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29-412: Inaugurated in 1874 as Woodbine Race Course at the foot of Woodbine Avenue and Lake Ontario , it was owned and operated by Raymond Pardee and William J. "Jiggs" Howell. The facility's land was mostly owned by Jesse Ashbridge and C.C. Small. Within a few years, financial problems resulted in the property reverting to Joseph Duggan, the original landowner and retired innkeeper. In 1881, Duggan helped found

58-432: A few years, and there was a Thoroughbred race announcer by the name of Foster "Buck" Dryden for several years. A horse by the name of Last Mark (owned by James G. Fair of Cainsville, Ontario) won the "Plate" in 1948, setting a new Plate record and only being equalled once before the track was decommissioned. R.J. Speers' horse, Lord Fairmond, came second in that Plate race. Fair had two horses in that Plate which never ran in

87-480: A narrow strip of land between it and Lake Ontario . Thoroughbred racing continued at the racetrack on a shortened six- furlong (1,207 m) track. Harness races were at first conducted on the Thoroughbred track, but serious problems with mud (including the starting gate being immobilized) led to the construction of a five- furlong (1006 m) stone dust harness track inside the Thoroughbred track. This track

116-464: A new four-lane section of Woodbine was constructed on a new alignment which included a new intersection with Elgin Mills Road. The new alignment, which was initially known as Woodbine Avenue By-Pass , opened on November 15, 2010. The bypassed section of Woodbine Avenue was renamed Victoria Square Boulevard to reflect the location of the road within the area of Victoria Square and transferred to

145-512: A number of neighbourhoods and rural communities in Toronto and York Region: Landmarks and notable sites along Woodbine from south to north: Woodbine Racetrack is in Etobicoke , and not anywhere close to Woodbine Avenue. Greenwood Race Track used to be located at the south end of Woodbine Avenue until it was demolished in 1994. Greenwood Race Track was the original Woodbine Racetrack until

174-505: A tavern at then 88 Yonge Street (west side of Yonge north of King Street near the Fairweather Building c. 1918) called "The Woodbine House" or "The Woodbine", which was re-used by Howell for his horse track. Originally, Woodbine Avenue's southern terminus was at the namesake Woodbine Beach on Ashbridge's Bay just south of Kew Beach Avenue which is two blocks south of Queen Street , but was rechannelled to curve west into

203-1101: Is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways / motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed . The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways or expressways , and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. Therefore, many arteries are limited-access roads , or feature restrictions on private access. Because of their relatively high accessibility , many major roads face large amounts of land use and urban development, making them significant urban places. In traffic engineering hierarchy, an arterial road delivers traffic between collector roads and freeways . For new arterial roads, intersections are often reduced to increase traffic flow . In California, arterial roads are usually spaced every half mile, and have intersecting collector(s) and streets. The Traffic Engineering Handbook describes "Arterials" as being either principal or minor. Both classes serve to carry longer-distance flows between important centers of activity. Arterials are laid out as

232-577: Is a north–south arterial road consisting of two sections in Toronto and York Region in Ontario , Canada . The southern section in Toronto runs just under 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), and begins near Ashbridge's Bay on the shore of Lake Ontario , at Lake Shore Boulevard , which ends by curving north to default into Woodbine. This section of Woodbine then continues north and ends at O'Connor Drive . The northern section runs from Steeles Avenue at

261-467: Is served by five different routes and two operators. The northern part of the route, from Danforth to O'Connor is served by the TTC 91 Woodbine and 93 Parkview Hills bus routes. South of Danforth is served by TTC 92 Woodbine South bus route. In Markham the road is served by the 24 Woodbine YRT route. The far north of the road, through the town of Keswick is served by YRT 51 Keswick Local. Woodbine serves

