1963, and construction began.
An interim roadway from Lawrence Avenue north to Yorkdale Road opened on February 25, 1964, when the Yorkdale shopping centre opened. The section north of Lawrence to Transit Road opened on December 15, 1966, according to Wikipedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia says construction reached Lawrence Avenue in 1966, so the details of the early stages differ between sources. The built road lies mostly in what was then North York.
Opposition builds, 1969 to 1971
The road was to continue south through older neighbourhoods toward downtown. Residents of districts such as the Annex feared the loss of houses and streets. A coalition called Stop Spadina Save Our City Coordinating Committee formed in 1969, led by a University of Toronto professor. Marches took place on December 8, 1969, and March 18, 1970, according to TVO’s photo captions. The Canadian Encyclopedia says residents used the slogan “Stop Spadina!”
Jane Jacobs was among the best-known opponents. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1916, she wrote The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961. She moved to Toronto with her family in 1968 and, in the early 1970s, helped lead the Stop Spadina campaign. Her life here is in Jane Jacobs in Toronto. Metro halted construction in 1969 and reviewed the project.
The Ontario Municipal Board and the cancellation
Hearings before the Ontario Municipal Board began on January 4, 1971. In February the board voted two to one to complete the expressway, with its chair, J. A. Kennedy, dissenting. Opponents had lost the hearing. Then politics changed. William Davis became Premier of Ontario in March 1971, and his cabinet was divided.
On June 3, 1971, Davis told the legislature that the province would no longer support the expressway. He said that if the goal was to move people rather than cars, this was a good place to stop. TVO reports that the statement was written by Dalton Camp and that Davis said the streets belong to the people. Late in June the province introduced laws promising more transit funding and allowing more street closures and pedestrian malls.
In the fall 1971 provincial election, Davis’s Progressive Conservatives still won 17 of Metro’s 28 seats, according to TVO.
The ditch and Allen Road
After the cancellation, the stretch between Lawrence and Eglinton avenues stood unpaved for years. It was nicknamed the Spadina ditch. An October 1971 proposal called Project Spadina suggested filling it with pyramid-shaped buildings containing 4,000 apartments, commercial space and commuter parking. It was not built.
The Lawrence-to-Eglinton section was paved, and it opened to traffic on September 8, 1976. Today the road is William R. Allen Road, named for Metro’s chairman, and runs about 7.3 kilometres from Eglinton Avenue West to Kennard Avenue, where it becomes Dufferin Street. It is an expressway from Eglinton to Transit Road and a major arterial beyond that. Bicycles and pedestrians are not permitted south of Transit Road.
The Spadina subway and the blocked extension
The route for a subway on the same corridor was approved in January 1973. The Spadina subway opened to Wilson station in January 1978, and some sources give January 27 and others January 28. The line runs in the median of Allen Road from Eglinton to north of Wilson Avenue. It later formed part of Line 1, and its extension to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre was completed in December 2017. The wider subway story is in the history of the Toronto subway.
On February 7, 1985, Davis’s last day as premier, a narrow strip of land at the south end was put under city control to block any southward extension. TVO says the city leased a three-foot strip for 99 years for one dollar, while other accounts say it was transferred. The site is now Ben Nobleman Park. In 1996, Metro voted to sell the 112 properties it had expropriated south of Eglinton.
Why the cancellation still matters
The Canadian Encyclopedia says Spadina’s defeat cooled enthusiasm for Metro’s wider expressway network and helped feed a reform movement that dominated city hall. The fight over Allen Road did not end. A mayoral candidate proposed a tunnel to the Gardiner in 2010, and the city completed a study of options for Allen Road in September 2014. The streetcar decisions of the same years are described in the history of Toronto streetcars.
The sequence is easy to summarize. Metro approved the road in 1961 and 1962. Construction began in 1963. Opposition formed in 1969. The Ontario Municipal Board approved completion in February 1971, and the premier cancelled the project in June. The built section opened to Eglinton Avenue in 1976, and the subway followed in 1978. Readers who want the long history of the lines that replaced the road can start with TTC history: 1921 and the subway era.
Frequently asked questions
When was the Spadina Expressway cancelled?
Premier William Davis announced on June 3, 1971, that the province would withdraw its support, which ended the project south of the built section.
Who opposed the Spadina Expressway?
A coalition of residents, professors and activists formed in 1969 as Stop Spadina Save Our City. Jane Jacobs, who moved to Toronto in 1968, was among the best-known members.
What happened to the part that was already built?
It became William R. Allen Road. The section to Eglinton Avenue opened on September 8, 1976, and the Spadina subway was built in its median.
When did the Spadina subway open?
In January 1978, to Wilson station. Sources give January 27 or January 28.
Why is it called Allen Road?
It is named for William R. Allen, chairman of Metropolitan Toronto. The road is formally William R. Allen Road.
Sources
- TVO, “The streets belong to the people: why a premier killed the Spadina Expressway” (accessed October 2026)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Toronto Feature: Spadina Expressway” (published 2013, last edited 2015)
- Wikipedia, “Allen Road” (accessed October 2026; used for the planning and construction chronology, hedged in the text)
- The Toronto School, biography of Jane Jacobs (accessed October 2026)
- Wikipedia, “History of the Toronto Transit Commission” (accessed October 2026; used for the Vaughan extension)
Related reading
- Jane Jacobs in Toronto
- Gardiner Expressway history
- Metropolitan Toronto, 1954
- History of the Annex
- North York history
- History of the Toronto subway
Last verified: November 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, November 1). The Cancelled Spadina Expressway: How Toronto Stopped a Highway. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/spadina-expressway-cancelled
MLA: “The Cancelled Spadina Expressway: How Toronto Stopped a Highway.” History of Toronto, 1 Nov 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/spadina-expressway-cancelled. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “The Cancelled Spadina Expressway: How Toronto Stopped a Highway.” Last modified November 1, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/spadina-expressway-cancelled.
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