Weston Road is a north–south street in the west end 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 anch ...

and western

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 ...

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 C ...

, Canada. The road is named for the former Village of

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

, which was located near Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West.

Route description

In the south, Weston Road begins at St. Clair Avenue opposite the north end of the southern leg of

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 originall ...

. The southernmost 55 metres of the street north of St. Clair, where the roadway diverted to the west off its straight baseline, was formerly a part of Keele, which officially breaks here and is cut off from its northern section. Weston Road formerly began at the diversion, but this stretch of Keele St. was redesignated as part of Weston Road in 2006. Weston Road then travels diagonally across the general arterial road grid in a northwesterly direction to Highway 401, passing through

Mount Dennis Mount Dennis is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is within the former suburb of York, now Ward 11 in Toronto. Primarily located along Eglinton Avenue between the Humber River and the Kitchener commuter rail line, the neighbourhoo ...

at Eglinton Avenue, and

north of Lawrence Avenue. North of the 401, it becomes a normal grid road and runs parallel to Highway 400 to

Steeles Avenue 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 th ...

and into

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

. Most of Weston Road is a four-lane principal arterial road through residential areas, except for the northern section which is mostly industrial. The speed limit south of

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 ...

is 50 km/h (30 mph), which increases to 60 km/h (35 mph) between Finch and Steeles. North of the Toronto city limits at Steeles Avenue, Weston Road enters

, where it is designated as York Regional Road 56. It passes through the two western municipalities of York Region, Vaughan in the south and

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in the north. The speed limit through the urbanized parts of Vaughan is 60 km/h (35 mph), while the limit is 80 km/h (50 mph) in rural Vaughan and King Township. The northern terminus of the road is at Highway 9 in the

Holland Marsh The Holland Marsh is a wetland and agricultural area in Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. It lies entirely within the valley of the Holland River, stretching from the northern edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine near Schomberg to the river mo ...

History

York Township, Weston Rd, north of Rogers Rd, looking north,

Weston Road was first laid out in the first decade of the 1800s to connect Dundas Street to the village of Weston. This followed the route of what is today Old Weston and (west of Watts Avenue) Rogers Roads, then the route of the current Weston Road north to Weston. The old routing was renamed in 1948. Between 1810 and 1820, it was extended north to Vaughan Township by following Sixth Line West. In 1841, the route was bought by private interests and it became the "Weston Plank Road", a toll road of planks. The Weston Plank Road extended from Dundas Street north to Musson's Bridge over the Humber, where Albion Road began. The company built its headquarters at St. Phillips Road and Weston Road. The building exists today at 2371 Weston Road. In 1846, the Weston Plank Road Company built Albion Plank Road from Musson's bridge northwest to Clairville where one could continue north to

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

via

Indian Line The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by George III of the United Kingdom, King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred New France, French territory ...

. In the 1850s, the roads were assumed by the township and its municipalities.

Old Weston Road(s)

Additionally, there are two bypassed "Old Weston Roads"; the first being located in the environs of the southern terminus. It begins as a minor stub running north from intersection of Dundas and Dupont Streets, and breaks at the

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

tracks, which were bridged until the 1970s. It resumes just south of the western terminus of

Davenport Road Davenport Road is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is believed to follow an old native trail along the foot of the scarp of the old shoreline of glacial Lake Iroquois. It currently runs from Yonge Street in the eas ...

, widens to four lanes, passes through the neighbourhood of Silverthorne, and ends at Rogers Road, the westernmost section of which also formed part of the original Weston Road, before the construction of the new Weston Road course south of Rogers Road's present terminus. The second is located in Vaughan, just north of Steeles Ave, and was created when a jog was eliminated in the 1990s. It lies just east of the linking segment where it continues south as Signet Drive (built as a southerly extension of the offset York Region section), and ends at a T-intersection with Weston Road two blocks north of Steeles.

Public transit

Two

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

serve Weston Road: 89 Weston (serving the stretch from Albion Road to

St. Clair Avenue West 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 West, Queen Street. ...

, then via

to Keele subway station) and 165 Weston Road North (serving from Steeles Avenue West to the stretch from Albion Road, then via

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 Rodr ...

to Wilson station and York Mills station). One express bus route serve Weston Road: 989 Weston Express (serving between Keele station and Steeles Avenue West). North of Steeles Avenue,

York Region Transit York Region Transit (YRT) is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road. YRT operates 65 full-time, rush hour and limited routes, 35 school services, and six Viva bu ...

route 165 Weston serves Weston Road, running from

Pioneer Village station Pioneer Village is a subway station on the Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. It is located under the intersection of Northwest Gate and Steeles Avenue, at the city boundaries of Toronto and Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. A Toronto Trans ...

to Major Mackenzie Drive in Vaughan.

In popular culture

The road is mentioned in Toronto native

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's 2016 song "Weston Road Flows", and his 2018 song "

God's Plan God's Plan may refer to: Theological concepts * God's plan, or the Will of God * Salvation, the saving of a soul from sin and its consequences ** Plan of salvation, a Christian concept describing God's plan to save humanity ** Plan of salvation ( ...

References

External links

Google Maps of Weston RoadGoogle Maps of Old Weston Road
{{Streets in Toronto Roads in Toronto Transport in King, Ontario Transport in Vaughan Plank road