STAGE 1 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE MISSISSAUGA BRT (EAST), CITY OF MISSISSAUGA Submitted to: Ecoplans Limited 2655 North Sheridan Way, Suite 280 Mississauga, Ontario L5K 2P8 Telephone (905) 823-4988 Fax (905) 823-2669 Submitted by: New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 55 Valmont Street, Ancaster, Ontario L9G 4Z4 Telephone (905) 304-6893 Fax (905) 304-6891 Projects # P018-225-2007 Licence # P018 February 2008
PROJECT PERSONNEL Project Director Field Director Report Preparation Graphics Editor Philip Woodley Philip Woodley Philip Woodley Philip Woodley Rebecca Southern ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS New Directions Archaeology Ltd. would like to thank Mike Bricks and Katie Bright, Ecoplans Limited, for their assistance with this project and for providing the project description used in the introduction of this report and the aerial photos used as figures in this report. i
TABLE OF CONTENTS PROJECT PERSONNEL i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i LIST OF FIGURES ii LIST OF PLATES ii INTRODUCTION 1 LOCATION OF THE STUDY AREA 2 BACKGROUND RESEARCH 5 Archaeological 5 Historical 6 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE POTENTIAL 8 A. Known Archaeological Resources: 8 B. Physiographic Features: 8 C. Historic Cultural Features: 9 D. Features Specific to the Development Application or Study Area: 9 DISCUSSION 11 RECOMMENDATIONS 23 REFERENCES 24 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Location of the Mississauga BRT West Subject Corridor. 3 Figure 2: Key plan showing the location of the Mississauga BRT Corridor (not to scale). 4 Figure 3: 1881 map of Toronto Township, Peel County (H. Belden and Company 1881:31) showing the approximate location of the Mississauga BRT West corridor. 7 Figure 4: Plan 1 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor. 13 Figure 5: Plan 2 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor. 14 Figure 6: Plan 3 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor. 15 Figure 7: Plan 4 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor. 16 Figure 8: Plan 5 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor. 17 LIST OF PLATES Plate 1: West end of corridor, location of the Hurontario Street Bus Station. 18 Plate 2: Disturbance east of Hurontario Street. 18 Plate 3: Potentially undisturbed area midway between Hurontario Street and Central Parkway. 18 Plate 4: Disturbance west of Central Parkway. 19 Plate 5: Disturbance within corridor east of Cawthra Road. 19 Plate 6: Undisturbed area at location of proposed Cawthra Station. 19 Plate 7: Potentially undisturbed area south of Fieldgate Drive. 20 Plate 8: Potentially undisturbed area north of Fieldgate Drive. 20 Plate 9: Disturbance south of Eglinton Avenue. 20 Plate 10: Disturbance west of Tahoe Avenue. 21 ii
Plate 11: Undisturbed area west of Satellite Drive. 21 Plate 12:Possibly undisturbed area east of Satellite Drive. 21 Plate 13: Potentially undisturbed area west of Explorer Drive. 22 Plate 14: Potentially undisturbed area west of Commerce Boulevard. 22 Plate 15: Undisturbed area east of Commerce Boulevard including the location of the Renforth Drive Station. 22 iii
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 1 INTRODUCTION This report discusses the rationale and results of the Stage 1 archaeological assessment of the Mississauga BRT (East), which runs from just west of Hurontario Street to the Renforth Drive Station in the City of Misssissauga (Figure 1). The purpose of this assessment was to determine whether there is potential for the recovery of any historic and/or prehistoric archaeological sites within this corridor. The Stage 1 archaeological assessment was conducted for Ecoplans Limited, Mississauga. The Mississauga BRT is the Mississauga segment of GO Transit s Inter-Regional Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) (also known as the Mississauga Transitway) received provincial environmental assessment approval in July 1993. An addendum was subsequently approved in March 2005. In December 2002, GO included the Mississauga Transitway from Ridgeway Drive to Renforth Drive along Highway 403, Eastgate Parkway and Eglinton Avenue corridors as part of the Provincial Inter-Regional Bus Rapid Transit study from Oakville in the west to Pickering in the east. Accordingly, the Mississauga Transitway is no known as the Mississauga Segment of the Provincial Inter-Regional Bus Rapid Transit system (Mississauga BRT). The BRT East runs from City Centre to Hurontario Street including modifications to the existing Mississauga Transit City Centre Termnal to provide a dedicated BRT stop. A dedicated busway will be constructed from Centre View Drive with a full grade separation from Hurontario Street. The second section runs from Hurontario Street to Cawthra Road, including approximately 2.2 km of dedicated busway with full grade separation at Hurontario Street, Central Parkway, Highway 403 ramps and Cawthra Road. One BRT station (Central Parkway Station) is included in this segment. The third section runs from Cawthra Road to Eglinton Avenue East/Creekbank Road including approximately 3.7 km of dedicated busway with full grade sparation at Cawthra Road, Tomken Road, Dixie Road, Eastgate Parkway, Fieldgate Drive, Tahoe Boulevard, and Eglinton Avenue East. Four BRT Stations (Cawthra Station, Tomken Station, Dixie Station and Tahoe Station) are included in this segment with park and ride facilities at Cawthra Station and Dixie Station.