Talk:Yonge Street/Archive 1

Archive 1

Downloaded??

A Slight of hand manipulation of existing services and public infrastructure ,wherby the public have to pay more money for less services. Economies of scale get eliminated when production quantities go beyound a certain minimum. In the case of publicly funded highways or motorways, the Higher Jurisdiction imposes its will upon Lower Jurisdiction entities, hence the name 'down-loading'. Not a single plebecite or ballot was counted wherby publicly funded highways were requested to be 'puchased' or responsibilities requested by the "Lower Tier" government to be transferred. Its a variation on a shell game, but instead of nickels and dimes, this is on the order on $millions.

--Richard416282 07:17, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Article cleanup

I've restructured the article a little so that all the controversial stuff (longest-street, highway 11) is consolidated into one place, and dealt with in a logical order. I also think I've resolved some confusion by pointing out that the "longest-street" claim and the "1900km" claim aren't necessarily the same thing. (And, indeed, they seem to be referring to two different "Yonge streets", neither of which is what we usually mean today by "Yonge Street". For that reason, I've also added some background about the origin and evolution of Yonge Street.) --Scientivore 08:51, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Yonge St. IS Hwy. 11

I drove on the 401 today and the Yonge St. exit was marked as being Hwy. 11. And I do recall seeing Hwy. 11 signs on Yonge St. in the past. Just because the street is maintained by different jurisdictions does not make it a different St. --70.48.234.212 23:10, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but the 2 are synonomous only as far as Bradford (Or Barrie, if you ignore the name/course change through Bradford.). A.L.70.24.71.154 05:29, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

---

Controversial claim?

I agree that the claim that Yonge Street is 1900km long is bogus. Confusing Highway 11 with Yonge Street is Toronto-centric misthinking at best.

However, I haven't seen any evidence to disprove the claim that Yonge Street is the world's longest street. (I'm just talking about the original Yonge Street here -- the straight stretch from Front Street to Holland Landing, as originally defined by Lord Simcoe. I'm not including the bit that goes to Barrie, which, if you ask me, is a different Yonge street.)

Dictionary.com says that a "street" is usually paved and lined with sidewalks. I might also suggest that a street should be mostly straight, and labelled with a single name.

Well, Yonge Street is straight, urban, lined with sidewalks and shops, known by a single name, and goes for over 50km. I don't know any other street which does that. Granted, I haven't been to every city, but I've been to a couple sprawling metropolises like L.A. and I didn't see anything that competes with Yonge Street.

Until someone points out a street that is longer than Yonge Street, I'm not sure we should call the claim "controversial".

Maybe Yonge street isn't the world's longest street. Maybe it's just the longest, straight, named street in North America. But the fact remains that there are scores of citable sources claiming that Yonge Street is the world's longest street, and not a single source (that I've seen) claiming that it's not. (Just a couple expressing vague doubt.)

How is that "controversial"? 69.157.175.7 09:02, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

• Sorry for not signing the above with my username. I didn't realise I wasn't logged in. Scientivore 09:04, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Yes, this is the point I was (perhaps not clearly) trying to make in the section above. Yonge St from Lake Ontario to near Lake Simcoe seems to correctly be a single continuous street. Arguments revolving around its connection to Hwy. 11 notwithstanding, the longest street in the world claim for that segment may be correct. -- Slowmover 19:57, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I think Steeles may have it beat even on that criteria, (see section above), as it is fully built-up and continuous from Markham Rd. to Mavis Rd. in Brampton, and keeps its name to west of Milton. A.L.70.24.71.154 05:46, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Dundas Street certainly has Yonge Street beat based on that criteria, running as it does from Kingston Road through Toronto, through Mississauga, across the northern part of Oakville and Burlington, to just past Highway 6. Airport Road as a named street runs from the Mississauga/Toronto boundary to the community of Staynor 80 km north, albeit as a country road. James Bow 19:16, 28 May 2007 (EDT)

Issues with GA nomination

For a GA there are some points that need resolving. I've marked the GA on hold until fixed

• Criteria 2b - References - no inline references. While not a requirement for all good articles, this one has no reference marks and has claims that have to be backed up to a reliable source. This is particularly required for the Evolution of Yonge Street and History and significance sections which make claims that may be challenged.
• 'Criteria 1b - the lead does not summarise the entire article and needs to briefly cover the Evolution and History sections.
• Too many images make the article hard to read and images like Image:Yonge-south.jpg, Image:Yonge & College Christmas.jpg, Image:Northbound Yonge Christmas.jpg and Image:Yonge-street-sign.jpg do not seem to add anything to the article.
• Some of the prose is hard to read and needs editing.

