Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. North of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, in
York Region
The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...
, Bayview is designated as York Regional Road 34.
History
Bayview Avenue follows the first concession line, laid east of Yonge Street. Over time, the concession road became known as East York Avenue, a reference to the division it formed between the city of Toronto and the township of East York. In 1931, James Stanley McLean constructed "Bay View" (now known as McLean House), a house overlooking the Don Valley with a view south down to
Toronto Bay
Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational b ...
, on the edge of
Moore Park and ultimately this led to the road becoming known as Bayview Avenue. On August 17, 1959, Bayview was extended south from Moore Avenue in Leaside to
Front Street. The northern section of this extension was routed alongside Pottery Road to Nesbitt Drive. South of this, it wraps around a hill and descends into the Lower Don Valley, travelling parallel to the route of the
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway run ...
.
![Bloor viaduct and sugarloaf hill 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Bloor_viaduct_and_sugarloaf_hill_1917.PNG)
This addition is frequently referred to as the Bayview Extension. It was constructed as part of the
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway run ...
project, and necessitated the removal of "Sugarloaf Hill" directly north of the Bloor Street Viaduct. The extension fulfilled the "central spoke" in the building of the "Don Valley Roadway" as proposed in the 1940s. A route through the ravine to St. Clair Avenue was replaced with the present route which stays within the Don Valley proper. With the creations of the
Corktown Common
Corktown Common is a park in the south eastern portion of the West Don Lands neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which opened in 2013. It borders the Don River (Ontario), Don River to the east. It was built on remediated industrial lands t ...
in 2013, the southern end of the Bayview Avenue Extension now terminates at Mill Street.
The list of streets removed or used to create the extension included:
* Don Roadway West – from Front Street to Winchester Street
* Marriott – from north of Bloor Street beginning at Park Drive (now Park Drive Reservation Trail)
In the late 1990s, York Region conducted several road needs studies near Lake Wilcox, which determined that the disjointed and disconnected Bayview Avenue should be connected from Stouffville Road in the south to Bloomington Road in the north. A lengthy battle ensued between environmentalists, upset over continuing construction in the supposedly protected Oak Ridges Moraine. The discovery of
Jefferson salamanders in the study area resulted in several modifications to the design of the route, including a structure over a dry ravine, as well as five amphibian tunnels. On November 17, 2002, the new extension was opened, including a widened intersection at Stouffville Road. The former route of Bayview was turned into several short streets (Olde Bayview Avenue, Sunset Beach Road and Bayview Park Lane), which lie directly west of the new roadway.
Bayview Avenue was once proposed to be renamed Kilgour Avenue by the town of
Leaside
Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. The area takes its name from William Lea and the Lea family, who se ...
, after Joseph Kilgour, whose widow sold his farm, ''Sunnybrook'', to the city of Toronto on the condition that it never be developed. Today,
Sunnybrook Hospital and
Sunnybrook Park
Sunnybrook Park is a large public park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located north of Leaside and south of the Bridle Path areas of the city. The park is home to many bike trails, dog parks, and Sunnybrook Stables.
History
Sunnybrook was ...
occupy those lands. While Bayview was never renamed, a recently constructed street south of the hospital carries the name ''Kilgour Road'' today.
Route description
The southern end of Bayview Avenue starts at Mill Street in Toronto’s
Corktown Common
Corktown Common is a park in the south eastern portion of the West Don Lands neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which opened in 2013. It borders the Don River (Ontario), Don River to the east. It was built on remediated industrial lands t ...
. For the first part of its route northward it runs through the
Don Valley, on the West side of the river opposite the
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway run ...
. Along this stretch a steep cliff separates it from neighbourhoods such as
Cabbagetown.
![Bayview Avenue Across Bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Bayview_Avenue_Across_Bridge.jpg)
Bayview exits the Don Valley, passing through the
Governor's Bridge neighbourhood and entering
Leaside
Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. The area takes its name from William Lea and the Lea family, who se ...
. It is the major commercial street for Leaside, home to many small shops and restaurants. North of Leaside Bayview runs across several tributaries of the Don River and is carried over one of them by the six-lane
Bayview Bridge. This is the western portion of the wealthy
Lawrence Park neighbourhood, and just to the east is the
Bridle Path
A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...
, the single wealthiest area of Toronto. A number of major institutions are found in this area including
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC), commonly known as Sunnybrook Hospital or simply Sunnybrook, is an academic health science centre
An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic healt ...
,
Glendon College
Glendon College is a public liberal arts college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formally the federated bilingual campus of York University, it is one of the school's nine colleges and 11 faculties with 100 full-time faculty members and a student po ...
,
Toronto French School
The Toronto French School (TFS), founded in 1962, is an independent, bilingual, co-educational, non-denominational school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Charles III, as King of Canada, is the royal patron of the school. The school rebranded in 2 ...
,
The Granite Club
The Granite Club (founded as the Toronto Granite Curling Club) is a private social and athletic club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1875, it has a long history of sports competition. It is located at 2350 Bayview Avenue, north of midto ...
,
The Crescent School, and the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf.
North of York Mills Avenue Bayview becomes one of the major north-south arterials for suburban
North York
North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...
. It passes through the neighbourhoods of
Bayview Village
Bayview Village is an neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the federal Don Valley North riding and the provincial Don Valley North electoral district, and Toronto electoral Ward 17: Don Valley North. In 2006, it had a populati ...
,
Bayview Woods,
Willowdale, and
Newtonbrook
Newtonbrook is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the area around Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in the district of North York between the east and west branches of the Don River. Officially, the area is divided into two n ...
.
It runs north beyond
Steeles Avenue
Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of Regional Municipality of York, York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from ...
, Toronto’s northern city limit, and continues north through York Region, where it is formally identified as York Regional Road 34. It is one of the main arterial roads for
Thornhill and
Richmond Hill. It then passes through the
Oak Ridges Moraine
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most signif ...
, passing a number of parks and conservation areas. North of the moraine the street again enters urban areas, passing through
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
and
Newmarket. It ends in Newmarket where it turns into Prospect Street.
Bayview Avenue is also home to major places of worship of almost every major religious tradition including
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s, an
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
, the city’s largest
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
churches, Canada’s largest
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Temple, Toronto’s largest
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
cathedral, and Canada’s only
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...
Temple. These can all be found along a 15-kilometre section of the road.
Transit
The
TTC bus route that services most of the length of Bayview Avenue within Toronto is the 11 Bayview, with the 28 Bayview South running south of it. Route 28 had originally been 28 Davisville, but it was modified in 2014. It now has full albeit less frequent service than the 11 Bayview route. From 2008-2014, the route ran its rush hour route on weekdays, then to the Brick Works during the day on weekends.
In York Region, YRT runs Routes 54 and 91, with Route 91 and its branch routes serving the portion of Bayview south of Oak Ridges, and Route 54 serving
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
and
Newmarket. Within the Don River valley, much of Bayview runs parallel to the
Richmond Hill GO Transit line.
The routes mainly serving Bayview Avenue are:
Toronto (
TTC):
York Region (
YRT):
Landmarks
See also
*
Bayview Ghost
References
{{Streets in Toronto
Roads in Toronto