120-425: The following is a list of the north–south expressways and arterial thoroughfares in the city of Toronto , Ontario, Canada. The city is organized in a grid pattern dating back to the plan laid out by Augustus Jones between 1793 and 1797. Most streets are aligned in the north–south or east–west direction, based on the shoreline of Lake Ontario . In other words, major north–south roads are generally perpendicular to
240-649: A dual highway ) in 1932 between Cologne and Bonn . It then rapidly constructed the first nationwide system of such roads. The first North American freeways (known as parkways) opened in the New York City area in the 1920s. Britain, heavily influenced by the railways, did not build its first motorway , the Preston By-pass ( M6 ), until 1958. Most technologically advanced nations feature an extensive network of freeways or motorways to provide high-capacity urban travel, or high-speed rural travel, or both. Many have
360-466: A median separates the opposite directions of traffic. This strip may be as simple as a grassy area, or may include a crash barrier such as a " Jersey barrier " or an "Ontario Tall Wall" to prevent head-on collisions . On some freeways, the two carriageways are built on different alignments; this may be done to make use of available corridors in a mountainous area or to provide narrower corridors through dense urban areas . Control of access relates to
480-557: A class of highways with somewhat less isolation from other traffic. In countries following the Vienna convention , the motorway qualification implies that walking and parking are forbidden. A fully controlled-access highway provides an unhindered flow of traffic, with no traffic signals , intersections or property access . They are free of any at-grade crossings with other roads, railways, or pedestrian paths, which are instead carried by overpasses and underpasses . Entrances and exits to
600-694: A cloverleaf and trumpet interchange when it opened in 1937, and until the Second World War , boasted the longest illuminated stretch of roadway built. A decade later, the first section of Highway 401 was opened, based on earlier designs. It has since gone on to become the busiest highway in the world. The word freeway was first used in February 1930 by Edward M. Bassett . Bassett argued that roads should be classified into three basic types: highways, parkways , and freeways. In Bassett's zoning and property law -based system, abutting property owners have
720-535: A dead end west of Highway 27 (now Highway 427 ), but was extended west in the early 1960s with the development of the Markland Wood neighbourhood. The Mississauga portion was constructed beginning in the mid-1960s, although the street was not bridged over the Etobicoke Creek (the present Mississauga/Toronto boundary) until 1971. The idea of installing bicycle lanes on Bloor had been debated since at least
840-620: A freeway, specialized pedestrian footbridges or tunnels may also be provided. These structures enable pedestrians and cyclists to cross the freeway at that point without a detour to the nearest road crossing. Access to freeways is typically provided only at grade-separated interchanges , though lower-standard right-in/right-out (left-in/left-out in countries that drive on the left) access can be used for direct connections to side roads. In many cases, sophisticated interchanges allow for smooth, uninterrupted transitions between intersecting freeways and busy arterial roads . However, sometimes it
960-541: A larger analysis of Highway 401 through Scarborough. Broadview Avenue , known as the Mill Road or Don Mills Road (south of Queen Street to Ashbridge's Bay marsh was Scadding Street ) until 1884, was constructed in 1798 by Timothy Skinner, owner of several mills in Todmorden . The name is a reference to the broad view from the crest overlooking Riverdale Park . When the section south of Queen Street became Broadview Avenue,
1080-434: A larger number of guide signs than other roads, and the signs themselves are physically larger. Guide signs are often mounted on overpasses or overhead gantries so that drivers can see where each lane goes. Exit numbers are commonly derived from the exit's distance in miles or kilometers from the start of the freeway. In some areas, there are public rest areas or service areas on freeways, as well as emergency phones on
1200-499: A legal status which limits the types of vehicles that can use a highway, as well as a road design that limits the points at which they can access it. Major arterial roads will often have partial access control , meaning that side roads will intersect the main road at grade, instead of using interchanges, but driveways may not connect directly to the main road, and drivers must use intersecting roads to access adjacent land. At arterial junctions with relatively quiet side roads, traffic
1320-518: A milepost system but does not use milepost markers. In Europe and some other countries, motorways typically have similar characteristics such as: Two-lane freeways , often undivided, are sometimes built when traffic volumes are low or right-of-way is limited; they may be designed for easy conversion to one side of a four-lane freeway. (For example, most of the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway in eastern Kentucky
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#17330848849541440-447: A motorway is understood as a public road with dual carriageways and at least two lanes each way. All entrances and exits are signposted and all interchanges are grade separated. Central barrier or median present throughout the road. No crossing is permitted, while stopping is permitted only in an emergency. Restricted access to motor vehicles, prohibited to pedestrians, animals, pedal cycles, mopeds, agricultural vehicles. The minimum speed
1560-772: A national-level or even international-level (e.g. European E route ) system of route numbering . There are several international standards that give some definitions of words such as motorways, but there is no formal definition of the English language words such as freeway , motorway , and expressway , or of the equivalent words in other languages such as autoroute , Autobahn , autostrada , autocesta, autoput , that are accepted worldwide—in most cases these words are defined by local statute or design standards or regional international treaties. Descriptions that are widely used include: One green or blue symbol (like [REDACTED] ) appears at motorway entry in countries that follow
1680-529: A new name, they invited Smith's wife, Elizabeth, into the meeting and asked her to rename the village. She selected Islington , after her birthplace near London , England. Islington Avenue begins at Lake Shore Boulevard West in New Toronto , and progresses north to Steeles Avenue West, where it crosses into Vaughan in York Region as York Regional Road 17 and prior to 1998 as York Regional Road 7 . The road
