Existed: 1950's – present | West end: Glengarry Road | |
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The Queensway | ||
The Queensway is a major street in the municipalities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the western extension of Queen Street West, after it crosses King Street and Roncesvalles Avenue in Toronto. The Queensway is a divided roadway from just east of Parkside Drive westerly to just beyond South Kingsway (accessed by ramps), and has a centre median dedicated to streetcar service. The road continues undivided west from the Humber River west to Highway 427 as a four or six-lane thoroughfare.
Contents
- Map of The Queensway Toronto ON Canada
- The queensway from dixie rd to roncesvalles ave in toronto canada
- Naming
- History
- Nearby landmarks
- References
Map of The Queensway, Toronto, ON, Canada
The Toronto section of the road ends at the Etobicoke Creek, but it continues into Mississauga under the jurisdiction of Peel Region as Peel Regional Road 20, as far west as Mavis Road, with the westernmost portion to Glengarry Road being maintained by the city. There is a road allowance with hydro lines, cutting into the Mississaugua Golf & Country Club on the shores of the Credit River. In the 1990s, the name Queensway was eliminated on the roads on this allowance west of the river. The street gives its name to Etobicoke's The Queensway neighbourhood.
The queensway from dixie rd to roncesvalles ave in toronto canada
Naming
Motorists may notice variations in name of the road as seen on overhead signs marking the exit to The Queensway from Highway 427 southbound. Older signs refer to it as "Queensway Avenue" while newer signs refer to it as "The Queensway". It is unclear as to why the older signs use an incorrect name. However, it may be informative to note that the extension of the road into Mississauga to the west is referred to as simply "Queensway" (Queensway East east of Hurontario Street and Queensway West west of Hurontario). "Queensway Avenue" may have also been used to presumably to avoid confusion with adjacent exit signs for the QEW. After provincial downloading in 1998, there was no longer any need for the "Queensway Avenue" signage once the eastern QEW was redesignated as the Gardiner Expressway.
From 1953 to 1954, The Queensway was signed briefly as Ontario Highway 108 when it was under the-then Department of Highways from Highway 27 (Highway 427) and the eastern end of the Queen Elizabeth Way.
History
What would become the Queensway in Mississauga was created in as 1st Concession Road South (or first concession road south of Dundas Street) in 1806 as a dirt trail and then gravel road in 1836.
The section between Roncesvalles and the Humber River was built in the 1950s, in conjunction with the construction of the Gardiner Expressway. The Queensway was built before the Gardiner to provide an east-west route for traffic while Lake Shore Boulevard was rerouted to accommodate the Gardiner. The project cost $4.9 million. The section from the Humber River west predates the High Park section and was previously known as Stock's Side Road, and then Queen Street. It formerly connected to Lake Shore Boulevard (then known as Lake Shore Road) at the Humber River, but that connection was severed with the building of the Queen Elizabeth Way.
To build the Parkside Drive to Ellis Drive section, the Metro government bought 18 acres (7.3 ha) of High Park from the city. This was in contravention of stipulations by original High Park owner John Howard that the lands be used for parkland only. Metro officials searched for descendants of Howard to obtain their consent.
The Queensway became the new location for the streetcar line trackage along the lake shore in the area and a separate right-of-way was part of the design from Parkside Drive to the Humber. The right-of-way on the Queensway opened to streetcar service on July 21, 1957. It is the route used by the 501 Queen and the 508 Lake Shore services.
During the post-2000 period, the Queensway has been subject to new condominium development, particularly in the vicinity of the Humber River. An attraction to this development is the proximity to downtown streetcar service. The streetcar right-of-way has been proposed as a future subway corridor, parallel to the existing Bloor subway line, should transit ridership increase dramatically in the future. More immediately, there has been a move to consider creation of an extended right of way streetcar system on the portion of Queensway west of the Humber Loop transit terminus, offering direct access to downtown.
The right-of-way was rebuilt, starting in the summer of 2005, after a period of prolonged deterioration. The traffic lanes were also rebuilt. The eastbound lanes were finished early in 2006, while completion of the westbound lanes was realized in early 2007.
Nearby landmarks
From east to west:
Toronto
Mississauga