McCowan Road

McCowan Road is a major north-south thoroughfare in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. It runs through the city of Toronto and into the Regional Municipality of York where it ends at the Town of Georgina.

McCowan Road

York Regional Road 67
McCowan Road within Toronto and York Region, road is highlighted in Pink on the map.
Namesake	McCowan Family
Location	Toronto Markham Whitchurch-Stouffville East Gwillimbury Georgina
South end	Kingston Road In Toronto (Continues as Cathedral Bluffs Drive)
Major junctions	St. Clair Avenue Eglinton Avenue ——Road Branches—— 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 Holborn Road Boag Road Ravenshoe Road Glenwoods Avenue Mount Pleasant Trail Old Homestead Road Country Mile Lane
North end	Baseline Road In Georgina
Nearby arterial roads in Toronto ← Kennedy Road Markham Road →

McCowan Road within Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario, looking south. This was taken at a bend just south of Stouffville Road.

A view of McCowan Road within Markham, Ontario. Photo taken from south of Steeles Avenue.

The intersection at McCowan Road and McNicoll Avenue within Toronto.

The road was named for the McCowan Family, a Scottish family patriarch who settled in the area in 1833.^[1] The street, the former Lot 22, and later McCowan's Sideroad (officially called 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.^[2]

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 was opened in 1973, interchange access to Highway 401 was opened, with Exit 381. With greater vehicle usage, in that area, the road is now 6 lanes from Ellesmere Road to Sheppard Avenue, and additional exit ramps to/from the 401 have been constructed at nearby Brimley Road. North of Sheppard Avenue, CP Rail's Toronto marshalling yards use McCowan as a western limit, and stretch east of Markham Road.^[3]

Route description

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 now intersects Highway 401 at the Scarborough Town Centre, built in 1973. The Scarborough Rapid Transit Line, opened in 1985, crosses McCowan on an elevated track at this location. North of Sheppard Avenue, the road borders the western edge of the Canadian Pacific Railway Toronto marshalling yards, which extend east of Markham Road.^[4]

Public transit

McCowan Road is served mainly by TTC Route 129A. Since this is a TTC route running north of Steeles Avenue, passengers must pay another fare when crossing Steeles Avenue. McCowan Road also serves as a temporary terminus for Viva Green lines at McCowan Vivastation at Highway 7 until the Cornell Terminal is completed. Other routes using portions of McCowan Road are YRT Routes 40 (Unionville Local), Route 41 (Markham Local), Route 42 (Breczy South Unionville), Route 45 (Mingay), Route 522(Markham Community Bus) and TTC Route 53B (Steeles East)

The Toronto Transit Commission's Scarborough RT line ends at McCowan Station, but all the connecting buses terminate at the Scarborough Centre Station. These include:

• 16 McCowan
• 129 McCowan North
• 130 Middlefield
• 131 Nugget
• 132 Milner
• 169 Huntingwood
• There is 24-hour bus service on McCowan with the 302 Danforth Rd.-McCowan Blue Night bus running from Danforth and Warden Avenues, along Danforth Road and McCowan to Steeles.
• The 9 Bellamy (running between Warden and Scarborough Centre) operates along the southern portion of McCowan Road, between Eglinton Avenue and Kingston Road

Landmarks

McCowan Road stretches across Toronto, Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, and Georgina. Here are some nearby Landmarks it runs through:

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: 52 km (within York Region)
• 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.

Major cross roads

(from south to north)

• Midland Avenue
• Brimley Road
• Kingston Road
• Eglinton Avenue
• Lawrence Avenue
• Kennedy Road
• Finch Avenue
• Steeles Avenue
• Denison Street
• 14th Avenue
• Highway 407
• Highway 7
• 16th Avenue
• Bur Oak Avenue
• Major Mackenzie Drive East
• Elgin Mills Road East
• 19th Avenue
• Stouffville Road
• Bethesda Sideroad
• Bloomington Road
• Vandorf Sideroad
• Aurora Road
• St. John’s Sideroad
• Vivian Road
• Davis Drive
• Mount Albert Road
• Doane Road
• Queensville Sideroad East
• Holborn Road
• Boag Road
• Ravenshoe Road
• Glenwoods Avenue
• Mount Pleasant Trail
• Old Homestead Road
• Country Mile Lane
• Baseline Road

References

1. 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.
2. Scarborough Street Names http://scarboroughhistorical.ca/local-history/street-names-of-scarborough/#:~:text=In%20the%201850s%2C%20wood%20boards,and%20McCowan%20Rd.
3.  TO maps https://map.toronto.ca/torontomaps/ (Map). City of Toronto. 2008. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
4. "McCowan Rd · Ontario, Canada".

• Notable events
• Toronto Historical Society

External links

• Google Maps of McCowan Road
  • Route of McCowan Road