290-674: Is today named Woodbine Heights Boulevard. It runs for four blocks and ends at the East Don Valley of the Don River . Union Street in Gormley is a former alignment of Woodbine at Stouffville Road. Woodbine was a single lane paved concession road (third concession line laid 19,800 ft (6,000 m) east of Yonge Street , with the northern section running to south of York Mills Road with an unopened road allowance extending southwards to beyond Lawrence Avenue . An abandoned stub of

319-559: The Fort Erie Racetrack in Fort Erie, Ontario , and two facilities in Toronto. A new facility for Thoroughbred horse races was constructed in Etobicoke and given the name Woodbine Racetrack . The old facility was completely renovated and renamed Greenwood Raceway in 1963. It held both harness racing and Thoroughbred racing meets until its closure at the end of 1993. Steeplechase races were held at Woodbine/Greenwood for

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348-524: The Ontario Jockey Club (OJC). The facility hosted seasonal harness racing for Standardbred horses and flat racing events for Thoroughbreds . Harness racing dates were transferred to the racetrack from Thorncliffe Park Raceway to fill the gap between the spring and fall thoroughbred meets, and the track was known as Greenwood Raceway during the harness meets. The track was at the junction of Kingston Road and Queen Street East, with only

377-457: The City of Toronto, terminates shortly after the intersection with Steeles, with Woodbine absorbing most of this traffic. In the early 2000s, new housing development necessitated the widening of Woodbine Avenue north of Major Mackenzie Drive to cope with increased traffic levels. However, due to residences and heritage properties in the community of Victoria Square, including a church and a cemetery,

406-639: The Markham neighbourhoods of Buttonville , Cachet , and Cathedraltown , with a bypass around the preserved former rural community of Victoria Square . North of Elgin Mills, Woodbine narrows to a two-lane rural road. There is also a short former third section immediately to the north of the Toronto section; cut off by the Taylor-Massey Creek , in the Parkview Hills neighbourhood, which

435-953: The Plate Trials but worked out between the two divisions of the Trials. Their times were faster than the times of either of the trial divisions. Greenwood Raceway was the site of the Canadian Pacing Derby , the North America Cup , the Fan Hanover Stakes , the Maple Leaf Trot , and the Canadian Trotting Classic . In 1994, the Thoroughbred and harness operations were moved to Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke. The stadium

464-767: The Toronto- Markham border and extends 55.4 kilometres (34.4 mi) to the shore of Lake Simcoe , ending at Lake Drive in Georgina . York Region designates this section as York Regional Road 8 . Woodbine Avenue runs parallel to Highway 404 , with the highway's northern terminus branching off it just south of Ravenshoe Road in East Gwillimbury . Woodbine in York Region is six lanes wide from Steeles Avenue to Highway 7 , and four lanes wide from Highway 7 to north of Elgin Mills Road, passing through

493-485: The backbone of a traffic network and should be designed to afford the highest level of service , as is practical, as per the aforementioned "Traffic Engineering Handbook". The construction and development of arterial roads is achieved through two methods. By far the most common is the upgrading of an existing right-of-way during subdivision development. When existing structures prohibit the widening of an existing road however, bypasses are often constructed. Because of

522-480: The biggest fires in Toronto's history, as 170 firefighters were required to bring the six-alarm blaze under control. The building was less than 50 metres from residences in the neighborhood and more than 50 families had to evacuate their homes on Christmas morning. One person was killed and another was severely disfigured. Police and insurance quickly suspected arson and several people have been convicted. Arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare

551-486: The busier junctions. Speed limits are typically between 30 and 50 mph (50 and 80 km/h), depending on the density of use of the surrounding development. In school zones, speeds may be further reduced; likewise, in sparsely developed or rural areas, speeds may be increased. In western Canada, where freeways are scarce compared to the rest of North America, flashing early-warning amber lights are sometimes placed ahead of traffic lights on heavy signalized arterial roads so

580-484: The construction of the current Woodbine Racetrack in 1956. The name was then transferred to the new facility. Known as "Old Woodbine Race Track" for several years, the facility changed its name to Greenwood Race Track after nearby Greenwood Avenue . On Christmas Eve in 2001, the Woodbine Building Supply fire occurred. The store was located at the intersection of Danforth and Woodbine. It was one of