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 2 Finally, the Eglinton Avenue East/Creekbank Road to Renforth Station including approximately 3.2 km of dedicated busway with full grade separation at Eglinton Avenue East, Etobicoke Creek, Spectrum Drivd, Staellite Drive, Orbitor Drive, Explorer Drive and Commerce Boulevard. Four BRT Stations (Etobicoke Creek Station, Spectrum Station, Orbitor Station and Renforth Station) are included in this segment. All assessment activities were performed according to the Ontario Heritage Act (R.S.O. 1980; C.O. 18) under an archaeological consulting license (#P018) issued to Philip Woodley of New Directions Archaeology Ltd. The Stage 1 field survey was conducted on November 27, 2007 under excellent conditions. LOCATION OF THE STUDY AREA The study area is located in the City of Mississauga in the Regional Municipality of Peel (Figures 1 and 2). The area to be developed is located south of Highway 403 from just west of Hurontario Street, where it crosses Eastgate Parkway and runs along the north side to Eglinton Avenue East (Figure 1). This linear corridor runs, crosses through a fallow area north of the corridor which includes a hydro corridor and is bounded by various developed/residential areas (Figure 2). The Mississauga BRT (East) corridor is located in the South Slope physiographic region (Chapman and Putnam 1984: 172-174). The South Slope is situated between Lake Ontario and the Oak Ridges Moraine; this physiographic region is higher than the glacial Lake Iroquois plain and extends from the Niagara Escarpment to the Trent River (Chapman and Putnam 1984: 172). The South Slope is primarily a ground moraine with irregular knolls and hollows with Chinguacousy clay loam soil (Chapman and Putnam 1983: 174). This description is in contrast with the study corridor which is fairly flat with little topographical relief.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 3 Figure 1: Location of the Mississauga BRT East Subject Corridor.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 4 Figure 2: Key plan showing the location of the Mississauga BRT Corridor (not to scale).
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 5 BACKGROUND RESEARCH Archaeological A survey of the Ministry of Culture archaeological site registry database in Toronto revealed that there are no registered sites located within the Mississauga BRT (East) corridor. There are, however, 11 registered sites within two kilometres of the corridor (Table 1). Of the sites close to the proposed development area, there are three historic Euro- Canadian sites and the remainder are prehistoric. Of the prehistoric sites for which the age was determined, there is one Late Archaic site and two Late Woodland Iroquoian period village sites. The remaining 5 sites are simply identified as prehistoric because no culturally or temporally diagnostic artifacts were recovered. This is a fairly high frequency of archaeological sites near the study area. Table 1: Registered Archaeological Sites Within Two Kilometres of the Corridor* Borden Site Name Temporal or Cultural Age Type of Site Number Affiliation AjGv-24 Merton Late Woodland A.D. 1200-1650 Village Iroquoian AjGv-25 First Prehistoric Undetermined Isolate AjGv-26 Dark Prehistoric Undetermined Isolated scraper AjGv-34 Walter Hutchinson Euro-Canadian 19 th century Homestead AjGv-36 - (unnamed) Late Archaic Lamoka 2000 B.C. Isolated point AjGv-38 Antrex 1 Late Woodland A.D. 1200-1400 Village Iroquoian AjGv-45 Harbourgrove 2 Prehistoric Undetermined Isolated biface frag. AjGv-58 Mantella Prehistoric Undetermined Lithic scatter AjGv-59 Peterbilt Prehistoric Undetermined Isolated point frag. AjGv-61 - Euro-Canadian 19 th Century Ceramic scatter AkGv-127 Delta Euro-Canadian 19 th to early 20 th century homestead *Information is from the Ministry of Culture Archaeological Site Registry, Toronto.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 6 Historical The subject corridor is located in what was Toronto Township in Peel County, now part of the City of Mississauga. Most of Peel County was settled in approximately 1819 (Walker and Miles 1877: 84), however some areas were settled earlier than this. The Old Survey of Toronto Township was initially settled from 1808 to 1810 with settlers from New Brunswick, the United States and other parts of Upper Canada. Most of the early settlement was along Dundas Street with numerous mills built along the Credit River (Walker and Miles 1877:85-86). An 1877 map of Toronto Township is provided as Figure 3, which is a combination of two maps (Walker 1881: 20-21 and 24-25), indicates some historic buildings along the corridor. The population of this area in 1877 combined with the fact that the study area is located near major roadways, suggests a fairly high probability of locating historic sites along the subject corridor.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 7 Figure 3: 1881 map of Toronto Township, Peel County (H. Belden and Company 1881:31) showing the approximate location of the Mississauga BRT (East) corridor.