Saturday, November 19, 2005

Derry and Creditview six years on...

Not too long ago, I posted some photos here that I took in May of 1999 at the intersection of Derry Road and Creditview Road in Mississauga. This intersection, about a century and a half old, was in the process of being closed for good at the time, in conjuction with the realignment of Derry Road further north to bypass Meadowvale Village, and because Hwy 407, then under construction, was bisecting Creditview -- a course deemed too inconsequential to warrant a bridge. My posting peaked my own curiosity, and I went back there in October of 2005 to see how things had changed. I was really surprised just how much they had.


New sign at the southwest corner.



Standing on the south side of Derry, looking west to the bend where Old Derry now turns south onto Old Creditview.



Looking east along Old Derry Road towards the Credit River and Meadowvale Village beyond.



Looking east from the north side of Derry Road.



The current intersection of Old Derry Road and Old Creditview Road, looking southwest.



Looking west down the closed portion of Derry Road.



Thanks to the strong wind, the 'sharp left turn' arrow sign was blown down as I stood on the corner, narrowly missing me.





West down Derry.
I drove this way hundreds of times in the 1990s. This view is about a mile from Mississauga Road (7/8 of a mile between concession lines, as I recall). If you compare these shots with the ones from 1999, notice that the signals have been removed from the railroad crossing signs, leaving only the cross to mark the place where no car will ever be at risk again.



Looking south down the tracks.



Looking north down the tracks. The old northbound stretches of Creditview are off to the left in this shot.



Looking east from the tracks to the existing intersection.



Standing on the tracks, looking west down the former course of Derry Road.



The former course of Creditview Road north from Derry, as it appeared in October, 2005.



An even older course for Creditview northbound from Derry.

This was closed before I visited the corner. It's considerably more overgrown than it was in the 1999 shot. I really don't know when they closed this section and built the newer track, a few yards to the left of this shot, but it must have been well over twenty years ago. It's strange that it's only now really beginning to be swallowed up. It was much more evident even six years ago that a road had once been here.




Looking west along the former course of Derry Road.



Looking east down the Derry Road.



Wide-angle view of the one-time north corner of Creditview Road (left) and Derry Road (right), with the railroad tracks that dogslegged Creditview. This view looks northeast.



Photo from a previous post: Looking west along the closed section of Derry Road, towards Mississauga Road in the distance, in May 1999.


...and the same view in October, 2005.



Photo from a previous post: Further westward along the closed section of Derry, May, 1999.


...and the same view, October, 2005.

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