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Donald Cousens Parkway

York Regional Road 48 shield

Donald Cousens Parkway
Route information
Length: 11.8 km (7.3 mi)
Existed: 2004 – present
Major junctions
South end: Steeles Avenue East at the TorontoYork boundary
   Highway 407
North end:  Regional Road 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive)
Location
Major cities: Markham (Cornell; Box Grove)
Highway system
County roads in Ontario

York Regional Road 48 shield

Donald Cousens Parkway or York Regional Road 48, also referred to historically as the Markham Bypass or Markham Bypass Extension, is a regionally maintained arterial bypass of Markham in the Canadian provinceof Ontario. Named for former Markham mayor Don Cousens in April 2007, the route initially travelled northward from Copper Creek Drive in Box Grove, south of Highway 407, to Major Mackenzie Drive (York Regional Road 25). A southern extension to Steeles Avenue was later completed and the name Donald Cousens Parkway applied along the extension to Ninth Line. In addition to its role of funneling through-traffic around downtown Markham, the route serves as a boundary to residential development as land to the north and east are part of the protected Rouge Park and southwest limits of the planned Pickering Airport.

Construction of the route began in 2002 north of 16th Avenue. In 2004, an interchange with Highway 407 was constructed along with a connection north to Highway 7. Both segments and the interchange were opened by December of that year. The following year, construction began to connect these two segments as well as on the Box Grove Bypass along Ninth Line; the former opened in October 2006 and the latter in the spring of 2007. Construction of the most recently opened segment, connecting the Box Grove Bypass to the interchange with Highway 407, began in 2009. It opened after several delays in 2012 and included a realignment of 14th Avenue.


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Wikipedia

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