Burnhamthorpe Road is a major arterial road in the cities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario; beginning at Dundas Street, near Islington Avenue, running west and becoming a rural road in the Town of Oakville, where it terminates at Tremaine Road, where it changes name. Unlike most major streets originating in Toronto and continuing into the "905" suburbs, only a short portion is located in Toronto and the street is strongly Mississauga-centric. Also, although Burnhamthorpe is commonly seen as the latter city's main east-west street, the parallel arteries of Dundas Street and Eglinton Avenue are busier and have heavier commercial uses along them overall. The north side of the right-of-way on the street's eastern half through Mississauga is unusually wide as the result of being reserved for a potential light rail transit line that was never built. The reserve was converted into a bicycle trail, with another transit facility being constructed farther north instead. In Mississauga, the street, unlike most other arterial roads in the regional municipalities surrounding Toronto proper, is not a regional road. However, in Oakville it is signed as Halton Regional Road 27 as far west as Neyagawa Boulevard.
History
Burnhamthorpe Road is named after a former hamlet in Mississauga, which in turn was named by settler John Abelson for his hometown of Burnham Thorpe, England. The road was previously referred to as Mono Sixth Line Road in Etobicoke. It was previously called Back Concession Road in Halton County until 1966.
Route description
Burnhamthorpe begins at Dundas Street in the Islington neighborhood in Toronto's west end and heads west, crossing and interchanging with, Highway 427. At Renforth Creek there road was re-routed resulting in a stub to the north that runs as Old Burnhamthrope Road. After crossing the Etobicoke Creek, it enters Mississauga and is designated Burnhamthorpe Road East. At Hurontario Street, it passes by the iconic Absolute World condominium towers, enters Mississauga City Centre, and changes to a West designation. A linear park, lined with residential towers, runs along the south side of the street through here. Landmarks located in the City Centre on or near Burnhamthorpe include Square One Shopping Centre; the Living Arts Centre; and Mississauga Celebration Square; with the Mississauga Civic Centre situated just to the north. Continuing west past the city centre area, it traverses a mixed commercial and residential zone, before crossing over the wide Credit River valley on a high-level bridge, and entering the leafy Erin Mills district. Just west of Winston Churchill Boulevard, it narrows to two lanes, crosses over Highway 403, enters rural northern Oakville, and after approximately another 8 kilometres, breaks at Highway 407-ETR and the Sixteen Mile Creek. It resumes briefly west of the creek, and terminates at Tremaine Road. Its course is continued west by the Number 1 Side Road.
Bus routing controversy
Burnhamthorpe Road was a relatively minor artery through Toronto's west end until traffic increased due to the growth of Mississauga. Much of this new traffic consisted of a growing number of MiWay city buses travelling to and from the Toronto Transit Commission's Islington subway station. By the late 1990s, the number of buses had gotten so high that residents with homes on the street began complaining, and demanded that the MiWay buses use Highway 427 and Dundas St. to access Islington station. They even occasionally blockaded buses in what became known as the Battle of the Buses. The councils of both cities got involved and the TTC eventually banned MiWay buses from using the bus bays at the subway station. But by 2001, the ruckus died down and MiWay's buses began fully using the station again.
