Kennedy Road (Toronto)

Kennedy Road is a north-south street in Toronto and York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is one of three major streets in Scarborough, and is home to the business district of Scarborough because of the many hundreds of stores along Kennedy Road. The Toronto section of the road is mainly residential with high rise apartment buildings, but there is a large section of commercial activity from Lawrence Avenue East to just north of Sheppard Avenue East. North of Steeles Avenue, it is also known as York Regional Road 3, and traverses Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, East Gwillimbury, and Georgina, where it terminates at Lake Drive East.

Kennedy Road

York_Regional_Road_3
York Regional Road 3
NamesakeThe Kennedy Family
Maintained byCity of Toronto
Region of York
Length46 km (29 mi)
LocationToronto
Markham
East Gwillimbury
Georgina
South endHighview Avenue in Toronto
Major
junctions
St Clair Avenue
Eglinton Avenue
Lawrence Avenue
Ellesmere Road
 Highway 401
Sheppard Avenue
Finch Avenue
Steeles Avenue
 Highway 407
Highway 7
Major Mackenzie Drive
Elgin Mills Road
19th Avenue
Stouffville Road
Bloomington Road
Aurora Road
St. John’s Sideroad
Vivian Road
Davis Drive
Herald Road
Mount Albert Road
Doane Road
Queensville Sideroad
North endLake Street
in Georgina
Nearby arterial roads in Toronto
Kennedy Road, south of Ellesmere Road, circa 1925
This photo shown is the Intersection of Kennedy Road looking south of Ellesmere in 2024.

Kennedy Road is named for the Kennedy family, one of the many early farming settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries to which Thomas Laird Kennedy belonged. It is likely linked to Private John Kennedy of the 3rd Regiment of the York Militia (now The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) who was granted 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land near Kennedy Road and Ellesmere Road.

Kennedy Road is a rare example of two major streets in the Greater Toronto Area to share names with other, equally major roads, the other Kennedy Road being in Peel Region. In York Region, former parts of Kennedy Road include Old Kennedy Road and Main Street Unionville. Kennedy Road is cut off between Davis Drive and Herald Road, because of the Pheasant Run Golf Club. Beyond that, Kennedy Road runs all the way north to Lake Simcoe, ending at Lake Drive.

In the 1990s, Kennedy Road was realigned at Steeles Avenue to connect the broken section, and was realigned east 300 m between Highway 407 and 16th Avenue. From Steeles Avenue, it is a four-lane road northward to Major Mackenzie Drive East, and a two-lane road from Major Mackenzie Drive East to Lake Simcoe.

There are low-density residential and commercial buildings from Steeles Avenue to Major Mackenzie Drive East and from Mahoney Avenue to Lake Drive East. Future high density residential and commercial development is beginning to go up in Downtown Markham, as Kennedy forms its eastern boundary. Lots of farmland and forests can be found between Mahoney Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive East.

Commerce

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The Kennedy Road Business Improvement Association (BIA) represents more than 300 businesses located on the road between Lawrence Avenue East and Kennedy Commons at Highway 401.[1]

Largest neighbourhoods

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Attractions

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Public transit

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In Toronto, service on Kennedy Road north of Eglinton Avenue is provided by the 43 Kennedy route. South of Eglinton, routes 113 Danforth (to Danforth Road) and 20 Cliffside (from Park Street to Highview Avenue) travel on Kennedy.

In York Region, Kennedy Road is served mainly by YRT Route 8. Other routes using portions of Kennedy Road are YRT Routes 2 (Milliken, at Milliken GO Train arrival times), 18 (Bur Oak), and 522 (Markham Community Bus).

The Viva Purple and Viva Green lines pass through Kennedy Vivastation at Highway 7.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About". Kennedy Road BIA. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Your Community: Dorset Park's Kennedy Road home to thriving food scene". CityNews Everywhere. Toronto. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
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