Metro Toronto Roads and Traffic (later Metro Transportation) was a department within the former
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
.
The department was responsible for maintaining major
arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...
s,
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s and local
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
s systems (Gardiner Expressway, Don Valley Parkway and W.R. Allen Road) in
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
and all traffic signal-controlled intersections. Metro roads were akin to
county roads
A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...
, but were not signposted with numbers.
The department did have influence over the design of the city. One example is the width of Yonge Street. When the
Toronto Eaton Centre
The Toronto Eaton Centre (corporately styled as the CF Toronto Eaton Centre since September 2015, and commonly referred to simply as the Eaton Centre) is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is ...
was built, it was setback from the street as to allow the possibility of a future lane of traffic. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the mall was allowed to expand out towards Yonge.
Metro Toronto Roads and Traffic bronze plaques are found on bridges throughout Toronto, but some are being replaced with City of Toronto signs as they are refurbished by Toronto Transportation.
Metro Roads
Most major roads in Toronto were under the authority of Metro Roads and Traffic and a few expressways:
*
Gardiner Expressway
The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends ...
*
W.R. Allen Road
*
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 ...
Streets:
*
Yonge Street
Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes.
Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Kipling Avenue
Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate section ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Islington Avenue
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Royal York Road
Royal York Road, historically known as Church Street or New Church Street, is a north-south arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 5 concessions (10 km) west of Yonge Street, and runs through many residential n ...
*
Jane Street
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 fi ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Keele Street
Keele Street is a north–south road in Toronto, Vaughan and King in Ontario, Canada. It stretches , 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 ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Weston Road
Weston Road is a north–south street in the west end of Toronto and western York Region in Ontario, Canada. The road is named for the former Village of Weston, which was located near Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West.
Route description
In ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Parkside Drive
Parkside may refer to:
Australia
*Parkside, Queensland, a suburb in the City of Mount Isa
*Parkside, South Australia
Canada
*Parkside, Saskatchewan, a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan
New Zealand
*Parkside, New Zealand, a ...
*
Dufferin Street
Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northe ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Bathurst Street within Metro Toronto
*
Spadina Road
Spadina, originating from the Ojibwa word ''ishpadinaa'' meaning "high place/ridge", may refer to:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*Spadina House, a mansion and museum
* Spadina Hotel (built 1873), a historic building
*Spadina Avenue, a major street
*Sp ...
,
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods.
Spadina Avenue runs south ...
and
Spadina Crescent
*
Avenue Road
Avenue Road is a major north–south street in Toronto, Ontario. The road is a continuation of University Avenue, linked to it via Queen's Park and Queen's Park Crescent East and West to form a single through route.''Toronto Pocket Street Atla ...
*
York Street
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...
*
University Avenue
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
*
Jarvis Street
Jarvis Street is a north-south thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, passing through some of the oldest developed areas in the city. Its alignment extends from Queens Quay East in the south to Bloor Street in the north. The segment s ...
*
Mount Pleasant Road
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
*
Bayview Avenue within Metro Toronto
*
Leslie Street
Leslie may refer to:
* Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters
Families
* Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast"
* Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble famil ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Don Mills Road
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
* Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vil ...
*
Victoria Park Avenue
Victoria Park Avenue is a major north-south route in eastern Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the western border of Scarborough, separating it from Old Toronto, East York, and North York. The common nickname for it is VP or Vic Park.
History
Vi ...
*
Warden Avenue
A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint.
''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Kennedy Road within Metro Toronto
*
McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following:
* McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy
*Millar McCowan, Scottish confectionery company
*McCowan (surname)
*McCowan Road, a major thoroughfare in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
** A local name for York Regi ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Markham Road Markham may refer to:
It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873.
Biology
* Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia
* ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Morningside Avenue
Morningside Avenue is a suburban arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is entirely within Scarborough, running north by north-west from the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario to the eastern terminus of McNicoll Avenue near the ...
*
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 ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Finch Avenue
Finch Avenue is an arterial thoroughfare that travels east–west in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The road continues west into the Regional Municipality of Peel as Regional Road 2 and east into the Regional Municipality of Durham as Regional ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Albion Road
*
Sheppard Avenue
Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ro ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Wilson Avenue
Wilson may refer to:
People
*Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Rod ...
*
York Mills Road
York Mills Road is an east-west route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada named for the historic village of York Mills that was located on the hill immediately north of today's intersection of York Mills Road and Yonge Street. The village of York Mills i ...
*
Ellesmere Road Ellesmere ( ) may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Ellesmere, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland
* the former name of Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia
Canada
* Ellesmere Island, an Arctic island of Canada and named for ...
*
Lawrence Avenue
*
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 ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Burnhamthorpe Road
Burnhamthorpe Road is a major arterial road in the cities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario; beginning at Dundas Street (from which it initially angles away from before running parallel with), near Islington Avenue, running west and becomin ...
within Metro Toronto
*
St. Clair Avenue
*
Bloor Street
Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkw ...
within Metro Toronto
*
Dundas Street within Metro Toronto
*
Richmond Street
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
*
Adelaide Street
*
Lake Shore Boulevard
Lake Shore Boulevard (often incorrectly compounded as Lakeshore Boulevard) is a major arterial road running along more than half of the Lake Ontario waterfront in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to 1998, two segments of Lake Shore ...
*
The Queensway
The Queensway (or Queensway) is a major street in the municipalities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is a western continuation of Queen Street, after it crosses Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in Toronto. The Queensway is ...
Other tasks assigned to Metro Roads:
* snow removal on Metro Toronto managed roads including use of
TrecanMetromelters
* road repair on Metro Toronto managed roads and bridges
Post amalgamation
The department merged with local departments in 1998 under the
Transportation Services Division, which now handles both major arterial and minor local roads across the city. Some vehicles bearing Metro Toronto Roads and Traffic symbols can still be found in the city, but they will disappear once they are retired or repainted.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metro Toronto Roads And Traffic
Metropolitan Toronto