McCowan Road is a major north-south thoroughfare in the

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. It runs through the city of

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and into the

Regional Municipality of York The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional ...

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'' (officially called McCowan Road by Scarborough Township in 1956), begins at Kingston Road in the City of

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 Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west Arterial road, arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Ontario Highway 407, Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the w ...

s; Danforth Road carries most of the traffic south-southwest of Lawrence. When the Scarborough Town Centre complex was opened in 1973, interchange access to

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian prov ...

was opened, with Exit 381. With greater vehicle usage, in that area, the road is now 6 lanes from

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Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering, Ontario, Pickering via a turno ...

, and additional exit ramps to/from the 401 have been constructed at nearby Brimley Road. North of Sheppard Avenue, CP Rail's Toronto marshalling yards use McCowan as a western limit, and stretch east of Markham 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

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 now intersects

at the Scarborough Town Centre, built in 1973. The Scarborough Rapid Transit Line, opened in 1985, crosses McCowan on an elevated track at this location. North of Sheppard Avenue, the road borders the western edge of the Canadian Pacific Railway Toronto marshalling yards, which extend east of Markham Road.

Public transit

McCowan Road is served mainly by TTC Route 129A. Since this is a TTC route running north of Steeles Avenue, passengers must pay another fare when crossing Steeles Avenue. McCowan Road also serves as a temporary terminus for Viva Green lines at McCowan Vivastation at Highway 7 until the Cornell Terminal is completed. Other routes using portions of McCowan Road are YRT Routes 40 (Unionville Local), Route 41 (Markham Local), Route 42 (Breczy South Unionville), Route 45 (Mingay), Route 522(Markham Community Bus) and TTC Route 53B (Steeles East) The

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

's Scarborough RT line ends at McCowan Station, but all the connecting

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

terminate at the Scarborough Centre Station. These include: *16 McCowan *129 McCowan North *130 Middlefield *131 Nugget *132 Milner *169 Huntingwood *There is 24-hour bus service on McCowan with the 302 Danforth Rd.-McCowan Blue Night bus running from Danforth and

Warden Avenue A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically iden ...

s, along Danforth Road and McCowan to Steeles. *The 9 Bellamy (running between

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

and Scarborough Centre) operates along the southern portion of McCowan Road, between Eglinton Avenue and Kingston Road

Landmarks

McCowan Road stretches across

, Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, and Georgina. Here are some nearby Landmarks it runs through:

Road information

*Length: 52 km (within York Region) *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.

Major cross roads

''(from south to north)'' * Midland Avenue * Brimley Road * Kingston Road *

* Lawrence Avenue * Kennedy Road *

Finch Avenue Finch Avenue is an arterial road, arterial thoroughfare that travels east–west in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The road continues west into the Regional Municipality of Peel as List of numbered roads in Peel Region, Regional Road 2 and east in ...

* Steeles Avenue * Denison Street * York Regional Road 71