1800-578: A new stone church. This building burnt shortly after becoming a cathedral. A new cathedral was constructed, only to burn down in the Great Fire of 1849 . John Strachan , first Anglican Bishop of Toronto after 1839, rebuilt the present cathedral in 1853 (the spire was not completed until 1874) in a Gothic Revival style. The St. James Cathedral was the tallest structure in Toronto until the Royal York Hotel
1920-589: A number of patterns. The actual pattern is determined by a number of factors including local topology, traffic density, land cost, building costs, type of road, etc. In some jurisdictions feeder/distributor lanes are common, especially for cloverleaf interchanges ; in others, such as the United Kingdom, where the roundabout interchange is common, feeder/distributor lanes are seldom seen. Motorways in Europe typically differ between exits and junctions. An exit leads out of
2040-499: A parcel of land to start their own utopia. Although the request was not granted, the road along which they sought to establish their society came to be known as Bellamy Road. The CN grade separation on Eglinton Avenue, built in the early 1960s, split Bellamy Road into two unconnected sections. Consequently, the township of Scarborough renamed the sections as North and South on May 29, 1964. Bellamy Road South begins at Kingston Road and proceeds north to just short of Eglinton Avenue. It
2160-594: A park and where intersecting streets crossed over bridges. The Southern State Parkway opened in 1927, while the Long Island Motor Parkway was closed in 1937 and replaced by the Northern State Parkway (opened 1931) and the contiguous Grand Central Parkway (opened 1936). In Germany, construction of the Bonn-Cologne Autobahn began in 1929 and was opened in 1932 by Konrad Adenauer , then
2280-457: A private venture, was the world's first limited-access roadway. It included many modern features, including banked turns , guard rails and reinforced concrete tarmac . Traffic could turn left between the parkway and connectors, crossing oncoming traffic, so it was not a controlled-access highway (or "freeway" as later defined by the federal government's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices ). Modern controlled-access highways originated in
2400-609: A reduction in deaths in a range from 20% to 50% on those sections. Speed, in Europe, is considered to be one of the main contributory factors to collisions. Some countries, such as France and Switzerland, have achieved a death reduction by a better monitoring of speed. Tools used for monitoring speed might be an increase in traffic density; improved speed enforcement and stricter regulation leading to driver license withdrawal; safety cameras; penalty point; and higher fines. Some other countries use automatic time-over-distance cameras (also known as section controls ) to manage speed. Fatigue
2520-456: A residential street to Denison Street, then from Denison Street to Highway 407 , it cuts through commercial business parks. In 2011, the road was extended past Highway 407 to north of Enterprise Boulevard to serve as the main street of the new Downtown Markham , a planned new central downtown core to replace that city's historic, but now nodal, Markham Village . A bridge crossing the Rouge River
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#17330848849542640-538: A separate roadway or altogether eliminates it. In some parts of the world, notably parts of the US , frontage roads form an integral part of the freeway system. These parallel surface roads provide a transition between high-speed "through" traffic and local traffic. Frequent slip-ramps provide access between the freeway and the frontage road, which in turn provides direct access to local roads and businesses. Except on some two-lane freeways (and very rarely on wider freeways),
2760-510: A similar system of express and local lanes for a maximum width of 21 lanes on a 2-mile (3.2 km) segment between Interstate 805 and California State Route 56 . In Mississauga , Ontario, Highway 401 uses collector-express lanes for a total of 18 lanes through its intersection with Highway 403 / Highway 410 and Highway 427 . These wide freeways may use separate collector and express lanes to separate through traffic from local traffic, or special high-occupancy vehicle lanes , either as
2880-411: A special restriction on the innermost lane or a separate roadway, to encourage carpooling . These HOV lanes , or roadways open to all traffic, can be reversible lanes , providing more capacity in the direction of heavy traffic, and reversing direction before traffic switches. Sometimes a collector/distributor road , a shorter version of a local lane, shifts weaving between closely spaced interchanges to
3000-572: A year's trial period. The lanes have since been extended west into Etobicoke. Bloor street begins at the eastern edge of the Prince Edward Viaduct , which crosses the deep and wide valley of the Don River . The street continues through to the Rosedale Ravine, marking the southern border of the affluent community of Rosedale . West of Parliament Street, the street passes just to the north of
3120-476: Is Brimley Forest, a small patch of unaltered land. North of Steeles Avenue, Brimley Road weaves through the residential areas of the Milliken community of Markham, then ends at 14th Avenue and becomes Beckenridge Drive, which is a residential road. The section south of Sheppard Avenue was once interrupted at Highway 401 but was a through road prior to the mid-1950s. An $ 11 million overpass and partial interchange of
3240-574: Is a southern continuation of St. George Street, located a few metres east of it. It passes by the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Italian Consulate in Chinatown . Birchmount Road began as a concession line laid out by the surveyors of Upper Canada . For a long time, it remained a rural and little-used route. In the 1920s, it was little more than a dirt path. The southern part of Birchmount Road
3360-477: Is actually a series of highway ramps: Centennial Road , despite travelling through an area that was developed during Canada's centennial, takes its name from the church at its intersection with Kingston Road. The church was named Centennial in honour of the 100th anniversary of the confederation of Canada. Many of the streets along or near Centennial Road are named after the Fathers of Confederation . Christie Street
3480-456: Is an important shopping district. In downtown, especially around the intersection with Bay Street , Bloor is one of the most exclusive stretches of real estate in Canada. Rents on the upscale Bloor Street have doubled in 4 years, ranking as the 22nd most expensive retail location in the world in 2006, up two spots from 2005. Nationally, Vancouver's upscale Robson Street tied with Bloor Street West as
