 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009) |
Queen's 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. It has been extensively rebuilt in the past two decades with high-rise condominium, retail and institutional development.
Contents |
History
The road replaced both Front Street and Lake Shore Boulevard as the most southerly east-west corridor in the city when it was created 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. However, the mainly industrial uses along Queens Quay were slowly replaced by commercial and residential uses, mainly high-rise condominiums. Between 1975 and 1979, a cluster of large, concrete towers were erected at the foot of Bay Street, south of Queens Quay; these included the Westin Harbour Castle and Harbour Square. In 1990, the 40-storey York Quay towers were built and remain the tallest buildings on Queens Quay.[1]. The scale and density of these and subsequent high-rise development along Queens Quay were criticized for blocking the lake and failing to provide a welcoming realm for visitors. In 1999, the Toronto Transit Commission opened a dedicated streetcar right-of-way in the median from Bay Street to Bathurst Street.
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 and additional pedestrian space. The experiment resulted in an improved public realm and more visitors to the overall waterfront area.[2]
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 focussed space on the south side. The plan will restrict Queen’s Quay to two traffic lanes, on the north side of the streetcar tracks, similar to the design of the 2006 experiment. Additionally, the plan calls for the beautification and extension of the Harbourfront streetcar line along Queen’s Quay East between Yonge and Cherry Street. The transit right-of-way will be grass-covered.[3]
Street Description
Queen's 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 Queen's 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. Plans to add a streetcar line on the eastern end on Queen's Quay are currently (as of February 2007) the subject of a class environmental assessment.[1] Various bus routes currently serve portions of the eastern portion of Queen's Quay: the 6 Bay operates from Bay Street to Jarvis Street, the 75 Sherbourne operates from Jarvis Street to Sherbourne Street, and the 97 Yonge and 320 Yonge Blue Night buses operate from Bay Street to Yonge Street.
Attractions and Notable Buildings
Attractions
- Queen's Quay Terminal - a converted cold storage terminal, now a shopping mall and residential/office complex
- Harbourfront Centre - a cultural centre built by the federal government as part of the Harbourfront Park development
- Toronto Police Marine Headquarters
- Toronto Island ferry docks
- Redpath Sugar Refinery - factory and museum
- Captain John's floating restaurant
- Toronto Waterfront WaveDecks
- Music Garden
Notable Buildings
- One Yonge Street - Home of the Toronto Star newspaper.
- Toronto Port Authority Office - formerly Toronto Harbour Commission
- Corus Quay - Home of Corus Entertainment and first major development in the East Bayfront District
Quays/Slips along Queen's Quay (from west to east)
- Bathurst Quay
- Spadina Quay
- Peter Street Slip
- Maple Leaf Quays
- Rees Street Slip
- John Street Quay
- Simcoe Street Slip
- York Quay
- York Street Slip
- Harbour Square
- Yonge Street Slip
- Jarvis Street Slip
- Parliament Street Slip
References
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Queen's Quay |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
