Kingston Road (Toronto)

Kingston Road is the southernmost major road along the eastern portion of Toronto, specifically in the district of Scarborough. Until 1998, it formed a portion of Highway 2. The name of the street is derived from Kingston, Ontario as the road was the primary route used to travel from Toronto to the settlements east of it situated along the shores of Lake Ontario; in the west end of Kingston, the road was referred to as the York Road (referring to Toronto) until at least 1908, and is today named Princess Street.


Kingston Road
Durham Regional Highway 2
Kingston Rd. within Toronto
Route information
Maintained by City of Toronto government
Region of Durham
Length36.3 km[1] (22.6 mi)
Major junctions
West endQueen Street (Continues as Eastern Avenue.
 Woodbine Avenue
Danforth Avenue
St. Clair Avenue
Markham Road
Eglinton Avenue
Lawrence Avenue
Morningside Avenue
Highway 2A
 Highway 401
Sheppard Avenue/Port Union Road
Whites Road
Liverpool Road
Brock Road
Westney Road
Harwood Avenue
East end Lake Ridge Road (Continues as Dundas Street into Whitby)
Location
Major citiesToronto
Pickering
TownsAjax
Highway system
Roads in Ontario

Due to its diagonal course near the shore of Lake Ontario, the street is the terminus of many arterial roads in eastern Toronto, both east-west and north-south, with a few continuing for a short distance after as minor residential streets. However Lawrence Avenue continues as a major arterial for a considerable distance beyond it.

Because the road no longer bears the name "Kingston Road" anywhere east of the Toronto area, the street has been dramatically shortened from its original length. This is in contrast to other long-distance historic "streets" such as Dundas Street, which runs from Toronto to London and still carries that name in the latter city and in many points in between.

History

American engineer Asa Danforth Jr. was contracted to build a road as a route to connect Toronto (then called York) with the mouth of the Trent River in 1799 at a cost of $90.00 per mile. The road, known as The Scarborough Front Road, was completed by December 18, 1800, but was poorly maintained thereafter. In 1815 the Kingston Road was surveyed and it followed the line, in many cases, of the former road laid out by Asa Danforth as far as the Trent River. Beyond that point, the two historic roads diverge. The Kingston Road was completed in 1817, serving as a post road for stagecoaches delivering mail on a rigid schedule.

Route description
Kingston Road just west of Main Street in the Upper Beaches, looking southwest towards downtown Toronto.

The Toronto section runs from Queen Street East, as a continuation of Eastern Avenue, just west of Woodbine Avenue (route to Lake Shore Boulevard, the westerly continuation of former Highway 2), through Scarborough to Toronto's eastern city limits with Durham Region, where it continues into Pickering and Ajax (as Durham Regional Highway 2), and officially ends where its name changes to Dundas Street in Whitby, at Lake Ridge Road (Durham Regional Road 23), just west of Highway 412.

A small portion of road parallel to Kingston Road is called Old Kingston Road running near the Highland Creek, east of Morningside Avenue. There is a discontinuity and a large reduction in capacity as the road reverts to the original route at an interchange with Military Trail, where traffic is defaulted onto Highway 2A, which was constructed in 1947 as a precursor to Highway 401, and later became a spur when that highway was extended westwards along a more northerly alignment. To facilitate traffic to and from Highway 401, and to preserve the historic village of West Hill, the spur was retained and Kingston Road was never widened and reconnected as a through street, despite having six lanes on either side of West Hill.[2] Other former, parallel sections also called Old Kingston Road, exist in Ajax and Courtice, although Kingston Road proper does not reach Courtice today. There is also an old section of the old Danforth Road in Grafton.

The southwestern-most section in the Beaches area is a traditional urban street with storefronts, high pedestrian traffic, and streetcars. The speed limit in that section is 50 km/h (31 mph).

Until Highway 401 was constructed, Kingston Road was the principal route from Toronto to points east. Accordingly, it became the site of numerous inns and motels, many of which still dot the road, particularly in Scarborough. Now some of these inns are being demolished to make way for townhouse developments. Kingston Road is a six-lane principal arterial road through most of Scarborough, narrowing to four lanes in Durham, with a 60 km/h (37 mph) speed limit for the most part.

Public Transit

Kingston Road Tramway

From 1875 to 1887 Kingston Road Tramway ran horsecars from Don Rver (Don Bridge - now Old Eastern Avenue Bridge) to Main Street (moved further east to Blantyre Avenue in 1878 to serve Scarboro Heights Hotel[3]).[4] The single track route had three major stops (Don Bridge, Woodbine, Ben Lamond Hotel at Main Street and Scarboro Heights Hotel at Blantyre Avenue) running 12 times daily and 13 on Saturday in summer. The route ceased operation in 1887.

Streetcar

In Toronto, the street is served by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), which operates a streetcar service (with one running only 503 Kingston Rd) route during weekday daytime and streetcars being replaced by buses during evenings, weekends and holidays) west of Victoria Park Avenue and three bus routes further east in Scarborough. In Durham, Kingston Road is served by Durham Region Transit's (DRT) Pulse bus rapid transit and GO Transit, which both operate routes, originating in Toronto, with duplicate routing (although routing and termini are separate within Toronto) along it.

The regular routes (showing branches with maximum coverage) primarily serving the street are:

Toronto (TTC):

Route Direction and Termini
503
 Kingston Rd[5] WB To Spadina Avenue
via King Street 		EB To Victoria Park Avenue (Bingham Loop)
12+
 Kingston Rd[6] WB To Victoria Park Subway Station
via Victoria Park Avenue		 EB To U of T Scarborough (D branch)
102+
 Markham Rd[7] WB To Warden Subway Station
via St. Clair Avenue		 EB To (All branches serve Kingston Rd. as
far east as Markham Road before turning off)
86+
 Scarborough[8] WB To Kennedy Subway/RT Station
via Eglinton Avenue		 EB To (Branches A,C, and E serve Kingston Rd. as
far east as Meadowvale Road before turning off)

Durham Region (DRT) and GO Transit:

Route Direction and Termini
900
 Highway 2[9] WB To University of Toronto Scarborough Campus
via Ellesmere Road		 EB To Mary Street in Oshawa
via Dundas and King/Bond Streets
Route Direction and Termini
92+
 Yorkdale/Oshawa[10] WB To Yorkdale Bus Terminal (main route)
Finch Bus Terminal (A branch)
via Highway 401		 EB To Oshawa Bus Terminal
via Dundas and King/Bond Streets

(main route)

See also

References
  1. "Kingston Road route". Google Maps. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  2. Brown p. 105
  3. https://static.torontopubliclibrary.ca/da/images/LC/1879-scarboro-sb.jpg
  4. http://www.beachesliving.ca/pages/index.php?act=landmark&id=130
  5. "TTC Description of 503 Kingston Rd". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  6. "TTC Description of 12 Kingston Rd". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  7. "TTC Description of 102 Markham Rd". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  8. "TTC Description of 86 Scarborough". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  9. "DRT Pulse Map" (PDF). Durham Region Transit. Region of Durham. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  10. Yorkdale/Oshawa GO Bus Map
Bibliography
  • Brown, Ron (1997). Toronto's Lost Villages. Polar Bear Press. ISBN 1-896757-02-2.
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