The 55-year-old Cherry Street lift bridge over the Keating Channel will soon be demolished as part of Toronto's $1.25 billion eastern waterfront transformation. 

The bridge, which was constructed in 1968, spans the canalized mouth of the Don River where it empties into the Toronto Harbour. 

Every year, thousands of tonnes of sludgy sediment build up in the area where the Don River empties into the Keating Channel, with the lift bridge's main purpose being to allow dredging boats to pass through. 

However, one of the city's biggest infrastructure plans in history — the Port Lands Flood Protection (PLFP) project — is set to transform the existing mouth of the Don River (including the Keating Channel) into a healthier river outlet, meaning a lift bridge will not be necessary. 

Toronto has removed almost 4 million cubic metres of gunk from a polluted waterway https://t.co/OmcnDF6xI7 #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 9, 2023

As part of the project, Cherry Street will shift 50 metres to the west, to align with two new bridges across the Keating Channel and the Polson Slip.

When the new mouth of the Don River is gradually flooded in 2024, the project will finally realize the new urban island with parks, a coastal wetland, and extensive habitats for wildlife promised in renderings. 

The aging bridge has faced a few technical difficulties over the past several years. In 2006, a city inspection revealed that the lift bridge required more than $2 million in repairs. 

In August 2019, the bridge was locked in its lifted position for several weeks before a crane eventually assisted in lowering the bridge back to its horizontal position. 

The Cherry Street lift bridge is the smaller of the two bascule lift bridges on the street, with the other being the Cherry Street Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge, which crosses the Ship Channel to the south. 

According to a report from the Star, the over-half-century-old lift bridge is set to be demolished by the end of 2023.  

The Cherry Street North bridges are two single-span, side-by-side bridges that will replace the Cherry Street lift bridge, with one bridge serving road traffic and the other being used by pedestrians and public transit vehicles.