Queens Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1]
The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront; parts of it have been extensively rebuilt in since the 1970s with parks, condominiums, retail, as well as institutional and cultural development.
History
The road supplanted both Front Street and Lake Shore Boulevard as the most southerly east–west corridor in the city when it was created on reclaimed land in the inner harbour. Sometime after 1919 to the early 1920s the inner harbour was filled in and new slips were created.
Queens Quay in 1910
Queens Quay continues to go through a significant transformation. Originally, it served as an access road for the various ports and slips in the inner harbour. The street between Yonge Street and Parliament Street was home to storage buildings devoted to trade on the Saint Lawrence Seaway, major industries such as the Redpath Sugar Refinery and Victory Mills, as well as small commercial enterprises.[2] However, the mainly industrial uses along Queens Quay were slowly replaced by commercial and residential uses, mainly high-rise condominiums. Between 1975 and 1979, a cluster of large, concrete towers were erected at the foot of Bay Street, south of Queens Quay; these included the Westin Harbour Castle and Harbour Square. In 1990, the 40-storey York Quay towers were built and remain the tallest buildings on Queens Quay.[3] The scale and density of these and subsequent high-rise development along Queens Quay were criticized for blocking the lake and failing to provide a welcoming realm for visitors. In 1997 City School (Toronto) relocated to 635 Queens Quay West.[4] In 1999, the Toronto Transit Commission opened a dedicated streetcar right-of-way in the median from Bay Street to Bathurst Street.
In 2001, the city planners set out to improve Queens Quay by reclaiming public space for pedestrians and cyclists. This resulted in the Waterfront Toronto Central Waterfront Public Realm International Design Competition, which was completed in 2006. In August 2006, the city closed the two eastbound lanes, replacing them with bike lanes as part of the Martin Goodman Trail and additional pedestrian space. The experiment resulted in an improved public realm and more visitors to the overall waterfront area.[5]
In 2009, Waterfront Toronto announced its plans to turn Queens Quay into a grand lakefront boulevard by placing streetcar lanes in the centre, traffic only on the north side and a pedestrian-focused space on the south side.[6] The plan would restrict Queen's Quay to two traffic lanes, on the north side of the streetcar tracks, similar to the design of the 2006 experiment. Additionally, the plan calls for the beautification and extension of the Harbourfront streetcar line along Queen's Quay East between Yonge and Cherry Street. The transit right-of-way will be grass-covered.[7][8]
In 2013 Ontario Square and Canada Square opened. The former is an open public space and the latter a green area. Both replace the former parking lot, which is now underground.[9]
Originally there was to have been an underground station in front of the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel and the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal,[12]
with underground access to the hotel. This plan was cancelled when the hotel management became unwilling to share in the cost, and a smaller station was built around the corner under Bay Street.
Plans to add a Queens Quay East light rail line are the subject of a class environmental assessment.[13] Various bus routes currently serve portions of the eastern portion of Queens Quay: the 19 Bay operates from Bay Street to Sherbourne Street; the 65 Parliament and the 365 Parliament Blue Night operate from Sherbourne Street to Parliament Street; the 72 Pape and the 202 Cherry Beach operate from Bay Street to Parliament Street; the 75 Sherbourne operates from Jarvis Street to Sherbourne Street; and the 320 Yonge Blue Night buses operates from Bay Street to Yonge Street.
Restaurant on a permanently docked boat (Restaurant closed 2011 and ship was removed from dock on May 28, 2015 for recycling in Port Colborne, Ontario)
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Jack Lakey (2014-01-23). "Streetcar rails test patience of Queens Quay pedestrians: The Fixer". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2014-01-24. Those who know it only as the location of the island ferry docks or Sugar Beach might be surprised to learn that it was lined with warehouses until someone figured out it was some of Toronto's best real estate.
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Peter Howell (1990-03-12). "TTC fighting on two fronts Province, Toronto give it rough ride". Toronto Star. p. A.15. Retrieved 2012-03-13. The constant bickering between the TTC and Toronto over serving the ferry dock led to the recent decision by the owners of the Harbour Castle Westin to withdraw their $2.5 million share of the $4 million cost. The TTC now plans to build a smaller stop on the north side of Queens Quay, which means thousands of people will have to cross the busy street to take the ferries.
