Yonge Street facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Yonge Street

Yonge Street (Toronto/York section)
Other name(s)	York Regional Roads 1 / 51
Maintained by	City of Toronto York Region Town of East Gwillimbury
Location	Toronto Vaughan Markham Richmond Hill Aurora Newmarket East Gwillimbury
South end	Queens Quay in Toronto
Major junctions	King Street Queen Street Dundas Street Bloor Street St. Clair Avenue Eglinton Avenue Lawrence Avenue Wilson Avenue / York Mills Road  Highway 401 Sheppard Avenue Finch Avenue Steeles Avenue  Highway 407 Highway 7 Major Mackenzie Drive King Road Davis Drive Former Highway 11 (bypass) Holland Landing Road
North end	Holland River
Construction
Inauguration	1794

Yonge Street (Extension)

Yonge Street (Simcoe section)
Other name(s)	Simcoe County Road 4
Maintained by	Simcoe County City of Barrie
Length	30 km (20 mi)
Location	Barrie Bradford West Gwillimbury Innisfil Simcoe
South end	8th Line in Bradford (continues south as Barrie Street)
Major junctions	Simcoe County Road 89 / Shore Acres Drive Innisfil Beach Road
North end	Former Canadian National rail spur in Barrie (Continues as Burton Avenue)
Construction
Inauguration	1827

Yonge Street (/jʌŋ/ yung) is a very important road in Ontario, Canada. It connects Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe. Lake Simcoe is a gateway to the larger Great Lakes. The first leader of Ontario, John Graves Simcoe, named the street after his friend Sir George Yonge. Sir George was an expert on old Roman roads.

Yonge Street was once the start of Highway 11. This highway linked Toronto, the capital, to northern Ontario. People even called Yonge Street "Main Street Ontario." For many years, the Guinness Book of World Records wrongly said Yonge Street was the longest street in the world. They thought it was 1,896 km (1,178 mi) long. This was because they confused Yonge Street with all of Highway 11. In reality, Yonge Street, including its extension to Barrie, is only 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. Today, no part of Yonge Street is a provincial highway.

Building Yonge Street was a very important event in Canadian history. It was key to planning and settling western Upper Canada in the 1790s. It also helped create the system of concession roads used in Ontario today. In Toronto and York Region, Yonge Street is the main north-south line for numbering streets. The Line 1 Yonge–University subway line runs along most of Yonge Street in Toronto. It is the main part of the Toronto subway system. Yonge Street is a busy shopping and entertainment area. It has famous places like the Eaton Centre and Yonge–Dundas Square.

Exploring Yonge Street

Yonge Street from the sky (30% of the road visible)

2023 view of the intersection at Yonge and Wellington Street.

Yonge Street view to north at Elgin Mills in Richmond Hill, ON

Yonge Street starts at Queens Quay by Toronto Bay. It is a four-lane road with a speed limit of 40 km/h. The Harbourfront area was built on land added to the bay. This area used to be industrial but is now full of tall homes. The Gardiner Expressway and busy train tracks cross over Yonge Street.

Near Front Street, Yonge Street goes slightly uphill. This marks the old shoreline before more land was added. Here, you can find the Dominion Public Building, Meridian Hall, and the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hockey Hall of Fame is in an old bank building. Yonge Street then goes through the east side of the Financial District. This area has many of Canada's tallest buildings.

Between Front and Queen Streets, Yonge Street has many historic and business buildings. These include the main Hudson's Bay Company and Saks Fifth Avenue stores. The entire west side of Yonge Street, from Queen to Dundas Streets, is taken up by the Eaton Centre. This is a large indoor shopping mall. On the east side, there are two old theaters: the Ed Mirvish Theatre and the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. Massey Hall is also nearby.

Across from the north end of the Eaton Centre is Yonge–Dundas Square. This area was rebuilt in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It has big video screens, shops, fountains, and places to sit. It was designed to be like "Toronto's Times Square" and hosts many public events.

North of Dundas Street, Yonge Street continues to have many busy shops. The number of businesses gets smaller north of Gerrard Street. Here, you see more residential towers with shops on the ground floor. The Art Deco College Park building is on the west side. It used to be a shopping complex but is now homes and businesses.

From College Street north to Bloor Street, Yonge Street has smaller, local shops. These are mostly in older, two- or three-story buildings. These shops serve the many people who live nearby.

The intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets is a major crossing in Toronto. It is often seen as the northern edge of downtown. The Subway Line 2 Bloor–Danforth crosses the Yonge line here. This makes Bloor–Yonge station the busiest subway station in the city. This intersection is a "scramble" crossing. This means pedestrians can cross in any direction at the same time.

North of Bloor, Yonge Street is part of Yorkville. This is a big shopping area. Further north, the traffic and number of buildings decrease. Yonge Street becomes the main road for Summerhill. This area, along with Rosedale, is known for its fancy homes. The historic North Toronto railway station is here. It is now a large LCBO store.

