Lawrence Avenue Explained

Location:Toronto
Lawrence Avenue
Map:Lawrence Ave map.png
Maint:City of Toronto
Length Km:35.1
Length Ref:[1]
Direction A:West
Terminus A:Royal York Road (continues as The Westway)
Direction B:East
Terminus B:Rouge Hills Drive

Lawrence Avenue is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions (Lawrence Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue West) by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east–west streets in Toronto.

Route description

The western terminus of Lawrence Avenue is Royal York Road. Beyond the terminus, the road continues as The Westway, a windy arterial road that ends at Martin Grove Road constructed post-World War II to serve the growing Richview neighbourhood development to the south and the Kingsview Village neighbourhood to the north. Eastwards from a short stretch in Etobicoke; where it runs through the Humber Heights – Westmount neighbourhood, Lawrence crosses the Humber River and enters Weston in the former city of York. East of Weston it enters North York, and passes through the neighbourhoods of Amesbury, Maple Leaf, Glen Park, Lawrence Heights, and Lawrence Manor. Through this section, the street is mostly home to low-rise residential, with some retail and office locations.

East of Avenue Road the road enters the Old City of Toronto, and is a major arterial for the North Toronto neighbourhood. This is one of the wealthiest parts of Toronto. Lawrence remains almost wholly residential through this section, with many single-family homes. Lawrence Avenue East is interrupted at Bayview Avenue, by the west branch of the Don River. A detour north on Bayview leads to Post Road and a connection back to Lawrence Avenue on the east side of the valley. This detour runs through The Bridle Path, one of Toronto's most affluent neighbourhoods. East of Leslie Street, Lawrence becomes a principal arterial road, passing through Don Mills. East of the Don River is the Lawrence Avenue exit of the Don Valley Parkway and on the southside is Old Lawrence Avenue where the road used to lead to a lost bridge that once crossed the Don River.[2]

Lawrence continues as a six-lane road through most of Scarborough, with many strip malls flanking its sides. Through Scarborough it is the main east–west arterial for a number of neighbourhoods, including Wexford, Bendale, Woburn, and West Hill. The segment east of Morningside Avenue is primarily residential. The road ends at Rouge Hill Drive (then becomes a driveway into a Rouge Beach Park) near the Rouge River, east of Port Union where it hits Lake Ontario.

Public transit

The Toronto Transit Commission's 52 Lawrence West and 54 Lawrence East (both are the longest bus routes in the city) and 124 Sunnybrook/162 Lawrence-Donway bus routes provide service along the length of the avenue. The 54A Lawrence East surface route operates from Eglinton station to Starspray Boulevard near Rouge National Urban Park and the 52B Lawrence West surface route operates from Lawrence station to Westwood Mall Bus Terminal in Mississauga west of Toronto Pearson International Airport via Dixon Road. There are three rapid transit stations: Lawrence at Yonge Street and Lawrence West at Allen Road on Line 1 Yonge–University, and Lawrence East on Line 3 Scarborough between Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue.

Until 1974, service between Lawrence station and Bayview Avenue was provided by the 52 Lawrence and was replaced by the 11 Bayview and 28B Davisville bus routes before they were reorganized in 1991, with the 124 Sunnybrooke replacing it. The 58 Malton bus provided service between Lawrence West station to Westwood Mall in Mississauga until 2014. There are also two express buses that run only during rush hours: the 952 Lawrence West Express, which also runs from Lawrence Station to Pearson Airport, and the 954 Lawrence East Express, which runs from Lawrence East Station to Starspray Boulevard.

GO Transit has two commuter rail stations on Lawrence Avenue: Rouge Hill, on the Lakeshore East line and Weston on the Kitchener line.

History

Lawrence Avenue was named after Jacob Lawrence, a tanner and farmer in the area of Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue.[3] It was a side road between lots 5 and 6 in York Township.[4] Originally Lawrence Avenue ran only east of Yonge Street, with the road heading west to Weston being named McDougall Avenue.[5]

East of Victoria Park Avenue, the road was also referred to as 1st Concession Road based on the original survey of the old Township of Scarborough (the line between Concession D and Concession 1). In sections west of Yonge Street, the route for the current road would have been the Fourth Concession with Eglinton Avenue as Line between Third and Fourth Concession and St. Clair Avenue as the Third Concession.

During Hurricane Hazel in 1954, the Lawrence Avenue bridge over the Humber River was washed out after the river's water levels rose heavily as a result of the rainfall.[6] When the Don Valley Parkway was constructed in the 1960s, Lawrence was rebuilt between the Woodbine Avenue allowance and Victoria Park Avenue, as a "jog eliminator" between the former concession roads of North York and Scarborough Townships. This portion to Kingston Road (former Highway 2) is a minimum of six lanes wide. Lawrence Avenue served as the "Base Line" for the Scarborough Township Survey in the 1800s and remains a key road in the area.

