Keele Street

Keele Street

Keele St within Toronto
Location Toronto, York Region
North end King Street, in the Holland Marsh
South end Bloor Street
East Dufferin Street
West Jane Street

Keele Street is a north-south road in Toronto and York Region (York Regional Road 6) in Ontario, Canada. It stretches 47 km, running from Bloor Street in Toronto to the Holland Marsh. South of Bloor Street, the roadway is today known as Parkside Drive, but was originally part of Keele Street.[1] It was renamed in 1921 by the City of Toronto.[2]

Most of Keele runs directly along a former concession road (Third Line West of Yonge Street) allowance. Keele street was named for local businessman and farmer William Conway Keele who lived in what is West Toronto Junction or Lambton Mills area.

Route

Parkside Drive begins at Lake Shore Boulevard near Sunnyside Beach, site of the former Sunnyside Amusement Park. It runs north forming the eastern boundary to High Park until Bloor Street. To the east is the Roncesvalles neighbourhood.

North of Bloor it becomes Keele. It runs through the residential High Park North neighbourhood and into the Junction, which contains a mix of residential and industrial areas around the railway tracks. It passes near the once important CPR West Toronto Yard. While Keele originally ran straight north, today there is a brief cut-off to deviate around the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway corridors, near the former Canada Packers stock yards.

It resumes south of Eglinton Avenue, and connects with Weston Road by Rogers Road. There is a minor jog at Eglinton, via Trethewey Drive and Yore Road. The road servers major arteries for suburban neighbourhoods in York and North York such as Silverthorn, Amesbury, and Maple Leaf. North of Highway 401 it passes by Downsview Airport and forms the border between the residential neighbourhoods to the west and the large Keele-Finch industrial area to the east. Keele also forms the eastern border of York University.

At Steeles Avenue, the road allowance between the former North York and Vaughan Townships was connected in the early 1960s. North of Steeles, in York region, Keele continues to pass through industrial areas. It runs to the west of the MacMillan Yard, Canada's largest rail yard. North of Rutherford Road Keele Street is the main street for Maple, once a small town, but today a rapidly growing suburb. North of Maple, Keele Street passes through largely rural areas, but also serves as a major street for Hope and King City.

Intersections

Keele and Dundas in the Junction

Major streets in Toronto which intersect with Keele (south to north):

Transit

Keele and Dundas in 1923

A portion of Keele was once a major streetcar route. The Toronto Suburban Railway ran streetcars along Keele from Dundas West to Weston Rd to connect to Lambton, Weston, and Woodbridge. The Toronto Transit Commission took over the Toronto Suburban Railway routes in the 1920s, and continued to run the northwestern streetcars on behalf of York Township. The streetcar lines were converted to buses in the late 1940s, and since then Keele has been served by buses.[3]

Today Keele is served by the 41 Keele bus route, which runs from Keele subway station to Steeles. North of Steeles the TTC operates the 107 Keele North on behalf of York Region. It runs along Keele to Teston Road in Vaughan. York Region Transit also operates the 22 King City along Keele, running from Steeles to King Rd in King City. The high speed Viva Purple line also runs along a portion of Keele between Steeles and Highway 7.

Landmarks

Landmark Cross street Notes Image
High Park Bloor St
Keele subway station Bloor St
CPR West Toronto Yard Dundas St
George Harvey Collegiate Institute Rogers Road
York Memorial Collegiate Institute Eglinton Ave
Humber River Regional Hospital, Keele Street Campus Eglinton Ave
Downsview Park Sheppard Ave Former airfield, now a park
York University Steeles Ave Toronto's second largest university
MacMillan Yard Highway 7 Largest rail yard in Canada
Keele Valley Landfill Major Mackenzie Once Toronto's main landfill
King City GO Station Station Rd
All Saints, King City King Rd
Hogan's Inn King Rd
St. Thomas of Villanova College Sideroad 15
Mary Lake Augustinian Monastery Sideroad 15

References

  1. ↑ "Map of greater Toronto and suburbs (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - 1916"
  2. ↑ City of Toronto Bylaw 8663 (1921)
  3. ↑ James Bow. "[The Township of York Railways. http://transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4119.shtml]" Transit Toronto. May 30, 2009.
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