Jane Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The 5th concession west of
Yonge Street, the road begins at
Bloor Street and continues north into
York Region, before ending at
Davis Drive in
King Township. The road passes through many famous/infamous places, such as
Canada's Wonderland,
Jane and Finch, and
Vaughan Mills
Vaughan Mills is a regional outlet mall located at the southeast quadrant of the Highway 400 and Rutherford Road interchange in Vaughan, Ontario, just south of Canada's Wonderland. It is one of the largest enclosed shopping centres in Canada, ...
. Jane Street is one of the most congested roads in the Greater Toronto Area, with the bus routes serving the road being among the most congested in the
transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
systems
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...
that operate them.
The most famous place on Jane Street would be the
Jane and Finch area, known for being a place of high crime rate, and housing some of the poorest neighbourhoods in Toronto.
The title character of the Barenaked Ladies song "Jane" is Jane St. Clair, and is named after the intersection of Jane and
St. Clair Avenue
St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road (the Third Concession), north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street.
St. Clair Avenue ...
. Steven Page recalls that co-writer Stephen Duffy saw the intersection on a map and remarked that it sounded like the most beautiful intersection in the world; "I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't".
Description
Jane Street's southern end is at
Bloor St West, with
Jane station
Jane is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West, spanning the block east of Jane Street to Armadale Avenue, with entrances from all three street ...
on
Line 2 Bloor-Danforth
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
being situated immediately north of Bloor St West. The road is practically a northward continuation of South Kingsway, a semi-major road one block to the west, though the intended continuation of it is a jog west on Bloor to The Kingsway. Jane Street is a 4 lane road for its entire length until reaching
Teston Road
York Region, located in southcentral Ontario, Canada, assigned approximately 50 regional roads, each with a number ranging from 1 to 99. All expenses of York Regional Roads (for example, snow shovelling, road repairs, traffic lights) are funded ...
, though it has a median lane for most of it north of
Eglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a ...
. In Toronto, it primarily passes through residential areas. It becomes a mixed commercial and residential road after passing
Hwy 407 in York Region, until reaching Teston Road, where it becomes rural and goes down to 2 lanes until its northern terminus at
Davis Drive.
The street passes through the infamous intersection/neighbourhood of
Jane and Finch, known for having a high crime rate.
Passing
Steeles, Line 1's western branch parallels Jane for 2 kilometres until
Hwy 7. In York Region, Jane Street is designated as York Regional Road 55, as part of its road numbering system. It travels through places such as
Canada's Wonderland and
Vaughan Mills
Vaughan Mills is a regional outlet mall located at the southeast quadrant of the Highway 400 and Rutherford Road interchange in Vaughan, Ontario, just south of Canada's Wonderland. It is one of the largest enclosed shopping centres in Canada, ...
.
History
The street was named after Jane Barr by her husband, James. They immigrated from
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in 1907, and a few years later James became a real estate developer in the region north of Toronto (then called York). Numerous streets in James' developments were named after his children, but the most important was named after his wife Jane.
Originally, the street continued south to Lake Ontario with a sinuous course, but that section was redesignated as South Kingsway after Bloor Street was extended west across the
Humber River (where it originally ended) by being realigned into a reverse curve which incorporated a short length of the southern segment of Jane, severing it from the section north of Bloor. Also, until the early 1970's the street had a break through the valley of the
Humber River, near what is today
Eglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a ...
, which itself ended at the river on the east side. The two sections of Jane were joined by bridging the river in a combined project which included extending Eglinton across the valley by linking up with the Richview Side Road on its west side in
Etobicoke
Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...
.
In 2007, there was a proposal for a
Jane LRT
The Jane LRT is an inactive proposal for a light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally proposed in 2007, cancelled in 2010, and later revived in the 2013 "Feeling Congested?" report by the City of Toronto, where it was labelle ...
to be developed, which would run in the centre median of Jane Street. However, the proposal was canceled in 2010, after
Rob Ford had become Mayor of Toronto.
Public Transit
There are 4 subway stations situated either directly on (or close to) Jane Street, from north to south:
on
Line 1:
*
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is a central business district in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Measuring , the district is located at the intersection of Highway 7 and Jane Street, northeast of the Ontario Highway 400, Highway 400 and Ontario Highway 40 ...
*
Highway 407
The following highways are numbered 407:
Canada
* Manitoba Provincial Road 407
* Newfoundland and Labrador Route 407
* Ontario Highway 407
Costa Rica
* National Route 407
Iceland
* Route 407 (Iceland)
Italy
* State road 407
Japan
* Japa ...
*
Pioneer Village
on
Line 2:
*
Jane
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
In the city of Toronto,
TTC route 35 Jane operates from Jane station to Pioneer Village station, with a branch (35B Jane) going via Hullmar Drive between
Finch Avenue West and
Steeles Avenue West
Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from Appleby Line in Milton in the w ...
to serve the
Black Creek neighbourhood. The 935 Jane Express is an express route that follows the same routing as the main 35A branch. There is also a blue night route that operates daily after the subway closes, the 335 Jane. During rush hours, the 35/935 can be notoriously slow as a result of traffic congestion.
In York Region,
YRT route 20 Jane operates from Pioneer Village station to Teston Road. The route also makes intermediate connections with Highway 407 station, as well as Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station.
The University portion of Line 1 Yonge-University parallels Jane Street between Pioneer Village station and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station at Highway 7.
History
Before 1971, Jane Street split at Eglinton Avenue. The 35 Jane would turn at Lambton, and past route 83 Tretheway to run north of
Trethewey Drive to
Steeles.
In 2010, the 195 Jane Rocket was designated as an express route on Jane St, connecting
Jane station
Jane is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West, spanning the block east of Jane Street to Armadale Avenue, with entrances from all three street ...
in the south with
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
in the north. On December 17, 2017, both the 35 and 195 were changed at the northern end to serve
Pioneer Village station, with service around York University being replaced by
York University station
York University is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. It is located on the main Keele Campus of York University, near Ian Macdonald and York Boulevards in the former city of North York.
History
The official g ...
and
the Line 1 extension. In 2018, the 195 Jane rocket was renumbered and renamed to the 935 Jane Express as part of the TTC's rebranding of express bus routes.
Future
In Toronto, there are proposals to put RapidTO bus lanes from Eglinton to Steeles. Once
Line 5 Eglinton begins operations, the TTC is expecting the 35 to split at Eglinton. The 35 Jane would serve Jane Street north of Eglinton, and a new 27 Jane South route would be created to replace service south of Eglinton. Additionally, once the
Line 6 Finch West
Line 6 Finch West, also known as the Finch West LRT, is a light rail line under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. The , 18-stop line is to extend from Finch West station on Line 1 Yonge†...
LRT begins operations, there will be a stop at Jane and Finch. With the Line 5 West Extension, there will be a new station at the intersection of Jane and Eglinton.
There were, and still are, proposals for a
Jane LRT
The Jane LRT is an inactive proposal for a light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally proposed in 2007, cancelled in 2010, and later revived in the 2013 "Feeling Congested?" report by the City of Toronto, where it was labelle ...
. However, plans for the LRT have fallen through in recent times, as focus was made to other transit projects, including the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRTs.
Landmarks
See also
*
List of north-south roads in Toronto
References
{{Streets in Toronto
Roads in Toronto