(Redirected from Kingston Road, Toronto)'Kingston Road' (originally "The Kingston Road") was built by American engineer
Asa Danforth as a route to connect
Toronto (then called York) with
Kingston, Ontario.
The name of the street is derived from the route to
Kingston, Ontario (also known as 'Governor's Road'), then the primary settlement in the colony. It is one of the main
arterial roads in the eastern part of Toronto.
The Toronto section runs from
Queen Street East, joining with
Eastern Avenue, just west of
Woodbine Avenue (route to
Lake Shore Boulevard) through
Scarborough to Toronto's eastern city limits with
Durham Region, where it continues as
Durham Regional Highway 2.
The road was once part of
Highway 2, but provincial downloading in the late 1990s meant that the road is now just a local route called Kingston Road.
A small portion of road parallel to Kingston Road is called 'Old Kingston Road' running near the
Highland Creek, east of
Morningside Avenue. The road reverts to the original route, at the junction with the former
Highway 2A, (as well as
Military Trail).
The initial sections in the
Beaches area take the form of a historic urban arterial road with extensive storefronts and pedestrian traffic. The
TTC's 502 to McCaul and
503 to York streetcars run along Kingston Road during the daytime on weekdays (evening, weekend and holiday service is provided by
buses). The speed limit in that section is 50 km/h (30 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 still a fast route to go from Scarborough to
The Beach, being a six-lane principal arterial road through most of Scarborough, with a 60 km/h (40 mph) speed limit for the most part.
See also
★
Highway 401
★
Highway 2
★
Highway 2A