From St. Clair Avenue to Yonge Boulevard, Yonge Street is in Midtown. This area used to be the suburb of North Toronto. Yonge Street here has a mix of homes, shops, and businesses. The intersection at Eglinton Avenue is a busy spot. It has many homes, businesses, and transit options. Nearby is the site of Montgomery's Tavern. This was where an important battle happened during the Upper Canada Rebellion.

North of Yonge Boulevard, Yonge Street crosses the deep West Don Valley at Hoggs Hollow. This was a tough obstacle for early settlers. It was also one of the last places to have a toll gate. This area has fewer homes and more parks. Canada's busiest highway, Highway 401, crosses the valley here.

After the valley, Yonge Street enters North York City Centre. This is the downtown area of what used to be North York. It has many tall residential and office buildings. Many have shops on the ground floor. The street widens to six lanes here. It passes busy transit hubs at Sheppard and Finch Avenues.

From Finch Avenue to Stouffville Road, Yonge Street is a suburban shopping area. It becomes York Regional Road 1 north of Steeles Avenue in York Region. This part is very busy. It goes through towns like Thornhill and Richmond Hill. There are also tall residential buildings along this stretch.

The continuous city ends just south of Stouffville Road. The street then goes through some semi-rural areas between Richmond Hill, Aurora, Newmarket, and Holland Landing. It crosses the Oak Ridges Moraine, a large hill formed by glaciers. Yonge Street goes through the center of Aurora. In Newmarket, it is the main suburban road, going through residential and commercial areas. North of Green Lane, Regional Road 1 turns away from the original Yonge Street path. It goes northwest, avoiding Cook's Bay and the Holland Marsh. This bypass was built in 1959.

Yonge Street's Northern Parts

Regional Road 51 is the original path of Yonge Street in Holland Landing. Yonge Street branches off Regional Road 1 here and continues north. This short part is also called Yonge Street Extension. It is signed with Regional Road 13. At Queensville Side Road, the road stops and then starts again a bit to the west. It ends in the upper Holland Marsh.

The intersection of Yonge Street Shore Acres Drive in Innisfil, Ontario

Yonge Street starts again in Bradford (you get there via Regional Road 1). It is first called Barrie Street in downtown Bradford, then the name Yonge returns. This part, called Simcoe Road 4, runs through rolling hills in Simcoe County. The street officially ends in Barrie at a train track. Its name changes to Burton Avenue there.

History of Yonge Street

How the Road Began

In 1793, there was a war between France and Great Britain. John Graves Simcoe, the leader of Ontario, worried that the United States might join France. He was especially worried about attacks on Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), the first capital of Ontario. He also feared that the U.S. could block British access to the upper lakes.

John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, created the roadway that later became Yonge Street.

Simcoe decided to move the capital to a safer place and build roads to the upper lakes. He chose York (now Toronto) as the new capital because its harbour was easy to defend. He planned two roads. The first would go north from York to Lake Simcoe. The second would connect Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay. This would allow goods to be moved overland, avoiding U.S. strongholds. The road from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe is Yonge Street. The second road to Georgian Bay was called the Penetanguishene Road.

Before Yonge Street, there was an old portage route called the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail. It already connected Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. In 1793, Simcoe traveled this trail. He chose a new route for his road that avoided marshy areas. He moved the southern end of the road to York and the northern end to a planned town called St. Albans.

The road was first called Concession 1. Land was given to settlers along the road. They had to clear 33 feet of road in front of their land. Early on, Yonge Street was very muddy and hard to use.

Building Yonge Street

This old document shows that settlers who got land along Yonge Street had to help build the road.

In 1794, William Berczy and his group of families were the first to help build the road. They cleared the route near Thornhill. But construction stopped for a while.

John Graves Simcoe watching the Queen's York Rangers cut trees to build Yonge Street in 1795.

Work started again in 1795 with the Queen's Rangers. They began at Eglinton Avenue and worked north. Farmers along the road also had to spend 12 days a year clearing it. The southern part of the road was used in the early 1800s. The whole road was usable by 1816.

The road was extended south to Bloor Street in 1796. The area south of Bloor Street was too swampy at first. But over time, the swamps were drained. In 1812, the road reached the harbour. In 1828, the southern part was covered with gravel.

The town of St. Albans never grew as Simcoe hoped. But Holland Landing grew up there instead. This town was settled by Quakers who came from the United States.

Yonge Street almost served its military purpose during the War of 1812. A large anchor was being moved along the road for a ship. But the war ended before it reached its destination. The anchor is now in a park near Holland Landing.

Yonge Street's Changes Over Time

In the early days, bears were sometimes seen on Yonge Street! In 1809, a soldier named Lieutenant Fawcett even fought a bear on the street.