3600-517: Is considered as a risk factor more specific to monotonous roads such as motorways, although such data are not monitored/recorded in many countries. According to Vinci Autoroutes , one third of accidents in French motorways are due to sleepy driving. Bloor Street Bloor Street is an east–west arterial road in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct , which spans
3720-728: Is controlled mainly by two-way stop signs which do not impose significant interruptions on traffic using the main highway. Roundabouts are often used at busier intersections in Europe because they help minimize interruptions in flow, while traffic signals that create greater interference with traffic are still preferred in North America. There may be occasional interchanges with other major arterial roads. Examples include US 23 between SR 15 's eastern terminus and Delaware, Ohio , along with SR 15 between its eastern terminus and I-75 , US 30 , SR 29 / US 33 , and US 35 in western and central Ohio. This type of road
List of north–south roads in Toronto - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-703: Is entirely a minor residential street. Bellamy Road North resumes opposite the southern section, just north of the CN tracks and Eglinton GO Station of the Lakeshore East Line . The road becomes Corporate Drive at Progress Avenue, proceeding towards the Scarborough Town Centre . Most of the northern section is residential, though the section between Ellesmere Road and Progress Avenue consists solely of multi-unit warehousing, many of which have been converted into places of worship for various faiths. Beverley Street
3960-465: Is known for its daily traffic jams; some sections carry an average of 100,000 vehicles a day. Planned as part of a larger expressway network within Toronto, it was one of the few expressways built before the public opposition that cancelled many of the others . King's Highway 404 is a provincially maintained extension to the Don Valley Parkway, north of the junction with Highway 401. Highway 404
4080-416: Is mostly suburban in nature, passing through largely residential sections of Etobicoke . Jameson Avenue is named for Robert Sympson Jameson , Attorney General for Upper Canada in the late 1830s. Jameson bought land south of Queen Street between the second and third concession sideroads (Dufferin and Parkside today) in the late 1840s. Jameson Avenue was built through his property when it was subdivided by
4200-452: Is named after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst , who was British Secretary of War during the reign of George IV. Henry's contributions to Toronto include organizing the successive waves of British settlers following the War of 1812 , and granting the charter to the first university in the city, King's College . Bathurst Street originally only referred to the section south of Queen Street. In 1870,
4320-418: Is named for William Mellis Christie , founder of Christie & Brown Cookie Company , which later became a part of Mondelez International . The street is also home to many of Toronto's Korean restaurants and stores . Christie Pits is a city park and baseball park located at Christie Street and Bloor Street West. The Toronto Maple Leafs of Intercounty Baseball League play at that baseball diamond. The area
4440-525: Is named for the former Carling O'Keefe (and current Molson ) brewery found at the south terminus. The road is not directly named for John Carling the founder of Carling Brewery and predecessor to the Carling O'Keefe. The road winds through industrial properties in Etobicoke to the northern terminus at Woodbine Racetrack (at Entrance Road). It was also referred to as Fourth Line . The southern end of Carlingview
4560-485: Is named. It is patrolled by the Toronto Police Service , has a maximum speed limit of 90 km/h (56 mph) and is 15.0 km (9.3 mi) in length. The parkway was the second expressway to be built by Metropolitan Toronto (Metro). Planning for it began in 1954, the year of Metro's formation; the first section opened in 1961 and the entire route was completed by the end of 1966. South of Bloor Street ,
4680-639: Is necessary to exit onto a surface road to transfer from one freeway to another. One example in the United States (notorious for the resulting congestion) is the connection from Interstate 70 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike ( Interstate 70 and Interstate 76 ) through the town of Breezewood, Pennsylvania . Speed limits are generally higher on freeways and are occasionally nonexistent (as on much of Germany's Autobahn network). Because higher speeds reduce decision time, freeways are usually equipped with
4800-450: Is not lower than 50 km/h [31 mph] and the maximum speed is not higher than 130 km/h [81 mph] (except Germany where no speed limit is defined). Motorways are designed to carry heavy traffic at high speed with the lowest possible number of accidents. They are also designed to collect long-distance traffic from other roads, so that conflicts between long-distance traffic and local traffic are avoided. According to
4920-534: Is not served by any TTC routes. The road is named for the nearby waterway of Black Creek . Brimley Road is of unknown origin. Beginning at Bluffer's Park at the foot of the Scarborough Bluffs , Brimley Road runs through Scarborough, past Steeles Avenue and ends at 14th Avenue in Markham . The Scarborough portion is mainly residential with small strip plazas interspersed along the route. North of Finch Avenue
List of north–south roads in Toronto - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-429: Is now Bloor Street . Upon reaching the location of the intersection with Avenue Road today, the lead surveyor, a Scotsman, pointed north and proclaimed "Let's 'ave a new road here". But this is almost certainly apocryphal; the street was probably named for its tree-lined character. Avenue Road is also a short residential street (1.5 km or 0.93 mi) that runs from Edgar Avenue north to Weldrick Road connecting
5160-515: Is often used as a metonym to refer to Canada's financial industry , similar to New York City 's Wall Street in the United States . Within the legal profession, the term Bay Street is also used colloquially to refer to the large, full-service business law firms of Toronto, particularly the top-tier law firms known as the Seven Sisters . The street was officially named when the land it occupies
5280-431: Is provided with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic). Principal arterials may cross through urban areas, serving suburban movements. The traffic is characterized by high speeds and full or partial access control (interchanges or junctions controlled by traffic lights). Other roads leading to a principal arterial are connected to it through side collector roads. In this view, CARE's definition stands that
