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29-535: The southern section in Toronto runs just under 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), and begins near Ashbridge's Bay on the shore of Lake Ontario , at Lake Shore Boulevard , which ends by curving north to default into Woodbine. This section of Woodbine then continues north and ends at O'Connor Drive . The northern section runs from Steeles Avenue at the Toronto- Markham border and extends 55.4 kilometres (34.4 mi) to

58-542: A skateboard park . The current bay is surrounded by marinas, the treatment plant and a small tree lined section along Lake Shore Boulevard East such that the original natural shoreline has disappeared completely. Ashbridges Bay is also a popular location for fireworks on Canada Day and Victoria Day . Cherry Street Beach is the old remaining portion of the sandbar. 43°39′34″N 79°18′39″W  /  43.659334°N 79.310925°W  / 43.659334; -79.310925 Victoria Square, Ontario Victoria Square

87-456: A new four-lane section of Woodbine was constructed on a new alignment which included a new intersection with Elgin Mills Road. The new alignment, which was initially known as Woodbine Avenue By-Pass , opened on November 15, 2010. The bypassed section of Woodbine Avenue was renamed Victoria Square Boulevard to reflect the location of the road within the area of Victoria Square and transferred to

116-452: A number of neighbourhoods and rural communities in Toronto and York Region: Landmarks and notable sites along Woodbine from south to north: Woodbine Racetrack is in Etobicoke , and not anywhere close to Woodbine Avenue. Greenwood Race Track used to be located at the south end of Woodbine Avenue until it was demolished in 1994. Greenwood Race Track was the original Woodbine Racetrack until

145-494: A tavern at then 88 Yonge Street (west side of Yonge north of King Street near the Fairweather Building c. 1918) called "The Woodbine House" or "The Woodbine", which was re-used by Howell for his horse track. Originally, Woodbine Avenue's southern terminus was at the namesake Woodbine Beach on Ashbridge's Bay just south of Kew Beach Avenue which is two blocks south of Queen Street , but was rechannelled to curve west into

174-622: Is a bay and park in Toronto , Ontario, Canada. It is located along Lake Shore Boulevard next to Woodbine Beach in the Beaches . The Martin Goodman Trail and boardwalk run through the park along the bay. The boardwalk runs 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Ashbridges Bay in the west to the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in the east along Lake Ontario . It was once part of the marsh that lay east of Toronto Islands and Toronto Harbour . The bay

203-503: Is an unincorporated community in Markham , Ontario , Canada . The community was formed in the early nineteenth century. Historic Victoria Square began at 4th Line (Victoria Square Boulevard) and 18th Line (Elgin Mills Road) in 1805 with mostly Mennonites from Pennsylvania beginning in 1803 and then by British and American settlers in the 1820s. The area was initially called Heise Hill for

232-500: Is centred on the intersection of Victoria Square Blvd. and Major Mackenzie Dr. There are a few reminders in the new area of the originally settlers whom farmed the area: There are three public elementary schools: Due to its northerly location, most commuters in the area use the regional roads and Ontario Highway 404 . The area is serviced by York Region Transit . The former Woodbine Avenue Bypass or Victoria Square Boulevard, Elgin Mills Road, Major Mackenzie Drive and Warden Avenue are

261-576: Is named for Sarah Ashbridge , a British loyalist from Philadelphia whose family once lived nearby on a farm. It was once a five square kilometre marsh on the Don River delta and one of the largest wetlands in Eastern Canada . A breakwall formed on the western end with an outlet into Toronto Bay. Unwin Avenue follows the former sandbar or chain of islands once called Fisherman’s Island that once sheltered

290-531: Is now Victoria Square United Church. A number of business emerged in the 1830 at the intersection of 4th Line and 18th Line: By 1860 and 1870s a few more businesses appeared: The 1877 SS No. 69 was opened further south and was used until 1966. The building was altered and became a business then as residence until it was restored back for use as a Montessori school in 2010. The farmer implement related business would eventually disappear with competition of larger rivals in Toronto. The tavern destroyed by fire in

