Vale of Avoca (bridge)

Vale of Avoca
Vale of Avoca nears completion, November 3, 1924
Coordinates43°41′21″N 79°23′20″W / 43.689160°N 79.388882°W / 43.689160; -79.388882
Carries5 lanes of St. Clair Avenue
(originally 4 lanes with 2 streetcar tracks)
CrossesVale of Avoca (ravine)
LocaleToronto, Ontario, Canada
Other name(s)St. Clair Viaduct
Maintained byToronto Transportation
Characteristics
DesignTruss arch bridge
Total length155.1 m (509 ft)
Width19.7 m (65 ft)
Clearance above27 m (89 ft)
Clearance belowYellow Creek
History
Opened1924 (1924)
Statistics
Daily trafficSt. Clair Avenue East
TollNo
Location
Map

Vale of Avoca is the name of a large viaduct which carries St. Clair Avenue East over a ravine of the same name, in Toronto, Canada. Located just east of Yonge Street, the current triple arch bridge, also known as the St. Clair Viaduct, was built to connect the well-established community of Deer Park with the developing community of Moore Park in the 1920s. The bridge replaced an older structure and straightened the alignment of St. Clair Avenue in the process.

A small channelized tributary of the Don River, known as Yellow Creek, weaves beneath the central span. Much of David A. Balfour Park (named for the Toronto city councillor) consists of a nature trail that winds through the Vale of Avoca Ravine; the park also includes a grassy recreational area near an inlet into which Yellow Creek flows.

The bridge and the ravine it crosses is named after a poem by Thomas Moore.