Carrying six lanes of Millwood Road, it was built to connect the then Town of Leaside, including Thorncliffe Park, to the then Township of East York, and was completed on October 29, 1927.

[1] During the 1920s, as the new communities surrounding Toronto grew rapidly, several bridges were constructed to overcome the barrier of the Don Valley.

The town of Leaside, built by Canadian Northern Railway in the late teens and early 1920s, sought to attract investors and homebuyers.

Sod was turned in mid-December and active construction began in January 1927[2] under the direction of bridge designer Frank Barber.

The expanded bridge had guardrail consisting of a concrete barrier topped with a double tubular railing, considerably plainer than the original decorative parapets.