Kingsway (Vancouver)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kingsway is a major road that crosses through the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia. Originally called Westminster Road, it was renamed Kingsway in 1913.^[1]

While it is a busy commercial city street and not a freeway, it is an official alternate route for the Trans-Canada Highway (as Highway 1A) and the provincial Highway 99 (as Highway 99A). The road runs diagonally from northwest to southeast, emerging from Vancouver's Main Street and becoming 12th Street at the Burnaby-New Westminster border.

Kingsway is one of the longest roads in the Metropolitan Vancouver area and is therefore somewhat difficult to characterize. Many segments of the road offer diverse family-owned and ethnic shopping opportunities and restaurants particularly Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Japanese and other SE Asian nations. And there are a number of hotels, supermarkets, and freestanding fast-food locations along other portions of its route.

Kingsway is also home to Metrotown and Burnaby's central business district. SkyTrain metro runs along a major portion of Kingsway and has a major station at Metrotown. There are numerous bus routes operating along the road and it is the principal route between Metrotown and Downtown Vancouver.

[edit] History

Kingsway follows the old horse trail between Vancouver's historic Gastown waterfront and the former provincial capital at New Westminster, and ignores Vancouver's street grid. Instead, it follows the gentlest incline up the spine of the Burrard Peninsula, which peaks near Metrotown in Burnaby. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, government make-work projects saw labourers widen Kingsway considerably, so that now it has six lanes along most of its length.

[edit] Tribute

The Canadian poet Michael Turner based his book of poetry, Kingsway, on Kingsway Street.

[edit] Notes