Royal York Road

Royal York Road is a north-south arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 5 concessions (10km) west of Yonge Street, and runs through many residential neighbourhoods, most notably Mimico and the Kingsway. It is classified as a "minor arterial" by the city of Toronto. [ [http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/ey/bgrd/backgroundfile-3669.pdf Royal York Road and Glenroy Avenue – Traffic Control Signals] ]

The road begins in the south near the shoreline of Lake Ontario, at Mimico Linear Park. It then travels through the neighbourhoods of Mimico, the Queensway, Sunnylea, the Kingsway, and Humber Valley Village. It also serves as the boundary for two neighbourhoods north of Eglinton Avenue; Richview, and Humber Heights. The road crosses three creeks; Mimico Creek, and two tributaries of the Humber River; Humber Creek, and Silver Creek.

Royal York Road officially ends at Dixon Road, but its alignment continues further north as St. Phillips Road, which ends at Weston Road. Weston Road continues north on the same concession as Royal York, eventually into York Region.

History

Royal York Road started out as a local street in Mimico when the village was settled in the late 19th century. During this time, it was a dirt road north of there. This changed in the 1920s when The Kingsway was developed, and in the 1930s with the development of Humber Valley Village. At this point, the paved section extended up to Eglinton Avenue. The entire road would finally be paved by the 1950s when the remaining areas were developed.

Royal York Road has recently undergone several reconstruction projects. [ [http://www.toronto.ca/wes/techservices/involved/transportation/royal_york_reconstruction/index.htm Royal York Road Reconstruction] ] The 1.25 metre wide bike lanes that were approved and painted during this process on the stretch between Mimico Creek and Usher Avenue have been criticized for being too narrow, and a violation of [http://www.tac-atc.ca/english/index.cfm Transportation Association of Canada] standards (which the city of Toronto follows), for not conforming to the 1.5 metre minimum. [ [http://biketoronto.ca/topic/show/450.htm BikeToronto - Cylists abandoned on Royal York Road by Works Committee] ] [ [http://biketoronto.ca/topic/show/456.htm BikeToronto - Council approves compromised bike lane for Royal York Road] ]

Public Transit

The Toronto Transit Commission provides bus services along Royal York Road. Royal York subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line is the major transit terminal that these services feed into. North of Bloor, the main route is 73 Royal York, which also goes along Albion Road in the Rexdale area, and south of Bloor, the primary route is 76 Royal York South, which mainly carries commuters from Mimico. There are two additional routes that serve parts of Royal York because they use it to feed into the subway. These routes are; 48 Rathburn (which uses Royal York from Bloor to Aglesey), and 15 Evans (Bloor to Evans).

The Mimico GO Station on the Lakeshore West line provides commuter rail service to downtown, and other areas in the GTA, such as Hamilton, and Oakville.

Landmarks

Local landmarks along Royal York Road (north to south):
* Sanctuary Park Cemetery
* Riverside Cemetery
* Royal York Plaza
* All Saints Catholic elementary school
* Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy
* Lambton Mills Cemetery
* Humbertown Shopping Centre
* Royal York subway station
* École Sainte-Marguerite d'Youville Catholic elementary school
* Bishop Allen Academy
* Etobicoke School of the Arts
* Mimico GO Station
* Mimico Linear Park

ee also

Major streets in Toronto which intersect with Royal York (north to south):
*Lawrence Avenue
*Eglinton Avenue
*Dundas Street West
*Bloor Street
*The Queensway
*Lake Shore Boulevard

References