Roncesvalles Avenue

Roncesvalles Avenue

File:Roncesvalles Looking South.jpg The 504 King streetcar provides regular transit service along the length of Roncesvalles Avenue
Width	Four lanes
Location	Toronto, Ontario
To	Queen Street West

Roncesvalles Avenue is a north-south arterial street in Toronto, Canada. It connects Queen Street West, King Street West and runs north to Dundas Street West. Roncesvalles Avenue takes its name from the Battle of Roncesvalles, which took place in the Roncesvalles Pass in Spain in 1813. (The name 'Roncesvalles' means 'valley of thorns' in Spanish.) At this gorge, Colonel Walter O'Hara—an early 19th-century Irish settler who played a significant role in the establishment of the neighbourhood—led a regiment that fought against the retreating army of Napoleon.

Route description

A Roncesvalles Avenue with the Roncesvalles Village tag

Roncesvalles Avenue was a four-lane arterial roadway, although parking is allowed at all times on both sides of the street. Recent construction converted the street to two driving lanes, with the former right lanes re-purposed as permanent parking spaces, right turn lanes or streetcar platforms where necessary. Along the east side of the street from Queen Street to Dundas, the buildings are storefronts with upper apartments. Most of the buildings date from 1910 and later. Along the west side, the land usage is more diverse. At the intersection of Queen Street and Roncesvalles, there is a hotel. Behind the intersection is the large Roncesvalles TTC streetcar garage and shop. Further north is the Copernicus Lodge, a retirement home. Residential usage predominates along the west side, with some commercial storefronts around the intersection with Howard Park Avenue.

Businesses along Roncesvalles Avenue are organized into the "Roncesvalles Village Business Improvement Area". The residential neighbourhood, formerly part of the former villages of Brockton and Parkdale, is today simply classified as Roncesvalles. Much of the businesses there serve the city's Polish population.

Bumpout on Roncesvalles Avenue serving as both a streetcar loading platform as well as a bicycle lane.

The street is normally served by the frequent 504 King streetcar, its rails embedded in the street. However, major construction commenced in July 2009 to replace water mains which run below the tracks, the tracks themselves and the road and sidewalks. The project will transform the street for virtually its entire length. Construction was completed as of December 2010 to the point where streetcar service had resumed. The width of Roncesvalles increases at its south end, partly to allow turning streetcars access to the TTC yard. As part of the street redesign, a widened sidewalk "bumpout" was added to each stop to allow riders to board the streetcar directly from the curb. To accommodate a bike lane at a TTC stop, the bike lane would gently rise up from the main road to run on top of the bumpout. When the streetcar is boarding, cyclists would stop and allow riders on and off.

History

The first mention of Roncesvalles Avenue in atlases of Toronto was in 1860. The roadway was built to connect Queen Street with Dundas Street, then the main highway west. King Street West was extended to the foot of Roncesvalles in the 1880s. The Queensway was built in the 1950s, although a small part of Queen Street west of Roncesvalles had already been built in the 1800s.

The area around the street at the time of its construction was primarily agricultural with market gardens.

See also

• Parkdale, Toronto
• Roncesvalles, Toronto