Vaughan Road
 Vaughan Road is aligned northwest–southeast between Bathurst and St. Clair. Note the singlestreetcar trackin the Old Toronto segment. | |
 | |
| Maintained by | City of Toronto government |
|---|---|
| Location | Toronto |
| Northwest end | NearEglinton Avenue |
| Major junctions | |
| Southeast end | Bathurst Street |
Vaughan Roadis a road inToronto,Ontario,Canada.It is a contourcollector roadthat is parallel to aburiedcreekto the north calledCastle Frank Brook.Vaughan Road begins onBathurst Streetsouth ofSt. Clair Avenue West,then it becomes a north–south street, hence its address numbering system, then it becomes a northwest–southeast street. Finally, Vaughan Road ends in adead-endnear Fairbank station at the intersection ofEglinton AvenueandDufferin Street.Vaughan Road Academyis named after this road.
History
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Vaughan Road was built as early as 1850. Before then, it was a trail used by theFirst Nations.Its original alignment began atYonge Street,followedDavenport Roadto Bathurst Street, then along the current alignment of Vaughan Road into Dufferin Street; in fact, there is still a curve in Dufferin Street at the intersection with Eglinton Avenue, where Vaughan Road connected. By the 1960s, Vaughan Road was closed before it could connect with Eglinton; anEssogas station and parkette later occupied the former right of way and intersection, but demolished in the mid-2010s to accommodateFairbank stationofLine 5 Eglinton,scheduled to open in 2022.[1]Vaughan Road was then extended north along what is now Dufferin Street into Vaughan Township, which later became theCity of Vaughan.Therefore, Vaughan Road is named after the township, which itself is named afterBenjamin Vaughan,aBritishcommissioner who signed a peace treaty with theUnited Statesin 1783.
This road was popular withstreet racersin the 1950s due to its many curves from being parallel to a creek. Since 2000, Vaughan Road had undergone the early stages ofgentrification,especially at the corner of Oakwood and Vaughan, as well as the former City of Toronto stretch of Vaughan Road.
The name was a subject of controversy in recent years. Following themurder of George Floydin 2020, the city will consider to rename Vaughan Road in the future, although the former Vaughan Secondary School was renamed toHodan Nalayeh Secondary Schoolin 2021.[2]
Public transit
[edit]The road passes through the communities ofHumewood–CedarvaleandOakwood–Vaughan.TheToronto Transit Commissionbus route90 Vaughan serves these communities. The terminus of the 90A branch is the Jesmond loop, which uses the streets Jesmond-Oakwood-Vaughan, thus named for one of the streets. The terminus of the main branch is the Eglinton loop, which is active duringrush houronly. Both branches of the routefeedintoSt. Clair West station.There is also a stop at Vaughan Road on the512 St. Clairstreetcar route.The Old City of Toronto segment of the road features an active southbound streetcar track; this formed part of the loop used by Bathurst streetcars to return south, until the route was truncated to Bathurst Station. The track still serves an important role, being the only route by which St. Clair streetcars can leave St. Clair Avenue to connect to the rest of the system for storage and maintenance; although unmarked on transit maps, passengers are generally permitted on streetcars headed south along Bathurst Street via this connector.
Landmarks
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- Doors painted by Nikki Abraham on the west side of Vaughan Road south of St. Clair Avenue; the artwork is inspired byPiet Mondrian'sBroadway Boogie Woogie[3]
- Albert's Real Jamaican Foods
- St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church, first constructed as aPresbyterian,thenUnited Church of Canadacongregation named St. Columba, that merged with St. Clair Avenue United Church to become St. Matthew's in 1966.[4]
- Dutch Dreams (established in 1985 by Theo Aben, it is among Toronto's best known independent ice cream parlours and competes with Albert's Real Jamaican Foods)[5][6][7][8]
- Hogtown Mascots, which has exclusive Canadian rights to design and manufactureMuppets(including those inSesame Street) and costumes based on them for the Canadian market, as well as manufactured mascots for popular non-children's television programs in North America[9]
- Vaughan Road Academy,aToronto District School Boardhigh school first opened on 1927, but closed in 2017 due to low enrollment
- A steel palm tree, built upon a newly constructed bus bay andtraffic islandat the southeast corner of Oakwood and Vaughan, was erected by the city ofTorontoas a tribute to the Caribbean character of the neighbourhood.Rob Davisopposed this project because of the cost of the project. "According to the invoice provided by the tree’s craftsman, the steel sculpture cost $4,200, tax and delivery included. (The 5 Point Community Action group originally considered aluminum for the tree, but opted for the cheaper hot-dipped galvanized steel.)... Although the cost of the whole project (which Davis opposes) totals about $350,000, the island’s metal centrepiece is a small part of the final price..."[10]
References
[edit]- ^Spurr, Ben (October 1, 2020)."New report says the Eglinton Crosstown LRT could open five months late — and without its Eglinton stop".Toronto Star.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
- ^https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/city-to-take-second-look-at-renaming-dundas-st/wcm/5b9f2655-6527-46ae-a58a-d1f4e758de04/amp/
- ^Artist unlocks new vision of a street
- ^"Our story".st.matts.tripod.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2003-04-08.
- ^Ice cream? Or gelato? We've got the scoop
- ^Sweet surprise in store for customer
- ^Save planet one cone at a time
- ^Dipper wins hands down among ice cream scoops
- ^"Home".hogtownmascots.com.
- ^McLean, Jesse (19 October 2010)."The Smell Test: The real cost of a steel palm tree".Toronto Star.Retrieved19 October2010.
External links
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