5400-451: Is served by Christie subway station . Church Street is so named because where St. James Cathedral sits upon today, at King Street and Church, was the site of the first church in York, a wooden building built in 1807 and referred to simply as "the church". Three incarnations sat on the site of the current cathedral; the dedication to St. James came in 1828, four years before the construction of
5520-407: Is sometimes called an expressway . Freeways are usually limited to motor vehicles of a minimum power or weight; signs may prohibit cyclists , pedestrians and equestrians and impose a minimum speed. It is possible for non-motorized traffic to use facilities within the same right-of-way, such as sidewalks constructed along freeway-standard bridges and multi-use paths next to freeways such as
5640-480: Is specially sign-posted as a motorway and is reserved for specific categories of road motor vehicles." Urban motorways are also included in this definition. However, the respective national definitions and the type of roads covered may present slight differences in different EU countries. The first version of modern controlled-access highways evolved during the first half of the 20th century. The Long Island Motor Parkway on Long Island , New York , opened in 1908 as
5760-545: Is the result of several changes, including infrastructure safety and road user behavior (speed or seat belt use), while other matters such as vehicle safety and mobility patterns have an impact that has not been quantified. Motorways are the safest roads by design. While accounting for more than one quarter of all kilometres driven, they contributed only 8% of the total number of European road deaths in 2006. Germany's Federal Highway Research Institute provided International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) statistics for
5880-518: Is the westernmost residential community in the city of Toronto. Through Mississauga, Bloor Street runs through the residential neighbourhoods of Applewood and Mississauga Valleys, and terminates at Central Parkway , about one kilometre east of Hurontario Street . Central Parkway itself has a 90° east-west to north-south bend at the terminus of Bloor Street, with the east-west leg effectively continuing its course westerly as far as Erindale Station Road, where it curves back north. Until 1998, Bloor Street
6000-408: Is two lanes, but work has begun to make all of it four-lane.) These are often called Super two roads. Several such roads are infamous for a high rate of lethal crashes; an outcome because they were designed for short sight distances (sufficient for freeways without oncoming traffic, but insufficient for the years in service as two-lane road with oncoming traffic). An example of such a "Highway to Hell"
6120-633: The Allen Expressway and The Allen , is a short expressway that travels from Eglinton Avenue West in the south to Kennard Avenue in the north. The portion south of Sheppard Avenue is the completed section of the proposed Spadina Expressway . Allen Road is named after Metro Toronto Chairman William R. Allen and maintained by the City of Toronto. Landmarks along the road include the Lawrence Allen Centre (formerly Lawrence Square Shopping Centre),
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#17330848849546240-526: The Cantonese name of the street "百樂匯街". Brown's Line was once the name by which the trail running north from Lake Ontario to Highway 9 was known. It originated as a trail, which had been blazed to define the western boundary of the 1805 Toronto Purchase and was part of Colonel Samuel Smith 's Tract. The trail was eventually referred to as "Brown's Line" as the northern terminus was a small town, now known as Schomberg, but originally called Brownsville. Since
6360-611: The Dartford Crossing (the furthest downstream public crossing of the River Thames ) or where it was not economic to build a motorway alongside the existing road such as the former Cumberland Gap . The A1 is a good example of piece-wise upgrading to motorway standard—as of January 2013, the 639-kilometre-long (397 mi) route had five stretches of motorway (designated as A1(M)), reducing to four stretches in March 2018 with completion of
6480-629: The Don River Valley , westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same right-of-way . The street, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) long, contains a significant cross-sample of Toronto's ethnic communities. It is also home to Toronto's famous shopping street, the Mink Mile . A portion of Line 2 of the Bloor-Danforth subway line runs along Bloor from Kipling Avenue to
6600-528: The Don Valley Parkway , and then continues east along Danforth Avenue. Originally surveyed as the first concession road north of the baseline (then Lot Street, now Queen Street), it was known by many names, including the Tollgate Road (as the first tollgate on Yonge north of Lot Street was constructed there in 1820) then St. Paul's Road (after the nearby church, constructed 1842). From 1844 until 1854 it
6720-533: The Holland River in King Township . It was named after Jane Barr by her husband James. They immigrated from Glasgow in 1907, and a few years later, James became a real estate developer north of Toronto. James named numerous streets in the development after his children, but the most important was named after his wife Jane. Originally, the street continued south to Lake Ontario with a sinuous course, but that section
6840-515: The St. Lawrence Market . The new road cut through established parcels of land, and came to be known as the Don Independent Road. This road extended as far north as York Mills Road . After the formation of Metropolitan Toronto , Don Mills was designated as part of the municipal network of major roads. It was widened to four lanes, then extended north over Highway 401 to Sheppard in 1964. The "peanut"
6960-837: The Suncoast Trail along the Suncoast Parkway in Florida . In some US jurisdictions, especially where freeways replace existing roads, non-motorized access on freeways is permitted. Different states of the United States have different laws. Cycling on freeways in Arizona may be prohibited only where there is an alternative route judged equal or better for cycling. Wyoming , the second least densely populated state, allows cycling on all freeways. Oregon allows bicycles except on specific urban freeways in Portland and Medford . In countries such as
7080-531: The United Kingdom new motorways require an Act of Parliament to ensure restricted right of way. Since upgrading an existing road (the "King's Highway") to a full motorway will result in extinguishing the right of access of certain groups such as pedestrians, cyclists and slow-moving traffic, many controlled access roads are not full motorways. In some cases motorways are linked by short stretches of road where alternative rights of way are not practicable such as
7200-424: The United Kingdom , do not distinguish between the two, but others make a distinction; for example, Germany uses the words Kreuz ("cross") or Dreieck ("triangle") for the former and Ausfahrt ("exit") for the latter. In all cases one road crosses the other via a bridge or a tunnel, as opposed to an at-grade crossing . The inter-connecting roads, or slip-roads , which link the two roads, can follow any one of
