McCowan Road

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McCowan Road
McCowan Road Toronto Sign.jpg
McCowan Road Markham Sign.jpg York Regional Road 67.svg
York Regional Road 67
McCowan Road York Region-Toronto Map.jpg
McCowan Road within Toronto and York Region, road is highlighted in Pink on the map.
Namesake McCowan Family
Location Toronto
Markham
Whitchurch-Stouffville
East Gwillimbury
Georgina
South end Kingston Road
In Toronto (Continues as Cathedral Bluffs Drive)
Major
junctions
St. Clair Avenue
Eglinton Avenue
——Road Branches——
Lawrence Avenue
Ellesmere Road
Ontario 401 crown.svg  Highway 401
Sheppard Avenue
Finch Avenue
York Regional Road 95.svg Steeles Avenue
Ontario 407 crown.svg  Highway 407
York Regional Road 7.svg Highway 7
York Regional Road 25.svg Major Mackenzie Drive
York Regional Road 49.svg Elgin Mills Road
York Regional Road 29.svg 19th Avenue
York Regional Road 14.svg Stouffville Road
York Regional Road 40.svg Bloomington Road
York Regional Road 15.svg Aurora Road
York Regional Road 26.svg St. John’s Sideroad
York Regional Road 74.svg Vivian Road
York Regional Road 31.svg Davis Drive
Herald Road
York Regional Road 13.svg Mount Albert Road
YRR45.png Doane Road
York Regional Road 77.svg Queensville Sideroad
Holborn Road
Boag Road
York Regional Road 32.svg Ravenshoe Road
Glenwoods Avenue
Mount Pleasant Trail
York Regional Road 79.svg Old Homestead Road
Country Mile Lane
North end York Regional Road 8A.svg Baseline Road
In Georgina
Nearby arterial roads in Toronto
McCowan Road within Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario, looking south. This was taken at a bend just south of Stouffville Road. McCowan Road south of Stouffville Road.jpg
McCowan Road within Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario, looking south. This was taken at a bend just south of Stouffville Road.
A view of McCowan Road within Markham, Ontario. Photo taken from south of Steeles Avenue. McCowan Road looking north (2).jpg
A view of McCowan Road within Markham, Ontario. Photo taken from south of Steeles Avenue.
The intersection at McCowan Road and McNicoll Avenue within Toronto. McCowan Road and McNicoll Avenue intersection looking south.jpg
The intersection at McCowan Road and McNicoll Avenue within Toronto.

McCowan Road is a major north-south thoroughfare in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. It runs through the city of Toronto and into the Regional Municipality of York where it ends at the Town of Georgina.

Contents

The road was named for the McCowan Family, a Scottish family patriarch who settled in the area in 1833. [1] The street, the former Lot 22, and later McCowan's Sideroad (officially called McCowan Road by Scarborough Township in 1956), begins at Kingston Road in the City of Toronto and ends at Baseline Road in the Town of Georgina. [2]

In Scarborough, there is a brief break at the Highland Creek between Lawrence and Eglinton Avenues; Danforth Road carries most of the traffic south-southwest of Lawrence. When the Scarborough Town Centre complex was opened in 1973, interchange access to Highway 401 was opened, with Exit 381. With greater vehicle usage, in that area, the road is now 6 lanes from Ellesmere Road to Sheppard Avenue, and additional exit ramps to/from the 401 have been constructed at nearby Brimley Road. North of Sheppard Avenue, CP Rail's Toronto marshalling yards use McCowan as a western limit, and stretch east of Markham Road. [3]

Route description

McCowan Road runs from Kingston Road north to Steeles Avenue, where it becomes York Regional Road 67 in York Region. It is interrupted by a brief 375-meter gap north of Eglinton Avenue due to Highland Creek, where McCowan Park and John McCrae Public School are located. During this break, Danforth Road carries through traffic for approximately 1.75 kilometers. Formerly known as 7th Line in Markham, McCowan Road now intersects Highway 401 at the Scarborough Town Centre, built in 1973. The Scarborough Rapid Transit Line, opened in 1985, crosses McCowan on an elevated track at this location. North of Sheppard Avenue, the road borders the western edge of the Canadian Pacific Railway Toronto marshalling yards, which extend east of Markham Road. [4]

Public transit

McCowan Road is served mainly by TTC Route 129A. Since this is a TTC route running north of Steeles Avenue, passengers must pay another fare when crossing Steeles Avenue. McCowan Road also serves as a temporary terminus for Viva Green lines at McCowan Vivastation at Highway 7 until the Cornell Terminal is completed. Other routes using portions of McCowan Road are YRT Routes 40 (Unionville Local), Route 41 (Markham Local), Route 42 (Breczy South Unionville), Route 45 (Mingay), Route 522(Markham Community Bus) and TTC Route 53B (Steeles East)

The Toronto Transit Commission's Scarborough RT line ends at McCowan Station, but all the connecting buses terminate at the Scarborough Centre Station. These include:

Landmarks

McCowan Road stretches across Toronto, Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, and Georgina. Here are some nearby Landmarks it runs through:

LandmarkCross streetNotesImage
Toronto Public Library Kingston Road
McCowan District Ellesmere Road
McCowan Park Danforth Road
Scarborough Health Network - General Hospital Lawrence Avenue
Scarborough Town Centre Ellesmere Road/Progress Avenue
Woodside Square Finch Avenue
Milliken District Park Steeles Avenue
Markham Sports Dome 14th Avenue
Milne Dame Conservation ParkSouth Unionville Avenue
CF Markville Highway 7
Markham Fairgrounds Elgin Mills Road
Tree Valley Garden Centre Stouffville Road
Applewood Farm Stouffville Road
Lemonville Community CentreMcCowan Road
St. Andrew’s East Golf & Country ClubMcCowan Road
Patterson-Hall TractMcCowan Road
Black EquestrianMcCowan Road
Ridgewood StablesMcCowan Road

Road information

Major cross roads

(from south to north)

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References

  1. Markham Street name origin index https://www.markham.ca/wps/wcm/connect/markham/a7c9a340-5243-4036-a1b5-401e55ee9fb6/streetname-index.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CONVERT_TO=url&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE.Z18_2QD4H901OGV160QC8BLCRJ1001-a7c9a340-5243-4036-a1b5-401e55ee9fb6-msYFNOT#:~:text=McCowan%20Road%20Named%20after%20the,the%207th%20Line%20in%20Markham.
  2. Scarborough Street Names http://scarboroughhistorical.ca/local-history/street-names-of-scarborough/#:~:text=In%20the%201850s%2C%20wood%20boards,and%20McCowan%20Rd.
  3.  TO maps https://map.toronto.ca/torontomaps/ (Map). City of Toronto. 2008. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  4. "McCowan Rd · Ontario, Canada".