Today, Yonge Street exists in name as two segments and a branch

Penetanguishene Road continues to exist

This has not stopped Torontonians from clinging to the claim

Are all disjointed sentences that should be incorporated into the following text. All up the references and unsummarising lead are the largest issues. - Peripitus (Talk) 05:34, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

GA nomination failed

For the above reasons, especially as the article has been tagged for references since the 5th of February I've failed this for GA and rerated as a B class - Peripitus (Talk) 06:58, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Yonge Street, Lake Ontario to where?

• Did Holland Landing even exist when Yonge Street was first proposed? Or did this place develop as a consequence of the street being there? In 1797 the military route from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay, was over the Nine Mile Portage, from the head of Kempenfelt Bay to Willow Creek, then by the Nottawasaga River to its mouth (near the remains of the HMS Nancy). In this period of time the object of Yonge Street was to reach the navigable waters of Lake Simcoe, as part of that route. The natural harbour of Holland Landing would have offered greater protection, than the open waters of Cook's Bay. The river is navigable from the Landing to the southern end of Lake Simcoe. By the way, the lake was named by John Graves Simcoe, to honor his father, Capt. John Simcoe of the Royal Navy, whom James Cook and Samuel Holland served under, while Rear admiral Richard Kempenfelt, was a Naval captain at the same time.
• Although the Naval Establishment at Penetanguishene was not started until 1818, the Penetanguishene Road (now Ontario Highway 93), connecting to it was started in 1814-15, from the north side of Kempenfelt Bay (East of Barrie). A community developed at the landing point where the Penetanguishene Road commenced from the lake, and became known as the village of Kempenfelt, which was at one time, a larger place than Barrie. The town plots of both Penetanguishene and Kempenfelt being laid out in 1812, by surveyor Samuel S. Wilmot, the year after he'd surveyed the road. The village plot of Holland Landing was not laid out until 1835, this was the place also known as the "Upper Landing," where Elisha Beman operated a fur trading post, later run by his stepson William Benjamin Robinson. About 2 km downstream, the "Lower Landing" or steamboat landing was the depot the military's munitions supply line.
• That section of Penetanguishene Road built in 1824-1825 from Holland Landing through Bradford and completed to Kempenfelt Bay in 1827, was not later extended to Penetanguishene, but then and there to a road already in place, now part of Simcoe County Road 93.
• more information on these and other roads can be found in:

"A History of Simcoe County," by Andrew F Hunter. Volume 1 Volume 2 W W 01:48, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Upper Yonge Street

The article refers to Quakers having settled an area known as Upper Yonge Street, which later became Newmarket. Is this the same area settled by Loyalists that became Armitage, which was then subsumed by Newmarket? (See King, Ontario for some details.) Mindmatrix 01:37, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Two split Yonge Street

I don't know if you guys noticed on Google Maps. but north of Newmarket, if you go straight north instead of taking the curve towards Brantford and then Barrie, [1] there is another Yonge Street running north beside the old 11B designation. It then goes north through Holland Landing as RR 13 and then RR 51. [2]

After that it goes briefly on RR 77 Queensville Side Road before turning back right to the north [3] until it ends in a dead-end beside the Silver Lakes Golf Club. [4]

See this page also for the info [5]. Although, he probably didn't noticed that Barrie Street would have led quickly to Yonge Street up to Barrie.JForget 02:16, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

11B is not the original, the one on the right (east) is. 11B was constructed to avoid the hill for car traffic, although it's not obviously visible in the overhead shots. I find it more amusing that the runway is bent! Of course the "51" alignment is also not the original, you can see where it used to be along the right hand side of the forests along the river. I'm not sure where it originally ended, I believe it was where it hits the river the first time (at the forest), but the maps of the era don't show much detail and the river has moved, of course. Another good one: where's the rest of the locks? There's supposed to be four, but google maps only shows two that I can see. Maury 02:40, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was merge. Some content was merged, but most was simply deleted as unencyclopedic. Some potential information which could still be merged is retained in this old revision, but that article has now been made into a redirect. Mindmatrix 18:39, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Merge from York Regional Road 1