Lawrence Avenue east of Meadowvale Road in Scarborough was part of Colonel Danforth Trail until the early 1970s.

Landmarks

LandmarkCross streetNotesImage
Sanctuary Park CemeteryRoyal York RoadOpened 1927 and merged from Riverside Cemetery and Westside Cemeteries in 1977.
St. Philip Anglican ChurchRoyal York Road
Weston GO StationWeston RoadOpened in 1974 as part of Georgetown Line, it has become a stop along the Union Pearson Express route to Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2015. Nearby was once CPR Weston Station.
CIBC 750 LawrenceDufferin Streetmajor computer centre, credit card call centre and head office operations built in 1980s
Lawrence Allen CentreAllen RoadFormer RS Simpson Limited warehouse from the 1950s to 1970s, current mall opened in 1980s. Formerly Lawrence Square Shopping Centre.
Lawrence West subway stationAllen RoadThe station lacks internal art work found on Line 1 Yonge–University, but found on exterior wall on the north side of south station. Opened 1978.
John Polanyi Collegiate InstituteAllen Road/Allen Expresswayformerly Bathurst Heights Secondary School after being used by Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) for Dante Alighieri Academy Beatrice Campus and temporary home for Brebeuf College School; built in 1955 for North York Board of Education, building was vacant from 2001 to 2002.
Lawrence PlazaBathurst StreetOne of the earliest shopping plazas in Toronto built in 1950s
Havergal CollegeAvenue RoadPrivate and independent girls school moved to current site in 1926.
Lawrence Park Collegiate InstituteAvenue RoadPublic high school opened in 1936 for Toronto Board of Education (now with Toronto District School Board)
Lawrence subway stationYonge StreetUnderground bus loop with counter to the normal traffic directions, opened in 1973
Toronto French SchoolBayview AvenuePrivate and independent French school housed in Sifton Manor, former home of Sir Clifford Sifton from 1922 to 1947 and acquired by school in 1972.
Glendon College, York UniversityBayview AvenueSituated in the former home of Edward Rogers Wood built in 1924 and sold 1950; home to York University since 1966.
Edwards GardensLeslie StreetName for former mill operator Rupert E. Edwards opened in 1956 a Metro Toronto owned park
Shops at Don MillsDon Mills RoadFormerly Don Mills Centre which was demolished in 2006.
Don Mills Collegiate InstituteDon Mills RoadPublic high school opened in 1959 for North York Board of Education (now with Toronto District School Board)
Wexford Heights United ChurchWarden AvenueZion Wexford United Church built 1842 with additions in 1956 and 1961 added
St. Lawrence Martyr Catholic ChurchBirchmount RoadOpened 1959
Winston Churchill Collegiate InstituteKennedy RoadOpen 1953 for Township of Scarborough and Scarborough Board of Education (now with Toronto District School Board)
Pizza NovaKennedy RoadPizzeria franchised restaurant opened in 1963, original operates as Nova Ristorante
Lawrence East RT stationKennedy RoadOpened in 1985 and will be closed in the 2020s when line re-built.
Thomson Memorial ParkBrimley RoadNamed after Scarborough's first European (Scottish) born pioneer family and opened in 1960.
Scarborough General HospitalMcCowan RoadOpened 1956
St. Rose of Lima Catholic ChurchMcCowan Road
Cedarbrae MallMarkham RoadOutdoor strip plaza opened in 1962 and later enclosed.
St. Stephen's Presbyterian ChurchScarborough Golf Club RoadBuilt 1962 and replaced the former Golf Club Road Presbyterian Church
Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate InstituteCentennial RoadPublic high school opened 1969 for Scarborough Board of Education (now with Toronto District School Board)
Rouge Hill GO StationEastern AvenueStation opened in 1967 and upgraded with current station infrastructure and was in what was once part of Pickering.
Rouge National Urban ParkRouge Hill DriveThe largest urban protected area in North America. Lawrence Ave East ends at the driveway to the Rouge Beach portion of the park, with a beach on the shoreline of Lake Ontario. The Waterfront Trail along the lakeshore provides pedestrian and bicycle access to Pickering.

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Google Maps. Google Maps. en. 2018-12-03.
  2. Web site: Lost Road and Bridge: Lawrence Avenue. UrbanToronto.
  3. Liz Lundell. The estates of Old Toronto Boston Mills Press, 1997
  4. Web site: Tremaine Map.
  5. Atlas of the City of Toronto and suburbs, in three volumes, 1910. Third Edition. Volume 1, General Key.
  6. Jim Gifford, Mike Filey Hurricane Hazel: Canada's storm of the century. Dundurn Press Ltd., 2004