Avenue Road
Avenue Road is a major north south street in Toronto, Ontario. Its name is rather unusual. Robert Fulford once wrote that it "sounded like an identity crisis with pavement." The road is a continuation of University Avenue after it has gone around Queen's Park, the Ontario Legislative Assembly.
Avenue Road officially begins at Bloor Street, the western limits of the former town of Yorkville, and ends at Highway 401. At its southern terminus, it runs between two of Toronto's major hotels the Hyatt Park Plaza and the Four Seasons, with the Royal Ontario Museum and Church of the Redeemer (Toronto) on the corners. For much of its length the road is fairly residential, with a mix of small businesses, as well as a few large schools and churches. A notable site along this "lower section" is the Hari Khrisna Temple, formerly the Avenue Road Church, opposite Dupont Street. Just north of St. Clair Avenue Avenue Road temporarily veers east circling around Upper Canada College, and the eastern edge of Forest Hill.
North of Eglinton Avenue, the former St. James-Bond Church can be seen. This building, once housing two prime downtown St. James Square (formerly Presbyterian), and Bond Street (formerly Congregationalist) was built in the late 1920s, and is closing in June 2005. It is rumoured that author Ian Fleming was inspired to name Agent 007 (James Bond) after seeing the sign for this church (although this isn't confirmed).
Near Lawrence Avenue, Havergal College, a large, private girls school is located. Although located in the former city of North York, much of the area considers itself part of North Toronto. At Wilson Avenue (Toronto), Avenue Road presently ends at Ontario Provincial Highway 401(exit 367); prior to the construction of this expressway/superhighway in the 1950s, Avenue Road or the former Ontario Provincial Highway 11A, veered east, crossing the West Don River Valley from Yonge Street, bypassing the area known as Hogg's Hollow.
A few miles north of Toronto's Avenue Road, there is an Avenue Road in Richmond Hill, Ontario, running almost due north of the Toronto one.