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 University Avenue nearCollege Street, with theOntario Legislative Building visible in the background | |
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| Namesake | University of Toronto |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | City of Toronto government |
| South end | Front Street |
| Major junctions | Gerrard Street King Street Queen Street West |
| North end | College Street |
University Avenue is a major north–south road inDowntown Toronto,Ontario, Canada. Beginning atFront Street West in the south, the thoroughfare heads north to end atCollege Street and the south end of theUniversity of Toronto'sSt. George campus andQueen's Park. At its north end, theOntario Legislative Building serves as a prominentterminating vista. Many of Toronto's most important institutions are located along the eight-lane wide street such asOsgoode Hall and other legal institutions, theFour Seasons Centre, major hospitals conducting research and teaching, and landmark office buildings for the commercial sector, notably major financial and insurance industry firms. The portion of University Avenue betweenQueen Street West andCollege Street is laid out as aboulevard, with several memorials, statues, gardens, and fountains concentrated in a landscaped median dividing the opposite directions of travel, giving it a ceremonial character. Despite the avenue's name, the University of Toronto is primarily located on the neighbouring St. George Street.
University Avenue begins at the intersection ofFront and York streets nearUnion Station and heads northwest for a short distance before turning north. Lanes on the left ends as ramp to underground parking garage. At Adelaide Street West, the avenue divides slightly, leaving room for a median of greenery and sculptures between the north and southbound lanes. Southbound University runs diagonally to meet with York Street at Front Street West then continues south as York Street to Queens Quay and ends as a driveway signed asHarbour Square.
The avenue ends atCollege Street, where it splits into Queen's Park Crescent East (northbound) and Queen's Park Crescent West (southbound). Between these two roads isQueen's Park, the home of theOntario Legislative Building. This landmark creates aterminating vista for those looking north along University. The legislature's site was originally home to the main building of theUniversity of Toronto, and this is the origin of the avenue's name. Today, the university's St. George campus surrounds the legislature building. Queen's Park Crescent is a single street north to Bloor Street.
North ofBloor Street, the road continues asAvenue Road. University Avenue and Avenue Road were once designated asHighway 11A.
WhileYonge Street is the emotional heart of the city andBay Street thefinancial hub, University Avenue is Toronto's most ceremonial thoroughfare, with many of the city's most prominent institutions. The boulevard is unusually wide for Canadian cities (except forWinnipeg), as it expands from 6 lanes wide (just past the jog at Front and York streets) to eight lanes wide (just past the divide past Adelaide Street). The speed limit is 40 km/h below Gerrard St, reduced from 50 km/h. The speed limit was reduced from 60 to 50 in May–June 2009.
The northernmost part of the street is dominated by a series of hospitals includingToronto General Hospital,Mount Sinai Hospital, thePrincess Margaret Cancer Centre,Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, andThe Hospital for Sick Children. The concentration of hospitals on this portion of the street has led to it being given the nickname "Hospital Row" by locals and the media. The intersection of University and College is also home to the headquarters ofOntario Power Generation.
The rest of the street is home to a variety of corporate offices and government buildings. Historically, this imposing street has been met with mixed reviews. Noted Canadian author and historianPierre Berton commented that University Avenue "was rendered antiseptic by the presence of hospitals and insurance offices...the pristine display of wall-to-wall concrete that ran from Front Street to Queen's Park."[citation needed]
University Avenue has matured and mellowed somewhat since Berton's unfavourable observation, though paving is still characterized by poured concrete and asphalt for most sidewalks and roadway. Restaurants now dot the southern end of University Avenue. TheFour Seasons Centre at the intersection of University Avenue andQueen Street was completed in 2006 and is the home of theCanadian Opera Company and theNational Ballet of Canada.Osgoode Hall presents stately architecture and a welcome green space. During the holiday season, festive lights illuminate the trees and shrubs of the boulevard. Unlike most major streets in Toronto, there are no rooftop billboards visible from University Avenue due to a bylaw.
A portion of theUniversity line portion of the Yonge-University-Spadinasubway line runs the length of University Avenue.
University Avenue was originally made up of two streets, College Avenue and University Street, and separated by a fence, but it was eventually removed and the streets were merged.[1] The merged street ended at Queen Street until 1931, when it was extended southward to Front Street.[2]
After World War Two the avenue was transformed. Trees were cut down and four lanes, in each direction, were devoted to cars and trucks.[3] A central median has some trees, monuments, and park benches, which are lightly used, because strollers are surrounded by noisy traffic.
As part of the City of Toronto’s response to theCOVID-19 pandemic, a number of temporary dedicated bike lanes were installed across Toronto in 2020, including on University Avenue.[4] These lanes, fromBloor Street toKing Street were made permanent in 2021.[5]
Premier Doug Ford introduced legislation to remove the bike lanes over the wishes of the city, but the plan was struck down by the Ontario Superior Court after aCharter challenge that their removal threatened the safety of cyclists.[6][7][8]
In 2020 the city changed how lanes were allocated on University Avenue's pavement.[3] Only two lanes, per direction, were devoted to cars and trucks. A lane was devoted to parking, and room was made for a bicycle lane.
According toThe Globe and Mail it has been proposed to return approximately half of the width of the broad avenue to parkland.[3] The 9.5 acres (3.8 hectares) of parkland would cost $230 million, compared with the anticipated $1.7 billion cost for the proposedRail Deck Park's 20 acres (8.1 hectares).[9][10] The park would extend from theRoyal Ontario Museum, at Bloor Street, to the green space that surroundOsgoode Hall, on Queen Street. When the greenspace around Osgoode Hall, and adjacentNathan Phillips Square, andQueen's Park, surrounding the legislature are counted, University Avenue Park would connect 90 acres (36 hectares) of greenspace and public space.
The plans include restoring a section ofTaddle Creek that once flowed beside University Avenue.[9][11]
University Avenue features many landmark buildings and monuments. Some of these include (from south to north):
The design would move cars to one side of the avenue, reserving the other side for a new park. It would begin at the Royal Ontario Museum, extend south past Queen's Park and a cluster of hospitals, and near its southern end would connect with green space at Osgoode Hall, and City Hall.
Introducing University Park: An incredibly exciting project developed in line with the City of Toronto's 2018 TOCore downtown planning initiative spearheaded by Evergreen and The Michael Young Family Foundation.
There will also be the restoration of Taddle Creek "a legacy performative landscape that will facilitate flood prevention and promote biodiversity" on the park's western side.
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