York Regional Road 1 is the segment of Yonge Street stretching from the southernmost periphery of York Region to its northern border. There is nothing that distinguishes this road from Yonge Street; in fact, most of the history section of that article is devoted to explaining the history of Yonge Street. The article York Regional Road 1 should be merged here. Mindmatrix 16:03, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

• Support as nominator. Mindmatrix 16:03, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
• Support. The only thing distinguishing them is the regional boundary, and Ontario's council areas are fluid in the extreme; they have minimal geographical usefulness, and next to no historical significance. David Arthur (talk) 16:16, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
• Support, but keep the York Region categories on the redirect. Bearcat (talk) 15:02, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
• Support merge, keep the York Region cats per Bearcat, and obviously keep mention of "York Regional Road 1" in the Yonge street article (hence merge, not delete). DigitalC (talk) 03:39, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
• Oppose. There is a difference. Yonge St per se effectively "forks" at a point in East Gwillimbury and proceeds north as both York Rgn Road 1 and York Rgn Road 51. This link illustrates this, and I can personally corroborate it because I live in Holland Landing and use these roads frequently. PKT (talk) 20:36, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
  • I don't see that that illustrates this effectively, nor do I see it as a reason to oppose. In that image, the only spot identifiying RR 1 is at the intersection of Green Ln and Yonge. Zoomed in, I can see that the Yonge st as it becomes Bridge St. is RR 1, and that Yonge st in Hollands Landing is RR 51. I still see no reason to merge the information of RR 1 into Yonge Street. DigitalC (talk) 03:19, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
  • There are plenty of streets in the world which 'split' like this as the result of bypassing or renaming, and I don't see it as a reason to keep separate articles. David Arthur (talk) 16:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
• Support - This is Yonge Street for most people, and the anomolies can easily be explained. The original townships of the County of York were laid out east and west of Yonge Street, all the way to Lake Simcoe, and it was the baseline before it was assigned a number. -Secondarywaltz (talk) 23:08, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Infobox road for the article

Should we have two separate infoboxes for the article?

I have a real problem having one infobox. I mean, Yonge Street have different signage (with the regional shield sign) north of Steeles. The maintenance north of Steeles is also different.

And with the design of the infobox, it's designed to be colour coded depending on the type of road. Well, Yonge Street north of Steeles is a regional road. Should it be differently colour coded?

Smcafirst the Roadgeek (Road talk) at 02:10, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

A tricky one. Personally I think Yonge Street is a jurisdictionally separate entity from York Regional Road 1, and deserves a separate article. However, conversations of the past seem to point away from that. Many featured US article feature several roads in a single article, each separated and with its own infobox. The question comes down to whether this article is about Yonge Street as a whole (Lake Ontario to Hollands Marsh), or whether this article is about Yonge Street in Toronto. I imagine this same problem will apply to all of the Toronto arterials that continue into York with a number. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 03:28, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

EDIT: As for the terminii, I see a short portion that connects to Ravenshoe Road (where it is not signed as RR32) but it's broken by a swamp in the middle. The survey line is clear as day from satellite shots however. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 03:31, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

After more thought, I have concluded that we already do this on our articles, yet that instance would never be challenged: Highway 404 and the Don Valley Parkway! Two roads that are a continuation of one-another, differentiated only by name and the jurisdiction that maintains them. What's different between that and this example? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 05:44, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

It's not really a comparable situation.

Yonge Street doesn't change anything when it crosses from Toronto into York Region; it's still a municipally-maintained road named Yonge Street. It was originally built by the province at a time when Toronto and York Region were still a single county, and only later had census division boundaries drawn across it — and even then, it was still maintained as a provincial road right through both jurisdictions, with no change in what government maintained it regardless of where it crossed a boundary, for a good 40 years after that. So it's really only since the highway downloadings of the late 1990s that you can even begin to formulate a case that Yonge-Street-in-Toronto and Yonge-Street-in-York could possibly be considered two distinct topics — for the vast majority of its history, it was one single road maintained by the same level of government for its entire length.

Whereas Highway 404 and the DVP change both name and jurisdictional level (city to province), and are thus more properly considered two distinct roads that meet, rather than one road. They were built at different times by different levels of government, and have never had the same name, or the same level of jurisdictional ownership, as each other.