7320-824: The University of Toronto campus, and is host to several historic sites, including the Bata Shoe Museum , the Royal Conservatory of Music , and the southern edge of Yorkville , in an area now known as the Bloor Street Culture Corridor . West of the university, which extends to Spadina Avenue , Bloor Street runs through a diverse series of neighbourhoods such as The Annex , Koreatown , Dufferin Grove , Brockton , Roncesvalles , High Park and Runnymede . It generally retains its commercial character, and serves as
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#17330848849547440-476: The University of Toronto Scarborough campus, and heads north as a residential road until reaching Ellesmere Road, where the street widens slightly and becomes a collector road. It then continues north over Highway 401 before ending at Sheppard Avenue East. Coxwell Avenue is named after Charles Coxwell Small , clerk of Upper Canada 's Privy Council and a resident of the Berkeley House . The stretch between
7560-539: The Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Downsview Park (formerly CFB Downsview ). The Don Valley Parkway ( DVP ) is a controlled-access six-lane expressway in Toronto connecting the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401 . North of Highway 401, the expressway continues as Highway 404 to Newmarket . The parkway runs through the parklands of the Don River valley , after which it
7680-490: The shoulder at regular intervals. In the United States, mileposts usually start at the southern or westernmost point on the freeway (either its terminus or the state line). California , Ohio and Nevada use postmile systems in which the markers indicate mileage through the state's individual counties. However, Nevada and Ohio also use the standard milepost system concurrently with their respective postmile systems. California numbers its exits off its freeways according to
7800-578: The 20th Century. Sections along High Park required infill to eliminate the natural deep valleys in the area. On the eastern terminus Bloor ended at Sherbourne Avenue at Rosedale Valley and where once the Sherbourne Blockhouse stood. A small footpath from Howard Street was the only means to reach the eastern end of the valley to continue along Danforth Avenue until the Prince Edward Viaduct was completed in 1918. The street formerly ended at
7920-497: The A1(M) through North Yorkshire . The most frequent way freeways are laid out is by building them from the ground up after obstructions such as forestry or buildings are cleared away. Sometimes they deplete farmland, but other methods have been developed for economic, social and even environmental reasons. Full freeways are sometimes made by converting at-grade expressways or by replacing at-grade intersections with overpasses; however, in
8040-511: The Don River at Riverdale Park. The road rose onto the table lands along what is now the entrance to the northbound Don Valley Parkway and followed Broadview north and O'Connor east before joining with the present-day Don Mills Road. The road ended at the Mills for a time, until farmers to the north on the land between the river valleys opened a new road to provide an easier route to carry their yields to
8160-605: The Kingston Road streetcar. The first lines in the region were built by the Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company . They were taken over by the TTC, which ran streetcars to Birchmount Loop until 1954. The loop remained in place until 1985, when a condominium was built on the site. By the 1960s, Birchmount Road had been transformed into its current role as one of the main arterial roads for Scarborough. Beyond Toronto in Markham , Birchmount Road continues firstly as
8280-458: The Lake Ontario shoreline and major east–west roads are generally parallel to the lake's shoreline. The Toronto road system is also influenced by its topography as some roads are aligned with the old Lake Iroquois shoreline, or the deep valleys . Minor streets with documented history or etymology are listed in a separate section . William R. Allen Road , known more commonly as Allen Road ,
8400-585: The Puritan Tavern at the corner of Queen Street and Greenwood Lane. The area was home to over a dozen brickmaking factories in the 19th century, including one whose excavations can still be detected at Greenwood Subway Yard and in Greenwood Park at the intersection with Dundas Street . (see Brown's Line and Ontario Highway 27 ) Islington Avenue is named for the village it passed at Dundas Street. The village of Islington used to be known as Mimico, and
8520-812: The Queen Elizabeth Way to Highway 401, north of which a short section still exists, before becoming simply an arterial road unofficially named Highway 27 through to Steeles Avenue, and then continues as two regional/county roads numbered 27 past Highway 9 , running to Barrie . Caledonia Road is a minor arterial road that is primarily residential south of Eglinton Avenue and between Glencairn Avenue and Lawrence Avenue, but primarily industrial between Eglinton Avenue and Glencairn Avenue and north of Lawrence Avenue. Caledonia Road has very steep valleys between Rogers Road and Eglinton Avenue. It will be served by Caledonia station of both Line 5 Eglinton and GO Transit's Barrie line beginning in 2024. Carlingview Drive
8640-409: The US, any at-grade intersection that ends a freeway often remains an at-grade intersection. Often, when there is a two-lane undivided freeway or expressway, it is converted by constructing a parallel twin corridor, and leaving a median between the two travel directions. The median-side travel lane of the old two-way corridor becomes a passing lane. Other techniques involve building a new carriageway on
8760-476: The United States, allow for limited exceptions: some movable bridges , for instance the Interstate Bridge on Interstate 5 between Oregon and Washington , do require drivers to stop for ship traffic. The crossing of freeways by other routes is typically achieved with grade separation either in the form of underpasses or overpasses . In addition to sidewalks (pavements) attached to roads that cross
8880-693: The Vienna Convention. Exits are marked with another symbol: [REDACTED] . The definitions of "motorway" from the OECD and PIARC are almost identical. In the European Union , for statistical and safety purposes, some distinction might be made between motorway and expressway . For instance a principal arterial might be considered as: Roads serving long distance and mainly interurban movements. Includes motorways (urban or rural) and expressways (road which does not serve properties bordering on it and which
