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| York Regional Road 67 | |||||||
 McCowan Road in Toronto, with the Scarborough Subway Extension under construction in the distance in November 2025 | |||||||
 Route of McCowan Road through Toronto and York Region (blue line) | |||||||
| Namesake | McCowan Family | ||||||
| Maintained by | City of Toronto Region of York | ||||||
| Length | 64.3 km (40.0 mi)[1][2][3][4] (combined lengths of 4 sections) | ||||||
| Location | Toronto Markham Whitchurch-Stouffville East Gwillimbury Georgina | ||||||
| South end | Kingston Road In Toronto (continues as Cathedral Bluffs Drive) | ||||||
| Major junctions | Eglinton Avenue —Road Breaks (2X)— Danforth Road (continuation of) Lawrence Avenue Ellesmere Road  Highway 401 Sheppard Avenue Finch Avenue Steeles Avenue  14th Avenue 407 ETR Highway 7 Major Mackenzie Drive 16th Avenue Elgin Mills Road  Stouffville Road Bloomington Road Aurora Road St. John’s Sideroad ——Road Breaks——  Davis Drive Mount Albert Road Queensville Sideroad Ravenshoe Road | ||||||
| North end |  Baseline Roadin Georgina | ||||||
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McCowan Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. It runs through the city of Toronto and into the Regional Municipality of York where it ends at the Town of Georgina.
The road was named for the McCowan Family, a Scottish family patriarch who settled in the area in 1833.[5] The street, the former Lot 22, and later McCowan's Sideroad (officially named McCowan Road by Scarborough Township in 1956), begins at Kingston Road in the City of Toronto and ends at Baseline Road in the Town of Georgina.[6]
In Scarborough, there is a brief break at the Highland Creek between Lawrence and Eglinton Avenues; Danforth Road carries most of the traffic south-southwest of Lawrence. When the Scarborough Town Centre complex opened in 1973, an interchange with Highway 401 was opened. With greater vehicle usage, in that area, the road is now six lanes from Ellesmere Road to Sheppard Avenue, and additional exit ramps to/from the 401 have been constructed at nearby Brimley Road.[7]
Route description
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McCowan Road runs from Kingston Road north to Steeles Avenue, where it becomes York Regional Road 67 in York Region. It is interrupted by a brief 375-meter gap north of Eglinton Avenue due to Highland Creek, where McCowan Park and John McCrae Public School are located. During this break, Danforth Road carries through traffic for approximately 1.75 kilometers. Formerly known as 7th Line in Markham, McCowan Road interchanges with Highway 401 at the Scarborough Town Centre within the Scarborough City Centre district. North of Sheppard Avenue, the road borders the western edge of the Canadian Pacific Railway Toronto marshalling yards, which extends to the east of Markham Road.[8]
Public transit
McCowan Road is served mainly by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Route 16 McCowan bus south of Scarborough Centre station, a station on the closed Line 3 Scarborough (more information in the section below), whose bus terminal is still in use, and the Route 129 McCowan North bus north of it. Route 129's 'A' branch also serves McCowan Road in Markham north of Steeles Avenue, which formerly required passengers to pay a second fare when crossing Steeles. Since the implementation of the One Fare program on February 26, 2024, riders paying by Presto card, credit card, or debit card are not charged the double fare, although cash payments still required both to be paid.[9] Another route serving part McCowan is Route 53B Steeles East.
York Region Transit (YRT) formerly operated the Viva Green line of that system's Viva Rapid Transit network until that service was initially temporarily suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and discontinued permanently in 2023.[10] Present regular YRT routes using portions of McCowan Road are Routes 40 (Unionville Local), Route 41 (Markham Local), Route 42 (Breczy South Unionville), Route 45 (Mingay), and Route 522 (Markham Community Bus).
