Keele Street

Parkside Drive begins at Lake Shore Boulevard near Sunnyside Beach, site of the former Sunnyside Amusement Park. It runs north forming the eastern boundary to High Park until Bloor Street. To the east is the Roncesvalles neighbourhood.

North of Bloor it becomes Keele. It runs through the residential High Park North neighbourhood and into the Junction, which contains a mix of residential and industrial areas around the railway tracks. It passes near the once important CPR West Toronto Yard. While Keele originally ran straight north, today there is a brief cut-off to deviate around the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway corridors, near the former Canada Packers stock yards.

It resumes south of Eglinton Avenue, and connects with Weston Road by Rogers Road. There is a minor jog at Eglinton, via Trethewey Drive and Yore Road. The road servers major arteries for suburban neighbourhoods in York and North York such as Silverthorn, Amesbury, and Maple Leaf. North of Highway 401 it passes by Downsview Airport and forms the border between the residential neighbourhoods to the west and the large Keele-Finch industrial area to the east. Keele also forms the eastern border of York University.

At Steeles Avenue, the road allowance between the former North York and Vaughan Townships was connected in the early 1960s. North of Steeles, in Vaughan, Keele continues to pass through industrial areas. It runs to the west of the MacMillan Yard, Canada's largest rail yard. North of Rutherford Road Keele Street is the main street for Maple, once a small town, but today a rapidly growing suburb. North of Maple, Keele Street passes through largely rural areas, but also serves as a major street for Hope and King City.

Keele and Dundas in the Junction

Major streets in Toronto which intersect with Keele (south to north):

• Bloor Street
• Dundas Street
• St. Clair Avenue
• Eglinton Avenue
• Lawrence Avenue
• Wilson Avenue
• Sheppard Avenue
• Finch Avenue
• Steeles Avenue

Keele and Dundas in 1923

A portion of Keele was once a major streetcar route. The Toronto Suburban Railway ran streetcars along Keele from Dundas West to Weston Rd to connect to Lambton, Weston, and Woodbridge. The Toronto Transit Commission took over the Toronto Suburban Railway routes in the 1920s, and continued to run the northwestern streetcars on behalf of York Township. The streetcar lines were converted to buses in the late 1940s, and since then Keele has been served by buses.[3]

Today Keele is served by the 41 Keele bus route, which runs from Keele station to Pioneer Village station via York University. North of Steeles Avenue operates the York Region Transit 107 Keele along Keele Street, running from Pioneer Village station to Teston Road in Vaughan. It is also served on weekdays by the 96 Keele-Yonge Route which runs north from Pioneer Village to King Road before turning right on King Road to go to Yonge Street which leads it to the Newmarket Terminal.[4]

Google Maps of Keele Street

• North section
• South of St. Clair Avenue