9000-783: The bridge. The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge / Dartford tunnel at London Orbital is an example of this. London Orbital or the M25 is a motorway surrounding London , but at the last River Thames crossing before its mouth, motorway rules do not apply. (At this crossing the London Orbital is labeled A282 instead.) A few of the more common types of junction are shown below: There are many differences between countries in their geography, economy, traffic growth, highway system size, degree of urbanization and motorization, etc.; all of which need to be taken into consideration when comparisons are made. According to some EU papers, safety progress on motorways
9120-492: The common European definition, a motorway is defined as "a road, specially designed and built for motor traffic, which does not serve properties bordering on it, and which: (a) is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic, separated from each other, either by a dividing strip not intended for traffic, or exceptionally by other means; (b) does not cross at level with any road, railway or tramway track, or footpath; (c)
9240-546: The communities of Richvale and Yongehurst in Richmond Hill, Ontario . Although the Toronto section can align with the Richmond Hill sections if connected, the latter is a newer street not officially part of the historic Toronto roadway, unlike the disconnected York Region portions of its counterparts Kipling Avenue , Leslie Street and Woodbine Avenue . It is a part of the decommissioned Ontario Highway 11A . Bathurst Street
9360-517: The early 1920s in response to the rapidly increasing use of the automobile , the demand for faster movement between cities and as a consequence of improvements in paving processes, techniques and materials. These original high-speed roads were referred to as " dual highways " and have been modernized and are still in use today. Italy was the first country in the world to build controlled-access highways reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only. The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"),
9480-465: The early 1970s. On May 4, 2016, city council voted 38-3 to implement physically separated bike lanes along a 2.6 kilometres (1.6 mi) stretch of the street. Mayor John Tory stated, in support of the project, that if council sought to make Toronto a "21st century city", it must improve at providing "alternate ways to move people around the city." These lanes were made permanent in November 2017, following
9600-527: The early 20th century, many of which still exist since converted to a variety of public uses. Beare Road is named for the Beare family, who were prominent farmers in the Hillside community of northeastern Scarborough. Bellamy Road , previously Secord Road , is named for American author Edward Bellamy , who wrote Looking Backwards 2000–1887 , about a utopian society. Settlers approached Scarborough Township for
9720-450: The expressway was constructed over existing roadways. North of Bloor Street, the expressway was built on a new alignment through the valley, requiring the removal of several hills, the rerouting of the Don River and the clearing of green space. North of Eglinton Avenue , the expressway follows the former Woodbine Avenue right-of-way north to Highway 401. The parkway operates well beyond its intended capacity of 60,000 vehicles per day and
9840-482: The first built in the world, connecting Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore , and now parts of the A8 and A9 motorways, was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924. This motorway, called autostrada , contained only one lane in each direction and no interchanges. The Bronx River Parkway was the first road in North America to utilize a median strip to separate the opposing lanes, to be constructed through
9960-412: The first half of the 20th century. Italy was the first country in the world to build controlled-access highways reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only. Italy opened its first autostrada in 1924, A8 , connecting Milan to Varese . Germany began to build its first controlled-access autobahn without speed limits (30 kilometres [19 mi] on what is now A555 , then referred to as
10080-690: The foot of the Leaside Bridge . On the opposite side of the bridge, drivers continue on Millwood Road. It follows the same concession line as Leslie Street between the two sections. The northern section of Leslie was once named Donlands, but was renamed to Leslie Street in 1915 as the two were disconnected. Dufferin Street , known as the Side Line until 1876, was renamed in honour of Governor General Frederick Temple Blackwood, Lord Dufferin . Dufferin served as Governor General between 1872 and 1878, and presided over
10200-451: The freeway was built and opened on October 18, 1987 over the objections of many area residents concerned with increased traffic volume. In an attempt to address these concerns, it was initially restricted to transit buses and emergency vehicles. After widely reported public pressure, Scarborough City Council voted February 18, 1988 to open the overpass to general traffic. Proposals to modify the interchange are currently being examined as part of
10320-454: The growing city. The road begins at Lake Shore Boulevard West, where access is provided to the Gardiner Expressway . The road crosses the expressway and travels north through Parkdale between rows of apartment buildings. Jameson Avenue ends at Queen Street West; the traffic signal is coordinated with the southern terminus of Lansdowne Avenue, nearby to the east. Jane Street begins at Bloor Street and continues north into Vaughan to near
10440-413: The hamlet's main inhabitant was known by the surname of Brown (Yorkshire-born Joseph and Mary Brown came to the area in 1831 and acquired a 100 arces at Lot 11 Concession 3) it seemed logical that the road which transported persons to Brown's Town should be referred to as Brown's Line. There was, however, another Brownsville just south of Ingersoll, Ontario, also named for the family in that town. Since there
10560-504: The highway are provided at interchanges by slip roads (ramps), which allow for speed changes between the highway and arterials and collector roads . On the controlled-access highway, opposing directions of travel are generally separated by a median strip or central reservation containing a traffic barrier or grass. Elimination of conflicts with other directions of traffic dramatically improves safety, while increasing traffic capacity and speed. Controlled-access highways evolved during
10680-595: The intersections with both sections of Gerrard Street features shops that cater to Toronto's Indian and Pakistani communities. Don Mills Road , known by various names over time including The Mill Road and the Don Independent Road , is named for the many saw and grist mills that established near the Forks of the Don in the early 19th century. At the time the road began at Winchester Street and Parliament Street and crossed