319-462: Is served by five different routes and two operators. The northern part of the route, from Danforth to O'Connor is served by the TTC 91 Woodbine and 93 Parkview Hills bus routes. South of Danforth is served by TTC 92 Woodbine South bus route. In Markham the road is served by the 24 Woodbine YRT route. The far north of the road, through the town of Keswick is served by YRT 51 Keswick Local. Woodbine serves

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348-655: Is today named Woodbine Heights Boulevard. It runs for four blocks and ends at the East Don Valley of the Don River . Union Street in Gormley is a former alignment of Woodbine at Stouffville Road. Woodbine was a single lane paved concession road (third concession line laid 19,800 ft (6,000 m) east of Yonge Street , with the northern section running to south of York Mills Road with an unopened road allowance extending southwards to beyond Lawrence Avenue . An abandoned stub of

377-453: The City of Toronto, terminates shortly after the intersection with Steeles, with Woodbine absorbing most of this traffic. In the early 2000s, new housing development necessitated the widening of Woodbine Avenue north of Major Mackenzie Drive to cope with increased traffic levels. However, due to residences and heritage properties in the community of Victoria Square, including a church and a cemetery,

406-763: The Eastern Gap and a parkland/recreational strip at the south end. In 1912, the Toronto Harbour Commission drained it and reclaimed the land. The Ashbridges Bay Reclamation Scheme was the largest engineering project in North America at that time, filling in an area from Cherry Street to Leslie Street to create the Port Lands Industrial District and building the Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant . When it

435-581: The Heise family whom were part of the first wave of settlers. The first church ( Primitive Methodist ) was built in 1830s on the east side of 4th Line, where the cemetery is still located. The Wesleyan Methodists built a wood-frame church south of the Victoria Square corner in 1845. This was replaced by a red brick edifice in 1880 at what was once William Frisby's old blacksmith shop. The Wesleyan Methodists and Primitive Methodist merged locations in 1884 at what

464-614: The Markham neighbourhoods of Buttonville , Cachet , and Cathedraltown , with a bypass around the preserved former rural community of Victoria Square . North of Elgin Mills, Woodbine narrows to a two-lane rural road. There is also a short former third section immediately to the north of the Toronto section; cut off by the Taylor-Massey Creek , in the Parkview Hills neighbourhood, which

493-589: The area and replaced with newer executive homes in the surrounding Unionville district. Most homes in the area are single-family dwellings. Farms now only exists in to the east of Victoria Square Boulevard (the original route of Woodbine Avenue) and north of Major Mackenzie Drive . A number of business that operate off the land exists in Victoria Square: New business to the area include Honda Canada Inc. Canadian corporate office and Mobis Parts Canada (a subsidiary of Hyundai). The community of Victoria Square

522-483: The bay from the western end of the current Inner Portlands to beyond Leslie Street to near Woodbine Avenue where an outlet once existed. During the existence as the sandbar was home fishing community (fish huts and homes) along with St. Nicholas Anglican Church, a school as well as 35 homes from 1911 to 1924. Historically it was a sandbar peninsula when Toronto Islands was still linked as 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long by 0.25 miles (0.40 km) wide landform. Before 1900,

551-450: The bay was used to obtain ice during the winter months. These operations stopped after the bay became polluted to the point the water became unsafe: Due to industrial development and sewage disposal into the marsh, in 1910 a Toronto Board of Trade proposal for Ashbridges Bay was for an industrial district for industrial offices and sites served by railway lines, public warehouses alongside docking facilities south of Keating Channel to

580-456: The biggest fires in Toronto's history, as 170 firefighters were required to bring the six-alarm blaze under control. The building was less than 50 metres from residences in the neighborhood and more than 50 families had to evacuate their homes on Christmas morning. One person was killed and another was severely disfigured. Police and insurance quickly suspected arson and several people have been convicted. Ashbridge%27s Bay Ashbridges Bay