Former and future rapid transit
Between 1985 and 2023, the TTC operated Line 3 Scarborough, a light metro line originally named the Scarborough RT, which terminated at McCowan station.[11] The line used specialized technology that was aging and becoming difficult to maintain, and was slated to be decommissioned upon the opening of an extension of the conventional Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, which began construction from Kennedy station north to the intersection of McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue in June 2021, with most of the route following McCowan (Line 3 mostly followed the GO Transit Stouffville Line corridor, with McCowan station on an east-west alignment).[12] However, in 2020, it was expected that Line 3 could possibly fail several years before the completion of the Line 2 extension.[13] The expected failure did occur on July 24, 2023, when a train derailed, resulted in a decision the following month to not reopen the line.[14][11]
Landmarks
Here are some nearby landmarks McCowan Road runs near:
| Landmark | Cross street | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Public Library | Kingston Road | ||
| McCowan District | Ellesmere Road | ||
| McCowan Park | Danforth Road | ||
| Scarborough Health Network - General Hospital | Lawrence Avenue | ||
| Scarborough Town Centre | Ellesmere Road/Progress Avenue | ||
| Woodside Square | Finch Avenue | ||
| Milliken District Park | Steeles Avenue | ||
| Markham Sports Dome | 14th Avenue | ||
| Milne Dame Conservation Park | South Unionville Avenue | ||
| CF Markville | Highway 7 | ||
| Markham Fairgrounds | Elgin Mills Road | ||
| Tree Valley Garden Centre | Stouffville Road | ||
| Applewood Farm | Stouffville Road | ||
| Lemonville Community Centre | McCowan Road | ||
| St. Andrew's East Golf & Country Club | McCowan Road | ||
| Patterson-Hall Tract | McCowan Road | ||
| Black Equestrian | McCowan Road | ||
| Ridgewood Stables | McCowan Road |
Road information
- Length: 64.3 km (four sections: a 2.7 km combined length for the two short minor southernmost sections;[1][2] a 34.8 km central section,[3] and a 26.8 km northern section).[4]
- Transportation: YRT Routes 40, and 41 and TTC Route 53B also uses portions of McCowan.
- Attractions: Cresthaven Golf Course, Milne Dam Conservation Park, Markville Mall, Centennial Community Centre and Arena, Williamstown, Markham Fairgrounds, Spring Lakes Golf and Country Club, St. Andrew's East Golf Club, and Maples of Ballantrae Golf Course
- Road status: 4 lane road from its start at Steeles Avenue to Major Mackenzie Drive East. 2 lane road from Major Mackenzie Drive East to Baseline Road.
- Zoning: Low density residential Steeles Avenue to Highway 7 and from Carlton Road to Major Mackenzie Drive East. Lots of farmland and forests between from Major Mackenzie to Baseline Road.
- Additional information: Once named Concession Road 7, McCowan Road was named for James McCowan, a Scottish family patriarch who settled in the area in 1833. The road begins at Kingston Road in Scarborough. McCowan road is interrupted between Faulkner Avenue and Cherry Street.
References
- ^ a b "McCowan Rd. Southern minor section route and length". Google Maps.
- ^ a b "McCowan Rd. Northern minor section route and length". Google Maps.
- ^ a b "McCowan Rd. central section route and length". Google Maps.
- ^ a b "McCowan Rd. northermost section route and length". Google Maps.
- ^ Markham Street name origin index https://www.markham.ca/wps/wcm/connect/markham/a7c9a340-5243-4036-a1b5-401e55ee9fb6/streetname-index.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CONVERT_TO=url&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE.Z18_2QD4H901OGV160QC8BLCRJ1001-a7c9a340-5243-4036-a1b5-401e55ee9fb6-msYFNOT#:~:text=McCowan%20Road%20Named%20after%20the,the%207th%20Line%20in%20Markham.
- ^ Scarborough Street Names http://scarboroughhistorical.ca/local-history/street-names-of-scarborough/#:~:text=In%20the%201850s%2C%20wood%20boards,and%20McCowan%20Rd.
- ^ TO maps https://map.toronto.ca/torontomaps/ (Map). City of Toronto. 2008. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- ^ "McCowan Rd · Ontario, Canada".
- ^ "Ontario's One Fare Program". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ "Service Changes and Updates". York Region Transit. August 14, 2023. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ a b Harvey, Lex. "TTC ends Scarborough RT service permanently". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
- ^ Fox, Chris (June 23, 2021). "Ontario breaks ground on Scarborough subway extension". CTV News Toronto. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ Pagliaro, Jennifer (December 10, 2020). "Scarborough RT will shut down before subway is finished, mayor says". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ Casaletto, Lucas (July 25, 2023). "TTC's Line 3 shut down after train derailment; multiple passengers injured". toronto.citynews.ca. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- Notable events
- Toronto Historical Society
External links
- Google Maps of McCowan Road
- Route of McCowan Road [1]
