A horseshoe motif powers the solution for the Dovercourt underpass. Evoking the Horseshoe Falls, whose waters supply Ontario poer, and recalling Sir Henry Pellatt's Casa Loma, which overlooks the corridor and testifies to Toronto's hydro history, the horseshoe forms a practical esthetic solution to the underpass. A horseshoe-shaped berm replaces the retaining wall and straddles the overpas forming a base for rerouted bicycle/pedestrian traffic. Existing vegetation is retained wherever possible. Low-growing vegetation (e.g. creeping juniper) stabilizes slopes. Raised Themed pavers replicate the horseshoe motif at intersections on both sides of the underpass, and slow oncoming cars to the possibility of pedestrians who stick to street level.
Beneath the overpass, hydro-themed tile murals, designed by Toronto artists in a city competition, cover the underpas walls. Murals extend southward, incorporating existing horizontal lines into a graphic pulse in beige and red. Sepcial lighting highlights the murals at night and provides safety. Signage throughout the Greenline and the underpass display the horseshoe logo (alternatively a hydr tower logo). The Geary Parkette incorporates the logo into concentric shorshoes around a hydro tower fountain in th splash park. Three-meter metal horseshoe sculptures signa entry, underpass, and intersection "rooms".
(Competitor's text)