609-473: The construction of the current Woodbine Racetrack in 1956. The name was then transferred to the new facility. Known as "Old Woodbine Race Track" for several years, the facility changed its name to Greenwood Race Track after nearby Greenwood Avenue . On Christmas Eve in 2001, the Woodbine Building Supply fire occurred. The store was located at the intersection of Danforth and Woodbine. It was one of

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638-463: The early 1900s was not replaced and the post office closed in 1914. The four corners were replaced by residences wiping out all traces of commercial activity in the area. Today's residential development of the area began in the 2006 with the development of Cathedraltown to the south and west of Victoria Square and accelerated with the building of the new bypass of Woodbine Avenue in 2010. Today, farmlands are slowly but progressively disappearing in

667-555: The eastern end of the then-new Lake Shore Boulevard in the 1950s. In Toronto, portions of unopened and open road allowances for Woodbine Avenue north of Eglinton Avenue to Sheppard Avenue were removed when the Don Valley Parkway was constructed in the 1960s, with the terminus of Don Valley Parkway defaulting to Woodbine Avenue. The last section of Woodbine in Metropolitan Toronto between Sheppard Avenue and Steeles Avenue

696-697: The jurisdiction of the city of Markham. However, the bypass retained the Woodbine Avenue By-Pass name even after the renaming of the bypassed segment until November 2015, when it was finally decided to redesignate it as part of Woodbine Avenue proper. The former alignment, Victoria Square Boulevard, intersects Woodbine at both ends. In 2017, the City of Toronto installed Cycle Tracks (protected bike lanes) to Woodbine Ave spanning from O'Connor Dr to Queen St E. Transit service along Woodbine began in 1921 by Hollinger Bus Lines. The Woodbine route ran from Danforth north to O'Connor Drive. Before then residents along

725-586: The old road south of York Mills Road remains behind a fenced off wooded area on the east side of the Don Valley Parkway where the parkway crosses a ravine. It was named for Woodbine Racetrack, later known as Greenwood Raceway . Beyond Lawrence Avenue and especially south of Eglinton Avenue the road allowance was not feasible for a roadway due to the deep valley along the Don River. It is also believed that former racetrack-owner William J. (Jiggs) Howell (along with either Raymond Pardee or Dennis Pard) operated

754-411: The road was assumed would not likely be travelling south or could walk to their destination. Woodbine intersected with a few east–west streetcar lines: The privately operated Hollinger route was taken over by the TTC in 1954 and retained route name. The opening of Woodbine subway station in 1966 changed transit patterns, as many residents now needed to get all the way north to Danforth. Today Woodbine

783-603: The shore of Lake Simcoe , ending at Lake Drive in Georgina . York Region designates this section as York Regional Road 8 . Woodbine Avenue runs parallel to Highway 404 , with the highway's northern terminus branching off it just south of Ravenshoe Road in East Gwillimbury . Woodbine in York Region is six lanes wide from Steeles Avenue to Highway 7 , and four lanes wide from Highway 7 to north of Elgin Mills Road, passing through

812-521: Was completed in the 1920s, only a fragment of the original Ashbridges Bay remained, and the mouth of the Don River had been dramatically altered, instead flowing through the Keating Channel . The bay's size was shrunk to the area between the Port Lands and Woodbine Beach . Ashbridges Bay Park opened in 1977. In the early 2000s the park was improved by Waterfront Toronto , including the building of

841-482: Was lost when the provincial extension of the Don Valley Parkway, Highway 404 , was built over it during the 1970s. Woodbine was retained north of Steeles through York Region by swinging the route of Highway 404 to the west, with the Parclo A4 interchange with Steeles including a Y-junction to accommodate traffic to and from Woodbine towards the south. Victoria Park Avenue , a major north–south arterial extending north from

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