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 8 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE POTENTIAL The Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation (now the Ministry of Culture) has defined guidelines for determining site potential. These guidelines (MCZCR 1997:12-15) have been defined using the following criteria: A. Known Archaeological Resources: 1) Are there any known archaeological resources on or adjacent to the development application? There are no registered archaeological sites situated on the subject corridor. There are, however, 11 registered sites located within 2 km of the subject corridor. These sites range in age from Paleo-Indian through to Late Woodland villages, with 3 Euro-Canadian historic sites. B. Physiographic Features: 2) Is there a water source on or adjacent to the development property? As shown in Figure 1, there are a few tributaries or streams near the subject corridor that flow into the Credit River. 3) Is the development property situated in an area of elevated topography? No. This corridor is fairly flat with few changes in elevation. 4) Is the development property on well-drained sandy soil? No. The soils of the South Slope physiographic region tend to be fairly heavy clay. The drainage varies depending on location within this physiographic region. 5) Is the development property associated with distinctive or unusual land formations? This refers primarily to waterfalls, rock outcrops, rock faces, caverns and mounds as well as other features. None of these features are found in the study corridor.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 9 C. Historic Cultural Features: 6) Is the development property associated with a particular resource-specific feature that would have attracted past subsistence or extractive uses? No historic resources are identified near the subject corridor. The main subsistence in Peel County during the nineteenth century was farming. This was not restricted to a specific area, but rather would have been throughout the county. 7) Is the development in an area of initial, Non-aboriginal settlement? No. Peel County was populated fairly early in the nineteenth century, with pioneer occupations primarily close to the Dundas Street and other early roadways. This study corridor does not run near any historic roads. 8) Is the development property associated with an early historic transportation route, such as a trail, pass, road, portage route or canal? Most 19 th century travel would have focused on early highways. Dundas Street is indicated on the 19 th century map (Figure 3) and therefore would have been a transportation corridor within Toronto Township, but the study corridor is not located adjacent to this early roadway. 9) Does the development contain a property designated under the Ontario Heritage Act? Not to the best of my knowledge. D. Features Specific to the Development Application or Study Area: 10) Has evidence from documentary sources, local knowledge or Aboriginal oral history, associating the property with historic events, activities or occupations, been brought to the reviewer s attention? No. 11) Has the development property or study area been subjected to extensive, intensive land disturbances? Yes. Portions of this corridor have been heavily impacted by construction. Some sections also have a hydro corridor within or adjacent to the subject corridor. Hydro corridors however tend
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 10 to have little impact. Given this, portions of the suggested corridor may be relatively undisturbed.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 11 DISCUSSION Using the criteria listed above, most of the study corridor has high potential for locating prehistoric archaeological sites. As indicated on Figure 1, the study corridor is located near the Credit River. Unfortunately, most of the smaller streams and tributaries would have been covered or built around, making if difficult to determine where they are located. It is possible that there are nineteenth century buildings located close to the subject corridor. Although Peel County was first settled in the early 1800s, the majority of early settlement was located near Dundas Street. Settlement would have expanded outwards from the major transportation corridors. Given that this corridor is located near this early roadway, there is high potential for locating historic sites along the study corridor (Figure 3). A preliminary field assessment to examine the condition of this corridor was completed on November 27, 2007 as part of this Stage 1 assessment. The results of this examination are provided in Figures 4-8 and some of the areas discussed are identified in Plates 1-15. The bus layover area west of Hurontario Street is in a fallow area (Plate 4); I could not tell if this area was disturbed, therefore it will require Stage 2 assessment. Most of the corridor from Hurontario Street to Central Parkway is disturbed and therefore will not require further assessment. However, there is a wooded section located at about the midpoint between these major roads that appears to be undisturbed, but this area is low potential and therefore will not require Stage 2 assessment (Figure 4). The corridor from Central Pkwy to Cawthra Road is all disturbed (Plate 4) therefore no further assessment will be required. However, the area for the Cawthra Station appears to be undisturbed, therefore this area will require Stage 2 assessment. The corridor from Cawthra Road to Tomken Road is all disturbed and therefore will not require any further assessment. From Tomken Road to Eastgate Parkway to Tahoe Boulevard the corridor runs through a series of fallow areas that all appear to be undisturbed (Figures 5-6). From Tahoe Boulevard to Eglinton Avenue East, the proposed corridor appears to be completely disturbed from recent construction and landscaping activities and therefore will not require Stage 2 assessment. This section of corridor will require Stage 2 assessment. From Creekbank Drive to Spectrum Way, the corridor is completely disturbed and therefore will not require assessment (Figure 7). The