10800-544: The jog by excavating a tunnel beneath the active tracks. This tunnel was completed and opened to traffic on November 10, 2010. The road is named for the Galloway family and settler Ignatius Galloway who began farming in the area along Concession Road D. Greenwood Avenue , originally Greenwood Lane, was named after the Greenwood family, who were market gardeners and carriage makers. John (d. 1866) and Kate Greenwood were owners of
10920-430: The large St. James Town housing project, which stretches west to Sherbourne Street . On the northern side of this section of Bloor are the forested slopes of the Rosedale Ravine. Between Sherbourne and Church Streets the street is lined by large office towers, mostly home to insurance companies. This area has long been the centre of the insurance industry in Canada. West of Church the street becomes more commercial and
11040-530: The line is the only part of the subway system located outside of Toronto proper. Vaughan Mills and Canada's Wonderland are on Jane Street in Vaughan. The title character of the Barenaked Ladies song " Jane " is Jane St. Clair, and is named after the intersection of Jane and St. Clair Avenue . Steven Page recalls that co-writer Stephen Duffy saw the intersection on a map and remarked that it sounded like
11160-425: The main shopping area for most of these communities. Numerous sections of the street have named 'business improvement areas' such as Bloorcourt Village , Bloordale Village and Bloor West Village . In Toronto's west end, Bloor Street criss-crosses Dundas Street twice, between Lansdowne Avenue and Keele Street and again in the "Six Points" area of Islington–City Centre West near Kipling Avenue. Markland Wood
11280-460: The mayor of Cologne . The German Autobahn became the first nationwide highway system. In Canada , the first precursor with semi-controlled access was The Middle Road between Hamilton and Toronto , which featured a median divider between opposing traffic flow, as well as the nation's first cloverleaf interchange . This highway developed into the Queen Elizabeth Way , which featured
11400-598: The most beautiful intersection in the world; "I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't". One of Toronto's most notable suburban intersections is Jane and Finch . Controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway , motorway , and expressway . Other similar terms include throughway or thruway and parkway . Some of these may be limited-access highways , although this term can also refer to
11520-462: The most expensive street in Canada, with an annual average rental price of $ 208 per square foot. Under the intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets is the Bloor–Yonge subway station , which is the busiest in the city, serving approximately 368,800 people a day. Above ground, the intersection encompasses commercial stores and condominiums. In the downtown, Bloor Street serves as the northern edge of
11640-400: The motorway system, whilst a junction is a crossing between motorways or a split/merge of two motorways. The motorway rules end at exits, but not at junctions. However, on some bridges, motorways, without changing appearance, temporarily end between the two exits closest to the bridge (or tunnel), and continue as dual carriageways . This is in order to give slower vehicles a possibility to use
11760-581: The name of Ketchum Avenue to Bay Street, officially extending it to Davenport Road. The bend in Bay Street south of Old City Hall reflects this history, serving as a terminating vista . Bayview Avenue , formerly East York Avenue , was named in 1930 after the estate of Dr. James Stanley McLean, Bay View . The McLean House forms a part of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre today. Several notable estates were built along Bayview Avenue in
11880-466: The opening of the first Canadian National Exhibition in 1878. Dufferin Street begins at Exhibition Place and travels north into Vaughan. The road is interrupted between Wilson Avenue and Sheppard Avenue West by Downsview Park . Dufferin was disjointed at Queen Street West by a railway, a detour famously known as the Dufferin Jog . Following decades of negotiation, construction began in 2007 on removing
12000-439: The other. Other methods involve constructing a service drive that shortens the long driveways (typically by less than 100 metres (330 ft)). An interchange or a junction is a highway layout that permits traffic from one controlled-access highway to access another and vice versa, whereas an access point is a highway layout where traffic from a distributor or local road can join a controlled-access highway. Some countries, such as
12120-477: The rate is higher than the risk on urban roads. Speeds are higher on rural roads and autobahns than urban roads, increasing the severity potential of a crash. According to ETSC, German motorways without a speed limit, but with a 130 km/h (81 mph) speed recommendation, are 25% more deadly than motorways with a speed limit. Germany also introduced some 130 km/h (81 mph) speed limits on various motorway sections that were not limited. This generated
12240-643: The rights of light , air and access to highways, but not parkways and freeways; the latter two are distinguished in that the purpose of a parkway is recreation, while the purpose of a freeway is movement. Thus, as originally conceived, a freeway is simply a strip of public land devoted to movement to which abutting property owners do not have rights of light, air or access. Freeways, by definition, have no at-grade intersections with other roads, railroads or multi-use trails . Therefore, no traffic signals are needed and through traffic on freeways does not normally need to stop at traffic signals. Some countries, such as
12360-403: The section north of Queen Street became part of Bathurst Street. It was known until then as Crookshank's Lane, after Honourable George Crookshank. The road acted as a driveway to his 300-acre (1.2 km) farm. Bay Street , formerly known as Bear Street , is supposedly a reference to a "noted chase given to a bear" by settlers in that area. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and
12480-432: The side of a divided highway that has a lot of private access on one side and sometimes has long driveways on the other side since an easement for widening comes into place, especially in rural areas. When a third carriageway is added, sometimes it can shift a directional carriageway by 20–60 metres (50–200 ft) (or maybe more depending on land availability) as a way to retain private access on one side that favors over
12600-465: The street to west was renamed from Smith Street to Scadding Street. The northern end at city limits was a toll booth next to the then-northern section of Winchester Street. The road was extended in 1913 and 1922 by absorbing parts of Don Mills Road as far north as O'Connor Drive. By 1912, sections south of Eastern Avenue were lost when Lever Brothers expanded their soap factory. In Toronto's East Chinatown , there are two signs at Gerrard Street East with