609-573: The eastern end of the then-new Lake Shore Boulevard in the 1950s. In Toronto, portions of unopened and open road allowances for Woodbine Avenue north of Eglinton Avenue to Sheppard Avenue were removed when the Don Valley Parkway was constructed in the 1960s, with the terminus of Don Valley Parkway defaulting to Woodbine Avenue. The last section of Woodbine in Metropolitan Toronto between Sheppard Avenue and Steeles Avenue

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638-711: The jurisdiction of the city of Markham. However, the bypass retained the Woodbine Avenue By-Pass name even after the renaming of the bypassed segment until November 2015, when it was finally decided to redesignate it as part of Woodbine Avenue proper. The former alignment, Victoria Square Boulevard, intersects Woodbine at both ends. In 2017, the City of Toronto installed Cycle Tracks (protected bike lanes) to Woodbine Ave spanning from O'Connor Dr to Queen St E. Transit service along Woodbine began in 1921 by Hollinger Bus Lines. The Woodbine route ran from Danforth north to O'Connor Drive. Before then residents along

667-653: The old road south of York Mills Road remains behind a fenced off wooded area on the east side of the Don Valley Parkway where the parkway crosses a ravine. It was named for Woodbine Racetrack, later known as Greenwood Raceway . Beyond Lawrence Avenue and especially south of Eglinton Avenue the road allowance was not feasible for a roadway due to the deep valley along the Don River. It is also believed that former racetrack-owner William J. (Jiggs) Howell (along with either Raymond Pardee or Dennis Pard ) operated

696-453: The placement and general continuity of arterial road corridors , sewers, water mains, conduits and other infrastructure are placed beneath or beside the roadbed. In North America, signalized at-grade intersections are used to connect arterials to collector roads and other local roads (except where the intersecting road is a minor side street, in which case a stop sign is used instead). In Europe, large roundabouts are more commonly seen at

725-474: The property became Woodbine Park with a water fountain feature in a man-made pond. It is separated from Woodbine Beach by Lake Shore Boulevard. In 2016, it was announced that Live Nation Entertainment had purchased the other half of the property (known as Greenwood Off Track Wagering or Champions Greenwood) with the intent of repurposing the site into a medium-sized entertainment venue with a capacity of 2,700 attendees. Woodbine Avenue Woodbine Avenue

754-411: The road was assumed would not likely be travelling south or could walk to their destination. Woodbine intersected with a few east–west streetcar lines: The privately operated Hollinger route was taken over by the TTC in 1954 and retained route name. The opening of Woodbine subway station in 1966 changed transit patterns, as many residents now needed to get all the way north to Danforth. Today Woodbine

783-410: Was demolished and replaced by residential and commercial development, including a betting parlour.To commemorate the history of the site, two of the new residential roadways were given names that reflected horse racing themes: Northern Dancer Blvd. (in honour of the famous thoroughbred Northern Dancer ) and Winners Circle. Joseph Duggan Road was named after the historical landowner. The southern half of

812-642: Was known for its tight turns and long back and homestretches. In the early 1950s, the Ontario Jockey Club, led by directors E. P. Taylor , George C. Hendrie and J. E. Frowde Seagram , undertook an acquisition and consolidation program for southern Ontario racing. The OJC bought and closed the Orpen -owned Dufferin Park and Long Branch race tracks. By 1956, the OJC operated just three facilities, consisting of

841-487: Was lost when the provincial extension of the Don Valley Parkway, Highway 404 , was built over it during the 1970s. Woodbine was retained north of Steeles through York Region by swinging the route of Highway 404 to the west, with the Parclo A4 interchange with Steeles including a Y-junction to accommodate traffic to and from Woodbine towards the south. Victoria Park Avenue , a major north–south arterial extending north from

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