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 12 exception to this statement is the Etobicoke Creek valley, which will require Stage 2 assessment should it be impacted by construction. From Spectrum Way eastward to the Renforth Drive Station, the corridor runs through a narrow strip of fallow and/or grass areas (Figures 7-8). Some of these areas may well be disturbed by the adjacent construction, but this could not be confirmed by a visual inspections. This section of the corridor also crosses numerous roadways (Satellite Drive, Orbitor Drive, Explorer Drive and Commerce Blvd.). Given the apparent undisturbed nature of this section of corridor, a Stage 2 assessment will be required. Given the above-mentioned criteria, it is recommended to the Ministry of Culture that the Mississauga BRT West Study Corridor has high potential for the identification of historic and prehistoric archaeological sites, the areas in this corridor identified in yellow on Figures 4-8 will require a Stage 2 archaeological assessment. Given this, it is recommended to the Ministry of Culture that no construction can occur within this corridor until the Stage 2 assessment has been completed.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 13 Figure 4: Plan 1 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 14 Figure 5: Plan 2 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 15 Figure 6: Plan 3 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 16 Figure 7: Plan 4 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 17 Figure 8: Plan 5 of the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) corridor.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 18 Plate 1: West end of corridor, location of the Hurontario Street Bus Station. Plate 2: Disturbance east of Hurontario Street. Plate 3: Potentially undisturbed area midway between Hurontario Street and Central Parkway.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 19 Plate 4: Disturbance west of Central Parkway. Plate 5: Disturbance within corridor east of Cawthra Road. Plate 6: Undisturbed area at location of proposed Cawthra Station.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 20 Plate 7: Potentially undisturbed area south of Fieldgate Drive. Plate 8: Potentially undisturbed area north of Fieldgate Drive. Plate 9: Disturbance south of Eglinton Avenue.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 21 Plate 10: Disturbance west of Tahoe Avenue. Plate 11: Undisturbed area west of Satellite Drive. Plate 12: Possibly undisturbed area east of Satellite Drive.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 22 P late 13: Potentially undisturbed area west of Explorer Drive. Plate 14: Potentially undisturbed area west of Commerce Boulevard. Plate 15: Undisturbed area east of Commerce Boulevard including the location of the Renforth Drive Station.
Stage 1 Assessment of Mississauga BRT (East), City of Mississauga, 23 RECOMMENDATIONS On the basis of the above information, the following recommendations can be made: 1. It is recommended to the Ministry of Culture that portions of the lands within the proposed Mississauga BRT (East) study corridor will require Stage 2 assessment before any construction can occur. These areas are identified in Figures 3-8. 2. The other portions of the corridor were identified as disturbed based upon a visual inspection. No further work will be required in these areas and construction can proceed as planned. 3. Should deeply buried archaeological remains be found on the property during construction activities, Ministry of Culture should be notified immediately. 4. In the event that human remains are encountered during construction, the proponent should immediately contact both Ministry of Culture(416) 314-7452, and the Registrar of the Cemeteries Branch of the Ministry of Government Services (416) 326-8404. The local police department should also be notified.
New Directions Archaeology Ltd. 24 REFERENCES Chapman, L.J. and D.F. Putnam 1984 The Physiography of Southern Ontario, Third Edition. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Geological Survey, Special Volume 2. MCZCR (Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation) 1977 Conserving A Future For Our Past: Archaeology, Land Use Planning and Development in Ontario. Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, Cultural Programs Branch, Archaeology and Heritage Planning Unit. Walker and Miles 1877 Historical Atlas of Peel County. Published by Walker and Miles, Toronto. 2000 edition published by Wilson s Publishing Company Ltd., Campbellford, Ontario.