Brick and cobblestone streets in Toronto

[CDL.TO]

Please forgive me as I hijack the thread and go off on a nitpicky little tangent. It's not that big of a deal, but this has bugged me for a while.

This is a cobblestone street:

This is a cobblestone street:

A cobble is a smooth naturally occurring stone, taken from a riverbed, that is of the approximate size as in the cobblestone pictures above. It's also used as a geological term for stones of that size.

This is not a cobblestone street:

When a stone is cut (generally into a square or rectangle) for paving, it's referred to as a sett, a Belgian block, or, more generally, a paving stone.

Cobblestone streets were much cheaper to build, as you didn't need to cut the stone, you just had to gather some small stones from the local river. The photos should make the disadvantages of this method quite obvious.

That said, the term "cobblestones" is used incorrectly so often that it has pretty much become acceptable. Even the Wikipedia explanation of why cut stones aren't cobblestones is immediately followed by false examples of "cobblestones".

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Point taken.
Puerta Vallarta immediately comes to mind for it's beautiful cobblestone streets in the old town. It's so nice to see when walking around, though I can tell you first hand that I lost my footing more than once when crossing the street after a few drinks! Another disadvantage to cobblestone streets here is riding the 1960's "transit buses" (old, decommissioned American school buses) that lack any type of suspension, but for 15 cents I guess one shouldn't complain.

 

[junctionist]

I appreciate the explanation, CDL.TO. I assumed cobblestone to mean cut granite blocks. That's also a common perception, it seems. I'll be editing the list to reflect these new facts.

Visited the Toronto Islands on friday and couldn't help noticing Nottawa Street and other surrounding paths had bricks. Looked great, and not due to the fact they are pedestrian streets should they not be considered streets at all. Obviously street view would be a problem.

I took a couple of pictures. Will post them here later this week.

I look forward to seeing those photos. I've been thinking about those residential streets on the islands paved with modern pavers, but without street view I can't remember which ones have pavers, and I'm not so inclined to find out right now because it's so cold. I agree, they belong on the list. Being the only transportation corridors for the people living in that neighbourhood on the Islands, they're true streets.

 

[DSC]

At the moment the City is laying a new watrmain and sewer on Eastern Avenue and Front Street East. They are now working just east of Parliament and you can see a layer of brick about a foot below the asphalt.

 

[RC8]

Here we go:

One of the streets pictured is Nottawa and the other one is the one that leads to the bridge to get into algonquin island. Hope that helps!

 

[junctionist]

Thanks, RC8. That's very helpful because I make an effort to describe the paving on the list. I'll be adding those Islands streets soon.

 

[Joe]

Elmsthorpe Ave.

You can thank my wife for remembering Elmsthorpe Ave. to add to your map..

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...=iRiNYtv9nxdTjVF_5j3ZBw&cbp=12,161.26,,0,3.88

 

[Towered]

Driving on Hanna (?) street in Liberty Village yesterday, I saw a few spots where chunks of asphalt were missing, with glorious red bricks underneath.

 

[junctionist]

You can thank my wife for remembering Elmsthorpe Ave. to add to your map..

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...=iRiNYtv9nxdTjVF_5j3ZBw&cbp=12,161.26,,0,3.88

That's a great discovery! I am thankful to your wife. It looks like another interesting street. I'll be adding it soon. It's impressive how many brick streets are in the Forest Hill area.

Driving on Hanna (?) street in Liberty Village yesterday, I saw a few spots where chunks of asphalt were missing, with glorious red bricks underneath.

The city should definitely look at restoring some of its brick streets. I think they have more of a visual effect in denser areas.

 

[whatever]

I just noticed today that Homewood Ave., north of Wellesley is paved with modern pavers for almost all of its length. At least, they look like modern pavers. I don't think it's patterned concrete, but I could be wrong

Edit: My mistake, it's just the portion of Homewood that abuts the parkette. http://maps.google.com/maps?client=...=4TwySczgd4NONoLV4AFh-g&cbp=12,345.67,,0,22.5

 

[urbandreamer]

Peeking through under the asphalt, Mountview as it nears Glenlake is red brick--wonder if the entire street was red brick? There's a street in the Riverview Gardens/Baby Point area that is still red brick.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Until rather recently, Toronto had cobblestones laid between the streetcar tracks.

Nowadays along the streetcar right-of-ways there would be concrete with rubble groves laid in. However, along the shared roadways, it would remain as smooth concrete.

The smooth concrete between the streetcar tracks has the disadvantage of encouraging car traffic to use the tracks for travel (causing delays for the streetcars) instead of encouraging them to shift to the right.

 

[jn_12]

Those stones can still be found on the Harbourfront/Spadina streetcar lines. For example at the stop on the East side of Queens Quay at Spadina.

 

[pman]

The potholes on Macpherson, Glen north of Elm and Nesbitt are so bad, Toronto would appear to be moving to a dirt-gravel street paving model. My Australian father in law can't get over how badly paved Toronto streets are. I know we have freeze-thaw cycles and all, but other northern cities seem to be able to pave streets properly. Glen is so bad that even cars hug the centre line to avoid the crap spot repairs of utility cuts that date back at least a decade, and it's horrible for cyclists.

 

[DSC]

For lovers of brick streets perhaps we should press the City to buy this Dutch machine!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-work.html?ICO=most_read_module#axzz2KWshUEBv