In 1824, work began to extend Yonge Street to Kempenfelt Bay near Barrie. This extension was completed by 1827. In 1833, parts of the dirt road were improved with a method called "macadamise" (using crushed stones).

The Second Toll Gate on Yonge Street in 1886. People had to pay to use the road here.

The government asked private companies to build and maintain roads. In return, these companies could charge tolls. In the 1830s, there was a tollbooth near York Mills that was a small two-story building. In 1850, James Beatty bought Yonge Street and other roads. He charged tolls until 1863, when the government took control again. In 1865, York County Council bought it.

In 1875, tolls ranged from 1 cent for a pig to 10 cents for a horse-drawn vehicle. These tolls mainly taxed farmers taking their goods to market.

A horse-drawn streetcar on Yonge Street in 1890. These started running in 1861.

A horse-drawn streetcar line started on Yonge Street in Toronto in 1861. It went from Scollard Street to King Street. By 1892, streetcars in Toronto were powered by electricity.

After Canadian Confederation (when Canada became a country), east-west trade routes became more important. This made Yonge Street less important for long-distance travel.

In the late 1800s, the Toronto and York Radial Railway used the side of Yonge Street. This railway went all the way to Sutton, near Lake Simcoe. But as cars became popular, the railway was used less. The last train ran in 1930. The space it used was later used to widen Yonge Street.

Yonge Street Today

Yonge Street, in Toronto

A Viva Blue bus on Yonge Street in York Region, connecting people to Toronto.

Yonge Street has changed a lot over the years. Today, it has many new tall buildings with homes and offices. It also has many shops. This makes it a busy place for people from all over the Greater Toronto Area.

Yonge Street is a very important route for transportation and business. The Yonge-University Subway Line runs along it in Toronto and Vaughan. It will soon extend to Richmond Hill. North of Toronto, the Yonge Street Rapidway has special lanes for Viva buses. Yonge Street also has many other public transportation options.

Canada's First Subway

Building the Yonge subway in 1949.

For a long time, people wanted a subway on Yonge Street because so many people traveled north and south. After World War 2, the Toronto Transit Commission suggested building a subway line along Yonge Street. Voters approved it in 1946. Construction started in 1949. The Yonge Subway opened in 1954. It was Canada's first subway line! It cost $59 million.

The subway line has been extended many times. Most recently, it was extended to Vaughan in 2017. The line, now called Line 1 Yonge–University, is the busiest subway line in Canada.

The "Longest Street in the World" Myth

A map showing Yonge Street compared to Highway 11.

Yonge Street used to be part of Highway 11. This led to the idea that Yonge Street was the longest street in the world. Highway 11 was over 1,896 kilometres (1,178 mi) long. But Yonge Street was never the same as Highway 11 for its entire length.

The original Yonge Street ends in Holland Landing. The name Yonge Street does pick up again in Bradford and goes through Innisfil to Barrie. But no other part of Highway 11 further north was ever called Yonge Street. For example, at its end in Rainy River, Highway 11 is called Atwood Avenue.

(Above) The "longest street in the world" sign at Yonge and Dundas in 2013; and after it was removed in 2017 (Below)

The Guinness Book of Records first listed Yonge Street as the longest in 1977. This was because a Toronto writer named Jay Myers asked them to. He had written a book about the street. Even before that, people thought Yonge Street was the longest. The Globe newspaper said so in 1895. Guinness kept listing it until 1999. Then, they recognized the Pan-American Highway as the world's longest road.

In the late 1990s, Yonge Street was officially separated from Highway 11. So, Highway 11 now starts further north, outside Barrie.

Even though it's not the longest, the idea was popular. There was even an art piece at Yonge and Dundas Streets. It showed a map of the street's supposed long length in bronze on the sidewalk. But this map has now been removed.

Interestingly, another street starting in Toronto, Dundas Street, might actually be the longest named street in the world. It runs west from Toronto to London, Ontario, keeping its name for most of the way.

Recent Events

In 2008, Toronto's first pedestrian scramble was opened at Yonge and Dundas Streets. This allows people to cross the intersection in all directions at once.

On April 23, 2018, a driver caused a serious incident on Yonge Street. This event started near Finch Avenue and continued south.

Yonge Street's Importance to Culture

As Toronto's main street, Yonge Street is a place for parades, street shows, and protests. After big sports wins, thousands of people gather downtown, especially near Dundas Square. The street is closed to cars during these times. This happened when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993. It also happened when the Canada men's national ice hockey team won Olympic gold medals. And when the Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019.

People celebrating on Yonge and Dundas Street after the Canadian men's national ice hockey team won a gold medal in 2010.

Parts of Yonge Street are often closed for other events, like a yearly street festival. In 1999, Ricky Martin had a huge autograph session that closed a large part of the street. Free concerts have also been held at Yonge and Dundas Streets, with artists like R.E.M. and Beyoncé.

