Transportfan
Senior Member
The Middle Road was the precursor to the QEW between the-then Etobicoke and Burlington. Unlike the QEW though, it only ran as far east as the former Highway 27 (now 427) before being tying into the-then Queen Street, now The Queensway (yes it was that Queen St.), which of course led drivers into the city. Here's a 19th Century map of the road in Toronto Township (Mississauga):
Here's a map of the Etobicoke side. You can see the present-day Dundas Street, Evans Avenue, and the Queensway, which had a jog in it at present-day Kipling Avenue (which was unusual as other roads jogged north with respect to their Old Toronto sections at the Humber, as is the case with Bloor Street). The northern jog was bypassed in the early 20th Century when the southern stretch was extended to hook into The Middle Rd. The northern jog became today's North Queen Street.
Toronto Township council wanted to bridge The Middle Road over the Etobicoke Creek, and built a bridge in 1909. However, the bridge was built south of The Middle Road and only connected to it via a farm Lane. The Etobicoke side was connected to Evans Ave. Here's a pic from 1956 showing the bridge leading to said farm lane on the Toronto Township side, and Evans Ave (here already long bypassed, and bisected, by the QEW, which was the actual extension of The Middle Road itself across the creek):
Here is an aerial of the new QEW west of Hwy. 27 in 1940, showing the abandoned pavement of the old connector between The Middle Rd. and Queen St./Queensway on the left:
Google maps view of the present Sherway Drive (the Toronto section formerly being part of the road which is now Evans Ave), which used the original 1909 bridge:
And the bridge itself, today used solely as a pedestrian and cyclist crossing:
Here's a map of the Etobicoke side. You can see the present-day Dundas Street, Evans Avenue, and the Queensway, which had a jog in it at present-day Kipling Avenue (which was unusual as other roads jogged north with respect to their Old Toronto sections at the Humber, as is the case with Bloor Street). The northern jog was bypassed in the early 20th Century when the southern stretch was extended to hook into The Middle Rd. The northern jog became today's North Queen Street.
Toronto Township council wanted to bridge The Middle Road over the Etobicoke Creek, and built a bridge in 1909. However, the bridge was built south of The Middle Road and only connected to it via a farm Lane. The Etobicoke side was connected to Evans Ave. Here's a pic from 1956 showing the bridge leading to said farm lane on the Toronto Township side, and Evans Ave (here already long bypassed, and bisected, by the QEW, which was the actual extension of The Middle Road itself across the creek):
Here is an aerial of the new QEW west of Hwy. 27 in 1940, showing the abandoned pavement of the old connector between The Middle Rd. and Queen St./Queensway on the left:
Google maps view of the present Sherway Drive (the Toronto section formerly being part of the road which is now Evans Ave), which used the original 1909 bridge:
And the bridge itself, today used solely as a pedestrian and cyclist crossing:
The Middle Road - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org