12720-685: The subway opened, this intersection was the western terminus of the Bloor streetcar line . Proposed in the 2007 Transit City plan was the Jane LRT , a light rail line to run entirely along Jane through the city from the Jane subway Station and north into Vaughan. North of Steeles in Vaughan, the Line 1 Yonge–University subway parallels the street up to Highway 7 , with stations at Highway 407 ( Highway 407 station ) and Highway 7 ( Vaughan Metropolitan Centre ) This section of
12840-406: The year 2010, comparing overall fatality rates with motorway rates (regardless of traffic intensity): The German autobahn network illustrates the safety trade-offs of controlled access highways. The injury crash rate is very low on autobahns, while 22 people died per 1,000 injury crashes—although autobahns have a lower rate than the 29 deaths per 1,000 injury accidents on conventional rural roads,
12960-443: Was European route E4 from Gävle to Axmartavlan , Sweden. The high rate of crashes with severe personal injuries on that (and similar) roads did not cease until a median crash barrier was installed, transforming the fatal crashes into non-fatal crashes. Otherwise, freeways typically have at least two lanes in each direction; some busy ones can have as many as 16 or more lanes in total. In San Diego, California , Interstate 5 has
13080-400: Was annexed by the first expansion of York . Bay travelled from Lake Ontario to Lot Street, now Queen Street . North of Queen Street and travelling to College Street was Teraulay Street. Several disconnected side streets existed north of there to Davenport Road . In 1922, By-Law 9316 joined these streets together as far north as Scollard Street. By-Law 9884, enacted on January 28, 1924, changed
13200-631: Was built to complete the road between Enterprise Boulevard and Highway 7 to tie into Village Parkway. Black Creek Drive was originally constructed as a southward extension of Highway 400 . However, it was built as an arterial road instead, due to the opposition to extending the Spadina Expressway south of Eglinton Avenue, which in turn led to the cancellation of other expressway extensions in Toronto. The street has few intersections at Lawrence Avenue , Trethewey Drive , Todd Baylis Boulevard, Eglinton Avenue and it ends at Weston Road . The street
13320-620: Was completed in 1927. At the corner of Church and Wellesley Streets is an LGBT-oriented enclave in Toronto. The area of Church Street and Wellesley Street (particularly along Church Street) is home to the annual Pride Toronto celebration. Conlins Road was named for the Conlins family, prominent for their gravel company located in Highland Creek. It is a collector road serving the Highland Creek neighbourhood, and connecting it with nearby major roads. Conlins Road begins at Military Trail, near
13440-598: Was constructed shortly thereafter, and Don Mills was extended north of Steeles alongside suburban development in the 1970s. In 1987, the road was widened to six lanes alongside a recommendation to extend Leslie Street south of Eglinton to the Bayview Extension, and a proposal to try new high-occupancy vehicle lane . While Leslie Street was not extended, the HOV lanes were implemented between Overlea Blvd and Finch Avenue East . Donlands Avenue begins at Danforth Avenue and ends at
13560-449: Was designated as Highway 5 from Kipling Avenue east to the Don River. Like many urban stretches of provincial roadway, it was formally decommissioned as a connecting link on January 1. Construction began in 2019 by the City of Toronto to reconfigure the interchange at Kipling Avenue and Dundas Street into an at-grade intersection. This removed the "Spaghetti Junction" created in 1961 and renamed Dunbloor Road as Dundas Street to reconnect
13680-544: Was initially constructed to Highway 401 from 1953 to 1956 as the Toronto Bypass , then extended to Pearson Airport as the Airport Expressway from 1964 to 1971, and finally designated as Highway 427 in 1972. The section to Steeles Avenue West was completed in 1984. There are several stories relating to the origin of Avenue Road . The most popular legend retells that of an early surveying team travelling west along what
13800-465: Was known as Sydenham Road after Lord Sydenham , Governor General of Canada 1839–1841. The street was then given its current name in honour of Joseph Bloor , a local brewer and land speculator who founded the Village of Yorkville in 1830 on the north side of this street and who was one of the street's original residents. Sections of Bloor Street near High Park was still undeveloped in the early part of
13920-401: Was obviously confusion in the mail system, the logic required a name change, and Schomberg was created likely for Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg , a general under King William III of England. Before the construction of Highway 427, Brown's Line was part of Highway 27 . Today, Brown's Line is the short southernmost stretch of the former highway, which was rebuilt into Highway 427 from
14040-539: Was often confused with a second village of that name in Etobicoke on Lake Ontario and which had obtained a post office called Mimico in 1857. In 1859, in order to obtain their own post office, residents of the Mimico on Dundas Street held a meeting to select a new name in Thomas Smith's Inn (located on the southwest corner of Dundas Street and today's Islington Avenue.) When the attendees could not reach unanimous agreement on
14160-470: Was one of the first parts of Toronto to see suburban development. This development was in the years immediately before and after the Second World War and was thus not reflective of the car-centred design of much of Scarborough. Birchmount is notable for being the terminus of the only TTC streetcar route ever to travel into Scarborough. The Birchmount Loop was for several decades the turning loop for
14280-598: Was opened from Sheppard Avenue East to Steeles Avenue East in 1979 and extended north of the Metro Toronto limits shortly thereafter, first to Davis Drive in Newmarket and eventually to Woodbine Avenue just south of Ravenshoe Road in East Gwillimbury . Most of King's Highway 427 travels within Toronto from Browns Line to Steeles Avenue , but it has been extended beyond current city limits to Major Mackenzie Drive . It
14400-464: Was redesignated as South Kingsway after Bloor Street was extended west across the Humber River (where it originally ended) by being realigned into a reverse curve which incorporated a short length of the southern segment of Jane, severing it from the section north of Bloor. The Toronto Transit Commission operates Jane subway station at Jane and Bloor Street on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth . Before
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