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Queens Quay (Toronto)
Street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada
Street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Queens Quay |
| image | Queens Quay at Ann Tindal Park.jpg |
| caption | Looking east down Queens Quay, next to Ann Tindal Park. |
| direction_a | West |
| direction_b | East |
| location | Toronto |
| terminus_a | Stadium Road |
| terminus_b | Parliament St |
| browse |
Queens Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront; parts of it have been extensively rebuilt in since the 1970s with parks, condominiums, retail, as well as institutional and cultural development.
History
The road supplanted both Front Street and Lake Shore Boulevard as the most southerly east–west corridor in the city when it was created on reclaimed land in the inner harbour. Sometime after 1919 to the early 1920s the inner harbour was filled in and new slips were created.
Queens Quay continues to go through a significant transformation. Originally, it served as an access road for the various ports and slips in the inner harbour. The street between Yonge Street and Parliament Street was home to storage buildings devoted to trade on the Saint Lawrence Seaway, major industries such as the Redpath Sugar Refinery and Victory Mills, as well as small commercial enterprises.{{cite news |author-link = Mike Filey |access-date = 15 May 2025 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100315154627/http://www.torontosun.com/life/columnists/mike_filey/2010/03/13/13218601.html |archive-date = 15 March 2010 |url-status = dead | access-date = 15 May 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140124015628/http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer/2014/01/23/streetcar_rails_test_patience_of_queens_quay_pedestrians_the_fixer.html | archive-date = 24 January 2014 | url-status = live | access-date = 15 May 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907080524/http://www2.tdsb.on.ca/MOSS/asp_apps/school_landing_page/pdfs/web/5288_4pageLayout.pdf | archive-date = 7 September 2017 | url-status = dead
In 2001, the city planners set out to improve Queens Quay by reclaiming public space for pedestrians and cyclists. This resulted in the Waterfront Toronto Central Waterfront Public Realm International Design Competition, which was completed in 2006. In August 2006, the city closed the two eastbound lanes, replacing them with bike lanes as part of the Martin Goodman Trail and additional pedestrian space. The experiment resulted in an improved public realm and more visitors to the overall waterfront area. | access-date = 15 May 2025 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060830234009/http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1&c=Article&cid=1155333028140&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home | archive-date = 30 August 2006 | url-status = live
In 2009, Waterfront Toronto announced its plans to turn Queens Quay into a grand lakefront boulevard by placing streetcar lanes in the centre, traffic only on the north side and a pedestrian-focused space on the south side. | access-date = 16 May 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250516171327/https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/city-council-approves-plan-to-transform-queens-quay-538618362.html | archive-date = 16 May 2025 | url-status = live | access-date = 15 May 2015
In 2013 Ontario Square and Canada Square opened. The former is an open public space and the latter a green area. Both replace the former parking lot, which is now underground. | access-date = 16 May 2025
Transportation
Queens Quay is served by two streetcar lines, operating on a dedicated right-of-way. The 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina both terminate at Union Station and run along Queens Quay from Bay Street, westward. At Spadina Avenue, the 510 heads north to Spadina station, and the 509 continues west, bound for the Exhibition Loop. | access-date = 15 May 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241205114634/https://transittoronto.ca/streetcar/4107.shtml | archive-date = 5 December 2024 | url-status = live | access-date = 15 May 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220524184500/https://transittoronto.ca/streetcar/4108.shtml | archive-date = 24 May 2022 | url-status = live
Originally there was to have been an underground station in front of the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel and the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, | access-date = 15 May 2025
Plans to add a Queens Quay East light rail line are the subject of a class environmental assessment. | access-date = 15 May 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070128223434/http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/env_reg/ea/english/ToRs/ttc_eastbayfront_tor.htm | archive-date = 28 January 2007 | url-status = dead
Landmarks
| Landmark | Cross street | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Norway Park | Bathurst | [[File:Little Norway Park.jpg | 100px]] | |
| Canada Malting Silos | Bathurst | Storage silos abandoned since the 1980s; germination and kiln buildings demolished 2010 | [[File:Canada Malting Silos.JPG | 100px]] |
| Toronto Music Garden | Spadina | [[File:Toronto - ON - Toronto Music Garden.jpg | 100px]] | |
| Walter Carsen Centre | Spadina | headquarters of the National Ballet of Canada | [[File:Walter Carson Centre.JPG | 100px]] |
| Empire Sandy | Spadina | [[File:Empire Sandy.jpg | 100px]] | |
| HTO Park | Spadina | [[File:Hto Park Urban Beach 2.jpg | 100px]] | |
| Toronto Waterfront WaveDecks | Spadina, Rees, Lower Simcoe | [[File:SimcoeWavedeck2.jpg | 100px]] | |
| Harbourfront Centre | Lower Simcoe | a cultural centre built by the federal government as part of the Harbourfront Park development | [[File:Harbourfront-Centre.jpg | 100px]] |
| Queen's Quay Terminal | York | Built in 1926 as a cold storage warehouse facility turned into condos in the 1980s | [[File:TorontoWaterFront10.jpg | 100px]] |
| Queens Quay station | Bay | Underground LRT station | [[File:QueensQuayTTC6.jpg | 100px]] |
| Westin Harbour Castle Hotel | Bay | Built in 1975 as Harbour Castle Hilton and became a Westin hotel in 1987 | [[File:WestinHarbourCastleHotel.jpg | 100px]] |
| World Trade Centre | Yonge | [[File:WTC Toronto.JPG | 100px]] | |
| Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant (1975–2015) | Yonge | Restaurant on a permanently docked boat (Restaurant closed 2011 and ship was removed from dock on May 28, 2015, for recycling in Port Colborne, Ontario) | [[File:CaptainJohnsSeafood2.jpg | 100px]] |
| One Yonge Street | Yonge | The former Toronto Star headquarters from 1971 to 2022. | last1 = Zwolinski | |
| Redpath Sugar Refinery | Jarvis | Last active industrial site along the quay | [[File:RedpathSugarRefinery.jpg | 100px]] |
| The Guvernment | Jarvis | Night club opened in 1980s and closed 2015; demolition began in 2015 as property sold to condo developer Daniels Corporation | [[File:The Guvernment.jpg | 100px]] |
| Sugar Beach | Jarvis | [[File:SugarBeach P1050763.JPG | 100px]] | |
| Corus Quay | Jarvis | Home of Corus Entertainment and first major development in the East Bayfront District | [[File:Corus Quay under construction.JPG | 100px]] |
| Victory Soya Mills Silos (Central Soya Mills) | Parliament | Built 1943 and abandoned industrial silos since 1991; designated historic site | [[File:Victory Silos.JPG | 100px]] |
Quays and slips along Queens Quay
Listed from west to east
- Bathurst Quay (Éireann Quay) - see Ireland Park and Canada Malting Silos
- Spadina Quay
- Peter Street Slip
- Maple Leaf Quays - former site of Maple Leaf Mills Silos
- Rees Street Slip
- John Street Quay
- Simcoe Street Slip
- York Quay
- York Street Slip
- Harbour Square
- Yonge Street Slip
- Pier 27
- Jarvis Street Slip - now Corus Quay
- Redpath Slip
- Parliament Street Slip
References
References
- [http://www.toronto.ca/waterfront/wwmp.htm Master Plan] {{webarchive. link. (May 11, 2013)
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