Allen Road
| W.R. Allen Road | |||||||
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| Route information | |||||||
| Maintained by City of Toronto | |||||||
| Length: | 7.3 km (4.5 mi) | ||||||
| History: | Proposed during the 1950s as the Spadina Expressway, initial sections completed in 1964, completed to Eglinton in 1976 | ||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||
| South end: | Eglinton Avenue West | ||||||
| North end: | Sheppard Avenue West | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| Major cities: | Toronto | ||||||
| Highway system | |||||||
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William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road and The Allen is a short expressway, super-4 expressway, and arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue West north to Transit Road, then continues as a super-4 expressway north to De Boers Drive, and afterwards continues as an arterial road north to Kennard Avenue and Dufferin Street. Allen Road is named after late Metro Toronto Chairman William R. Allen and is maintained by the City of Toronto. Landmarks along the road include the Lawrence Heights housing project, Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Downsview Park (formerly CFB Downsview). A section of the Toronto subway Line 1 Yonge–University is located within its median from Eglinton Avenue to Sheppard Avenue.
The portion south of Sheppard Avenue was originally constructed as part of the Spadina Expressway project. The Spadina Expressway was a proposed north-south freeway, intended to connect downtown Toronto to the suburb of North York, and to serve the Yorkdale Shopping Centre project. It was only partially built before being cancelled in 1971 due to public opposition. It was proposed in the mid-1950s as part of a network of freeways for Metro Toronto. Its cancellation prompted the cancellation of the rest of the network.
The road begins at Eglinton Avenue West with two separate signalized intersections with the street. The northbound lanes intersect with Eglinton to the east of the Eglinton West subway station, and the two southbound lanes connect to Eglinton Avenue west of the station. The road proceeds north to Lawrence Avenue West as a four-lane freeway with a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) in the northerly direction and 80 km/h until 500 m (1,600 ft) north of Eglinton Avenue. The tracks of Line 1 Yonge–University are situated between the roadways. There is a subway station at Glencairn Avenue. The roadway and subway are situated in a cut-out section of land, with grass and trees on either side.
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