{"id":21468,"date":"2011-10-15T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2011-10-15T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=21468"},"modified":"2011-10-15T12:18:22","modified_gmt":"2011-10-15T16:18:22","slug":"the-many-streets-of-dundas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/","title":{"rendered":"The many streets of Dundas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

TTC work crews laying new tracks on Dundas Street Diversion east of Yonge Street in 1923, linking former Agnes and Wilton Streets, and in the process, creating the triangular parcel that later became Dundas Square. Image: Toronto Archives Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 2190.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Dundas Street is one of Toronto’s most fascinating roadways. While it runs uninterrupted for 23 kilometres between the Mississauga border at Etobicoke Creek and Kingston Road towards Scarborough, it meanders, crossing Bloor Street twice. Even in the downtown area, it makes subtle jogs near major intersections. As mentioned earlier<\/a>, Dundas was built as\u00a0 a military road, Dundas Street kept a fair distance from the lake to\u00a0be an effective alternative route in the case of war.<\/p>\n

Dundas is not a solid commercial throughfare, despite the traffic and frequent streetcar service, unlike parallel\u00a0streets\u00a0such as Bloor, Queen, College, Danforth, and Gerrard East. Except in Chinatown, the only major strips of retail are west of Ossington in neighbourhoods such as Brockton, the Junction and Islington Village. East of Broadview, Dundas Street appears somewhat run-down and lifeless.<\/p>\n

The Town of York was founded in 1793 with a perfect grid of rectangular streets. Yonge Street \u2014 with only a slight corrective angle north of St. Clair \u2014 is the origin of Toronto’s rectangular concession system and runs in a straight line from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe. Queen Street, originally named Lot Street, also runs in a perfect line between Humber Bay and the RC Harris Filtration Plant, forming the base line for the east-west side roads.<\/p>\n

As the town expanded, the grid of streets was extended outwards, particularly to the west (the swampy mouth of the Don River precluded development to the east), and as the old Park Lots \u2014 the large parcels of land north of Lot Street were developed \u2014 long north-south roads, instead of the east-west street orientation to the south, were laid out parcel-by-parcel as they were sold off or developed by the lots’ owners, generally gentry and clergy. Today, the old Park Lot system has left its legacy in the jogs of Dundas Street, which has incorporated more vanished streets than any other in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Dundas Street was originally built to connect Lake Ontario with Governor John Graves Simcoe’s planned townsite at present-day London. The road was soon extended east to Toronto, connecting to Lot Street (now Queen Street) at today’s Ossington Avenue, well to the west of old York’s townsite. A common misconception (one that I previously made as well) is that Dundas Street was named because it went to the town of Dundas. In fact, the town was actually named after the road.<\/p>\n

Until nearly a century ago, Dundas Street still terminated at Queen Street while Ossington ran north from the Dundas\/Ossington\/Arthur intersection. Arthur Street ran east from there to Bathurst Street and terminated at a T-intersection. St. Patrick Street ran between Bathurst (at another T-intersection\u00a0south of the corner of Bathurst and Arthur) to McCaul, where Anderson Street continued east to University Avenue. With another jog to the south, Agnes Street continued to Yonge.<\/p>\n

East of Yonge, Wilton\u00a0Avenue (originally named Crookshank Street) ran east to Jarvis, where it made a slight curve\u00a0as Wilton Crescent to Sherbourne (near the present site of Filmore’s Hotel). In the 1910s, Wilton was extended across a new bridge, and incorporated Elliot Street on the east side of the Don. This 1916 map from the University of Toronto’s collection<\/a> helps illustrate these former streets.<\/p>\n

After the First World War, these various minor streets\u00a0were connected to provide a new east-west throughfare across the city, from Toronto Junction and across the Don to Broadview.\u00a0Jog-removal projects were completed at University and Yonge Streets, though the jog between former Arthur and St. Patrick Streets at Bathurst was not completed until after the Second World War. Not only did the project benefit automobiles, but\u00a0streetcars benefited from faster, through routing. Indeed, the Toronto Transportation Commission built new track along Dundas and rerouted its services to take advantage of the new links by 1923.<\/p>\n

Some of the old names that disappeared by the through Dundas designations were recycled: Wilton later reappeared as Wilton Street\u00a0in the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood. William Street, which ran north-south west of University Avenue, was\u00a0later\u00a0renamed St. Patrick.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the remaining piece of Wilton\u00a0Avenue left by the new Dundas Street Diversion between Yonge and Victoria Streets\u00a0was originally named Wilton Square. It was later renamed Dundas Square, lending its name to the new public square created by urban redevelopment a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Dundas looking east to Broadview in 1954, just before widening as new traffic artery. Toronto Archives Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 58, Item 2612<\/em><\/p>\n

But Dundas Street was still yet\u00a0to be extended farther east. In the early 1950s, the City of Toronto began a new road project to extend Dundas eastwards from Broadview to Kingston Road to\u00a0serve as a new four-lane\u00a0traffic arterial, intended as an alternative to Gerrard and Queen. From west to east, Whitby Street, Dickens, Dagmar, Doel, Applegrove and Ashbridge Avenues as well as Maughan Crescent and Hemlock Avenue were all cleared and widened for this purpose. In some cases, alleyways were used to connect these\u00a0nine separate streets, and this is clearly visible as garages and backyards continue to front on to Dundas near Jones Avenue.<\/p>\n

\"Garages<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Garages back onto Dundas Street East,\u00a0west of Jones. <\/em><\/p>\n