Five-pin bowling was invented and first played at the Toronto Bowling Club on Yonge Street.

Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner helped introduce disc sports (like Frisbee) to Canada. They did nightly Frisbee shows on the Yonge Street Mall from 1971 to 1974.

Toronto's yearly LGBTQ Pride, Orange Order, and Santa Claus parades also use Yonge Street for much of their routes.

Getting Around Yonge Street

In Toronto, the eastern part of the Line 1 Yonge–University subway serves Yonge Street. It runs north from Union Station to Finch Avenue. This "Yonge subway" opened in 1954. It was Canada's first subway line. Today, it is the busiest subway route in Canada. There are also bus routes along the street, including an overnight bus service.

In York Region, Viva Blue buses serve Yonge Street. This bus rapid transit route connects to Finch station, the end of the subway line. The subway is planned to extend north to Highway 7 in Richmond Hill. Special bus lanes, called rapidways, are being built for Viva buses. Viva Blue also has other local bus routes. In Holland Landing, there are also transit services. In Simcoe County, GO Transit runs a bus route along Yonge from Newmarket to Barrie. Barrie Transit also has bus routes that use Yonge Street.

Yonge North Subway Extension (YNSE)

The Yonge North Subway Extension (YNSE) is a big project. It will extend the TTC’s Line 1 subway service about 8 kilometers north from Finch Station into York Region. This expansion will cover parts of Markham, Vaughan, and Richmond Hill.

When finished, the YNSE will connect with local and GO transit services. This will make it easier to travel in the region. Construction started in October 2022. Metrolinx began building in Spring 2023. About 6.3 kilometers of tunnels will be needed. This subway extension has been planned since 1994.

The main transit routes serving Yonge Street are:

Toronto (TTC):

An open section of the Yonge subway near Rosedale station.

York Region (YRT):

The Major MacKenzie Vivastation on the Yonge Street Rapidway.

Route		Direction and End Points
	Viva Blue	Southbound	To Finch Bus Terminal	Northbound	To Newmarket Bus Terminal (Davis Drive)
99	Yonge South	Southbound	To Finch GO Bus Terminal	Northbound	To Bernard Terminal (north of Elgin Mills Road)
98	Yonge North	Southbound	To Bernard Terminal	Northbound	To Green Lane
52	Holland Landing	Southbound	To Newmarket Terminal	Northbound	To Queensville Sideroad Loops back south via other streets in Holland Landing to end at the Newmarket Terminal

Simcoe County (GO Transit):

Barrie (Barrie Transit):

Major Roads Yonge Street Crosses

City	Km	Mi	Road	Notes
Toronto	0.0	0.0	Queens Quay
	0.3	0.1	Road Gardiner
	0.6	0.4	Front Street
	0.8	0.5	King Street
	1.2	0.8	Queen Street
	1.7	1.0	Dundas Street
	3.3	2.1	Bloor Street
	5.4	3.3	St. Clair Avenue
	7.5	4.6	Eglinton Avenue
	9.5	5.9	Lawrence Avenue
	11.7	7.3	Wilson Avenue / York Mills Road
	12.7	7.9	Highway 401	Highway 401 exit 369
	13.7	8.5	Sheppard Avenue
	15.7	9.8	Finch Avenue
Markham – Vaughan – Toronto tripoint	17.8	11.1	Steeles Avenue	Regional Road 1 begins
Vaughan – Markham boundary	19.8	12.3	Centre Street
Markham – Vaughan – Richmond Hill tripoint	21.9	13.6	Road 407ETR	Highway 407 exit 77
Richmond Hill	22.1	13.7	Regional Road 7 (Highway 7)
	24.0	14.9	Regional Road 74 (Carrville Road / 16th Avenue)
	26.0	16.2	Regional Road 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive)
	28.1	17.5	Regional Road 49 (Elgin Mills Road)
	32.2	20.0	Regional Road 14 (Stouffville Road)
	34.3	21.3	Regional Road 11 (King Road)
Richmond Hill – Aurora boundary	36.4	22.6	Regional Road 40 (Bloomington Road)
Aurora	40.5	25.2	Regional Road 15 (Wellington Street)
Newmarket	46.8	29.1	Regional Road 31 (Davis Drive)
East Gwillimbury	49.88	31.0	Former Highway 11
	55.3	34.4	Regional Road 77 (Queensville Sideroad)	Continues north 0.2 km east along Queensville Sideroad
	57.1	35.5	Dead end

Images for kids

• 

  The "longest street in the world" inscription at Yonge and Dundas in front of the Toronto Eaton Centre in 2013.

• 

  The inlay at Yonge and Dundas after it was removed in 2017.

See also

In Spanish: Yonge Street para niños

• Penetanguishene Road