York Mills Road

York Mills Road

Maintained by	City of Toronto
Length	7.5 km (4.7 mi)
Location	Toronto
Nearby arterial roads in Toronto ← Lawrence Avenue Sheppard Avenue →

York Mills Road is an east-west route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada named for the historic village of York Mills that was located on the hill immediately north of today's intersection of York Mills Road and Yonge Street. The village of York Mills is distinguished from the 1920s subdivision to the south known as Hoggs Hollow. "York" refers to York Township and "Mills" refers to the gristmills and sawmills that once operated (1804–1926) in the valley through which the Don River runs.^[1]

York Mills runs east of Yonge Street and ends at Victoria Park Avenue. Near Victoria Park, most of the traffic follows Parkwoods Village Drive in connection to Ellesmere Road. To the west, York Mills Road becomes Wilson Avenue. These roads form a parallel alternative to the nearby Highway 401. Based on early surveys of Toronto and York County, York Mills Road would have been the Fifth Concession.

In the 1970s, when the Toronto Transit Commission extended the Line 1 Yonge subway line north from the Eglinton terminus, a new roadway alignment from York Mills to Wilson was completed in 1973 to accommodate 96 Wilson Avenue buses running directly to the new York Mills subway station rather than travelling south on Yonge Boulevard to Yonge Street terminus at Glen Echo Loop.^[2] Landmarks along York Mills Road include a recreation complex at Bayview Avenue, York Mills Collegiate Institute, a large Rogers Communications complex past Leslie Street, and the former site of the Upjohn Company of Canada near Don Mills Road at Upjohn Road.

There is a subway station on York mills at Yonge street, called York Mills Station.

Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC) operates a few bus routes on York Mills, the main route being the 95 York Mills, that operates along the length of the road from York Mills Station until it turns Parkwoods Village Drive. It heads southeast until turns into Ellesmere Road and continues along it until the end of the road at Kingston Road. There are also two express buses, the 995 York Mills express and 996 Wilson Express, and a night bus, being the 395 York Mills Blue Night. West of Lesmill Road the 122 Graydon Hall joins as a feeder into York Mills Station, and west of Leslie Street, the rush hour 115 Sliver Hills operates as a feeder too.

Before 2020, the 144 Don Valley-Downtown Express operated along the section of York Mills from Parkwoods Village Drive to Victoria Park along a clockwise loop via York Mills, Victoria Park, and Parkwoods Village Drive.^[3]