The increasing popularity of the automobile, as well as increasing pressures on the streetcar network in the 1910s and 1920s resulted in a number of similar rationalizations. Carlton Street was bent at Yonge to connect directly with College in 1931, though this was made possible and encouraged by the Eaton’s Empire who accumulated numerous land holdings in the area.\u00a0\u00a0Bay Street\u00a0was\u00a0directly extended north from\u00a0Queen,\u00a0incorporating Terauley Street (hence the curve at Old City Hall). North of College, the extended\u00a0Bay Street jogged slightly\u00a0again to\u00a0connect with\u00a0now-disappeared St. Vincent, Chapel and North Streets\u00a0to reach\u00a0Bloor; tracks built in 1923\u00a0on this new section of Bay relieved\u00a0streetcar congestion\u00a0on Yonge Street. Dupont Street was formed as a minor east-west arterial by combining it with Royce and Van Horne Streets (and\u00a0entirely new sections of roadway),\u00a0also in the 1920s and 30s.<\/p>\n

The Metropolitan Toronto\u00a0government, formed in 1954,\u00a0did its part, extending Eglinton Avenue across the city, incorporating\u00a0the previously disconnected Golden Mile in\u00a0Scarborough and Richview Sideroad in Etobicoke. Lawrence, Sheppard\u00a0and Finch Avenues received similar treatment.\u00a0In the early 1960s, Duke and Duchess Streets, two of the original Town of York\u00a0streets,\u00a0disappeared as Adelaide and Richmond Streets respectively were extended east of Jarvis as one-way arterials to feed traffic to and from the new Don Valley Parkway.<\/p>\n

Dundas Street certainly isn’t the only road to be rationalized by the city to facilitate smoother transportation, there are over a dozen more instances. But Dundas is the most remarkable\u00a0in terms of\u00a0its length and effort to link 15 streets together over four decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TTC work crews laying new tracks on Dundas Street Diversion east of Yonge Street in 1923, linking former Agnes and Wilton Streets, and in the process, creating the triangular parcel that later became Dundas Square. Image: Toronto Archives Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 2190. Dundas Street is one of Toronto’s most fascinating roadways. While itContinue reading “The many streets of Dundas”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[12093,18012,18013,2900,18017,2031,18010,18011,3311,154,1804,8000,18005,1211,6181,4451,1182,17407,359,18016,79,2713,18015,316,6814,2426,18008,18009,89,18014,1652,19,12372,1560,270,1047,3106,18006,18007,5687,496],"class_list":["post-21468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-adelaide-streets","tag-agnes-streets","tag-bloor","tag-chinatown","tag-dagmar","tag-don-river","tag-duchess-streets","tag-duke-streets","tag-dundas","tag-dundas-square","tag-eaton","tag-etobicoke-creek","tag-filmores-hotel","tag-governor","tag-humber-bay","tag-john-graves-simcoe","tag-lake-ontario","tag-lake-simcoe","tag-london","tag-metropolitan-toronto-government","tag-mississauga","tag-old-city-hall","tag-present-site","tag-queen","tag-rc-harris-filtration-plant","tag-retail","tag-richmond-streets","tag-royce-horne-streets","tag-scarborough","tag-smoother-transportation","tag-streetcar-network","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-transportation-commission","tag-university-avenue","tag-university-of-toronto","tag-university-of-torontos","tag-victoria-streets","tag-wilton-square","tag-wilton-streets","tag-yonge","tag-york"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe many streets of Dundas - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The many streets of Dundas - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TTC work crews laying new tracks on Dundas Street Diversion east of Yonge Street in 1923, linking former Agnes and Wilton Streets, and in the process, creating the triangular parcel that later became Dundas Square. Image: Toronto Archives Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 2190. Dundas Street is one of Toronto’s most fascinating roadways. While itContinue reading "The many streets of Dundas"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-15T13:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-10-15T16:18:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sean Marshall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sean Marshall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/\",\"name\":\"The many streets of Dundas - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-15T13:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-15T16:18:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/e30d299fd82dc8b9f811e5e7b3ec154e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The many streets of Dundas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/e30d299fd82dc8b9f811e5e7b3ec154e\",\"name\":\"Sean Marshall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/44df24893f717b2112f5dd4ec16e001f?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/44df24893f717b2112f5dd4ec16e001f?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sean Marshall\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.spacing.ca\/wire\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/sean\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The many streets of Dundas - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The many streets of Dundas - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"TTC work crews laying new tracks on Dundas Street Diversion east of Yonge Street in 1923, linking former Agnes and Wilton Streets, and in the process, creating the triangular parcel that later became Dundas Square. Image: Toronto Archives Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 2190. Dundas Street is one of Toronto’s most fascinating roadways. While itContinue reading \"The many streets of Dundas\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2011-10-15T13:00:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-10-15T16:18:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Sean Marshall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sean Marshall","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/","name":"The many streets of Dundas - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg","datePublished":"2011-10-15T13:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-15T16:18:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/e30d299fd82dc8b9f811e5e7b3ec154e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6237\/6239795480_a72af161df_z.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/10\/15\/the-many-streets-of-dundas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The many streets of Dundas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/e30d299fd82dc8b9f811e5e7b3ec154e","name":"Sean Marshall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/44df24893f717b2112f5dd4ec16e001f?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/44df24893f717b2112f5dd4ec16e001f?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Sean Marshall"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.spacing.ca\/wire"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/sean\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21468"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23104,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21468\/revisions\/23104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}