Anyone walking to the Brick Works via the Chorley Park Switchback will be aware of the significant construction activities underway in the Mud Creek ravine, along with trail closures arising from the access arrangements for this work. This is the Mud Creek Inlet Restoration Project.
This work will restore the inlet from Mud Creek into the Brick Works wetlands complex, which was the site of the embankment failure in the severe storm that took place in July 2024, leading to extensive flooding of the Brick Works.
The current work will install an upgraded inlet to replace the emergency repair done in 2024, and will also include a vegetated spillway for elevated water flows, a restored slope, and a turtle nesting habitat using sediment from the flood event. The project is targeted for completion in February 2026, with some further enhancements to follow project completion. Another phase of the project will assess and possibly upgrade downstream culverts to ensure there is adequate water flow. The phase of the project currently underway has a budget of around $1.5 million.
Ensuring that Toronto’s ravines are robust and resilient in the face of increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events will be a pressing challenge for the city in the decades to come. Recent channel failures in both Mud Creek and Yellow Creek clearly illustrate the difficulty of fully anticipating the stresses arising from storm flows on our ravine systems.
For more information including project updates and timeline, please refer to the City’s Mud Creek Project Website.