And the fact that Yonge's maintenance standards may be different from Toronto to York Region isn't really relevant to the determination, as the quality of a road's maintenance isn't a notability criterion in any way whatsoever. Furthermore, roads at the regional (county, municipal, etc.) level are not automatically notable enough for articles solely on the basis that they exist; you have to be able to demonstrate actual, properly sourced evidence of notability. "Yonge Street" certainly has that, but there's been no compelling evidence presented that "York Regional Road 1" does. No road below the level of a provincial highway is entitled to an automatic presumption of notability just because it exists; for anything below that level, you have to make a much more compelling and properly sourced case for inclusion than you do for a highway — and as I've pointed out before in some of these debates, a purely local case for notability, such as "X Mall is located on it" or "it connects J Street to L Street", doesn't cut it. To make a proper case for notability, you should never write an article from the perspective that your intended audience lives next door and already knows the same things you do — you should try to imagine that your intended audience lives halfway around the world and has never been to Toronto, and write a credible explanation for why that person should be interested in the topic.

The formerly separate article about York Regional Road 1 contained no genuinely encyclopedic content whatsoever — it simply described the physical characteristics of the road and then listed the public transit routes that use it, and contained no sourced information (social or historical context, etc.) about why the road needed a distinct article. It wasn't an encyclopedia article; it was the back of a chamber of commerce transit map. And then smcafirst proceeded to self-rate it as B-class, even though by Wikipedia's actual standards of article quality (presence of real references, etc.) it just barely scraped start-class. Bearcat (talk) 23:22, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

I know, there are several such instances of that throughout the project that need to be updated. Most of them are Start at best, and unsourced original research at average. Give me time, and Ontario will soon be the gold standard. I am aware of the history of the road very much, I have half a dozen books on the road. This article is pretty spot on, but unreferenced and in need of a trim and coherence. The point of a York Regional Road 1 article would be essentially as follows:

• Lead, with infobox, describing its location, from where to where, and the towns within York.
• Route description, describing its mostly suburban commerce role and how it has served as the starting point for all of the towns along its length.
• History, with {{main}} linking to Yonge Street, essentially summarizing the history from it.
• Junctions, the list would be as long as Highway 401 if we listed all of them for Yonge Street as a whole, as well as the fact that the route is very convoluted from the dirt trail carved by the royal guard in 1794. By having separate articles, we could list more without it being excessive.

There is plenty of content for having two articles intertwine with each other, yet describe each section's independent role.

However, I do understand the point you make about how until 12 years ago, this route was one in the same with the Toronto section. However, that was Highway 11, not Yonge Street. Yonge Street continus straight to Holland Landing, whereas Highway 11 and now York Regional Road 1 follow the bypass over to Bradford. Also, the 404 was built to Steeles as the Don Valley Parkway Extension. The MTO took over at that point and curved the route onto a new alignment instead of along Woodbine. It then became Highway 404. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 05:47, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Streets longer than Yonge in GTA

Actually, there are several streets even in the GTA (Greater Troronto Area) which are longer than Yonge: Dundas, Steeles, and Hurontario, to name a few. [Author unknown?]

Steeles Avenue ends at the Pickering / Durham County Town Line border in the east end of Toronto, formerly the Borough of Scarborough, in the City of Metropolitan Toronto.

After one crosses the half way point of the road, heading east, one now is in Durham County, and responsibility with highway maintenance is with the County, and no longer with the "City of Toronto".

In the west end of the city, it also changes jurisdiction but now, instead of being in the county of York, the road is now in the County of Peel, and even though it is named "Steeles Avenue", it no longer is the same street. [Physically you cannot tell the two apart, however, if one were to get a traffic infraction notice [Ticket], then the jurisdictions make a difference. --Richard416282 07:28, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Just because the jurisdiction/numbering system changes, doesn't mean that it's a different street. As long as the name is the same, it's the SAME street. By your reckoning, Yonge St. north of Steeles is a different street as well (even though the numbering is the same, the jurisdiction changes). As for Taunton Rd., I never said it was part of Steeles. A.L.70.24.71.154 05:10, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Be careful here... you mean Region, not County. Durham REGION borders Toronto on the east, while Peel REGION borders Toronto to the west. Regions are different levels of government than Counties. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jdolew (talk • contribs) 00:59, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Yonge Street vs Highway 11

