Design

In Toronto, a Likable Space Arrives Underneath a Loathed Expressway

The Bentway only opened last January but hasn’t had trouble drawing people to a previously overlooked spot beneath the Gardiner.
The land around the Gardiner remained mostly industrial until a major residential boom in the 2000s. Upwards of 77,000 people now live within walking distance of the Bentway, most of them in high-rise condominiums.Chris Bateman

In Toronto's west end, next to historic Fort York, a few hardy ice skaters glide and crunch around a figure-8 trail. A sharp wind blows off Lake Ontario making the air feel like 5°F, but that doesn't discourage them from making gentle circuits of the brand new track.

Just a few months ago, the Bentway was a construction zone. Two years ago it was still a scrubby patch of land under Toronto's Gardiner Expressway, accessible but never used.