McCowan Road
McCowan Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. It runs through the city of Toronto and into the Regional Municipality of York where it ends at the Town of Georgina.
The road was named for the McCowan Family, a Scottish family patriarch who settled in the area in 1833. The street, the former Lot 22, and later McCowan's Sideroad, begins at Kingston Road in the City of Toronto and ends at Baseline Road in the Town of Georgina.
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 opened in 1973, an interchange with Highway 401 was opened. With greater vehicle usage, in that area, the road is now six lanes from Ellesmere Road to Sheppard Avenue, and additional exit ramps to/from the 401 have been constructed at nearby Brimley Road.
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 interchanges with Highway 401 at the Scarborough Town Centre within the Scarborough City Centre district. North of Sheppard Avenue, the road borders the western edge of the Canadian Pacific Railway Toronto marshalling yards, which extends to the east of Markham Road.Public transit
McCowan Road is served mainly by the Toronto Transit Commission Route 16 McCowan bus south of Scarborough Centre station, a station on the closed Line 3 Scarborough , whose bus terminal is still in use, and the Route 129 McCowan North bus north of it. Route 129's 'A' branch also serves McCowan Road in Markham north of Steeles Avenue, which formerly required passengers to pay a second fare when crossing Steeles. Since the implementation of the One Fare program on February 26, 2024, riders paying by Presto card, credit card, or debit card are not charged the double fare, although cash payments still required both to be paid.Another route serving part McCowan is Route 53B Steeles East.
York Region Transit formerly operated the Viva Green line of that system's Viva Rapid Transit network until that service was initially temporarily suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and discontinued permanently in 2023. Present regular YRT routes using portions of McCowan Road are Routes 40, Route 41, Route 42, Route 45, and Route 522.
Former and future rapid transit
Between 1985 and 2023, the TTC operated Line 3 Scarborough, a light metro line originally named the Scarborough RT, which terminated at McCowan station. The line used specialized technology that was aging and becoming difficult to maintain, and was slated to be decommissioned upon the opening of an extension of the conventional Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, which began construction from Kennedy station north to the intersection of McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue in June 2021, with most of the route following McCowan. However, in 2020, it was expected that Line 3 could possibly fail several years before the completion of the Line 2 extension. The expected failure did occur on July 24, 2023, when a train derailed, resulted in a decision the following month to not reopen the line.Landmarks
Here are some nearby landmarks McCowan Road runs near:| 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: 64.3 km.
- 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.