A Black and white photo from 1953 of the Keele St. subway that allows the CPR railway to travel over Keele Street just north of Vine Street and a little further north of Dundas street west. In June of 1890 West Toronto Junction Board of Works met and awarded tender, that of Mr. B. Gibson, contractor, who submitted the lowest tender at $54,772 for the substructure, and the Dominion: Bridge Company, $10,250 for the superstructure.
Today the word subway is commonly used to Describe underground transit networks using urban cities to transport people such as the Bloor – Danforth Subway in Toronto, However the word subway has a much longer use describing areas of a roadway that is lowered to allow the rail train to pass under roadways.
The second image is a colour image of the subway in 2022. There now is a condominium to the east and a self storage facility to the west.
original reporting by The Globe (1844-1936); Jun 4, 1890; The Globe and Mail
West Toronto Junction
The Board of Works met Monday night and
opened the tenders for the construction of the
Keele street subway. There were eight in all
five for the excavation and masonry, include-
ing the draining, and three for the superstructure.
The board recommended the acceptance
of the lowest tender, that of Mr. B. Gibson,
who was contractor for the King street sub-
way, at $54,772 for the substructure, and that
of the Dominion: Bridge Company of, Montreal.
$10,250 for the superstructure. The sureties of
The former are Messrs. John Scully
and Wm. Ryan, and the latter Messrs.’,
- Fairman and A. Ewen, of Montreal. Marked
Cheques for 5 per cent. Of the contract price are
Company each tender. The other tenders for
the excavating and masonry were $63,504 22,
$72,876 20, $73,333 30, $76,311, and for the bridge
work $10,304, $10,493 19. The names of parties
other than the one recommended are unknown
except to the clerk and engineer. Even the
members of the board were uninformed in the
matter. The Council meet this afternoon,
when, it is expected, the matter will be timely
settled. The new road machine has arrived
and commenced operations yesterday morning
Western avenue.