Sorry for not discussing my revert, but I believed it necessary, and still do. Here's the thing - Highway 11 is not Yonge St. Never was. There are many sources to back that fact up, and very few non-colloquial sources to back up the longest street claim. I'd buy Highway 11 as being perhaps the longest street in the world, but the fact is that Yonge St ends at Barrie. Since I live two minutes from where Yonge St ends, I can take a picture of the spot to prove it if necessary, but other people have done it for me. Physically, Yonge ends in Bradford. In name, it ends in Barrie. Some goof started the rumour some time back, and people believed it, but it's just not true. --DarrenBaker 19:18, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Hi. Then lets's put something like "if highway 11 and Yonge street are to be considered the same....". These two may not be continous but judging by the articles in Wikipedia about both Highway 11 and Yonge street, one comes to the conlusion that the two are considered the same. As you know, it is not uncommon for streets to have specific names and highway numbers in Ontario. Both are considered to refer to the same road but, they are usually known by their specific names where they are in municipal jurisdiction and by their highway numbers where they are maintained by the province. Then let's clarify, 1)if Yonge street and Highway 11 are the same, 2)do they have to physically connect to be considered a)the same b)a street, 3)If these can not be clarified, then how can we put that "those who consider these two the same, also consider it to be the longest street in the world", without saying but in fact this is wrong. I hope my sentences are not too long to make them difficult to understand. Thank you. --TimBits 01:50, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Hey, no problem. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your civil response. Just to be clear about where I stand, I would love for Yonge St to be considered the longest street in the world, and for years I thought it was. The fact remains, however, that if the criteria one uses (and I consider this to be pretty sensible) is that one must be able to continuously drive the street from one end to the other, without turning, and without losing the street name, then Yonge St fails on all counts. The insane thing is that even if you count Hwy 11 and Yonge St as one and the same, it STILL doesn't work, because Yonge St ends some 50 km before Hwy 11 begins. It is, quite simply, a hoax. It was never listed in any record book of any kind, as it existed solely in the imagination of Ontarians like you and I. What I think would be best is something like a section with the arguments for and against, labelled 'Longest Street in the World'. --DarrenBaker 18:26, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Yonge Street, for clarification, was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. Don't know if it still is.-RomeW 22:17, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Darren, I don't completely disagree with you, but you may not be aware of all the facts. Hwy 11 may "begin" somewhere north of the end of Yonge St. today, but if that is true, it wasn't always true. During the last 15 years, many roads in Ontario have been renamed and reassigned (ie, provincial highways have been "downloaded"(Define downloaded -Richard416282) to become county or municipal responsibility). In the past, Hwy 11 began at Lake Ontario and was equivalent to Yonge St. at least as far as Barrie (possibly Orillia?). Anyway, the point is that the current names don't reflect the real history. Also, you may not be aware that at the corner of Dundas & Yonge, outside the Eaton Centre in Toronto, is an "official" brass inlaid map of Yonge St. claiming that it goes far into northern Ontario. That claim may be a tourism ploy, but the basic equivalence of Yonge St and Hwy 11 goes back a long way. Slowmover 19:58, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

this is just unaceptable highways are not the same thing as streets. i agree this asestion that yonge street extends over a thousand miles is this biggest fiction i ever seen. some one change it to the real mileage and then find out for sure if it still is the longest street in the world. guinessbook made a mistake or worse fabricated a hoax. this is just outrageus to think Yonge street and Highway 11 are the same thing. Highway 11 ttravels north from toronto and eventually ends at the border of minnisota at a place called international falls. 76.244.155.36 (talk) 03:51, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

Discussion

Yonge Street doesn't continue, nor does it keep its name. If yonge street can change directions, and names, and be the world's longest street, aren't all streets equally long? Every street leads to another and contiues, with a different name. Please, let's be reasonable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.51.134.43 (talk • contribs)

Obviously the definition of what constitutes Yonge Street in deciding whether or not it should ever have been considered the longest street in the world is very contentious. I don't want to add any insight into this debate, because it seems that everyone who has already written about it here knows more than I do. However, I do believe that such a contentious statement shouldn't even be referred to in the second sentence of the introduction without some mention of the fact that the claim is disputed. As it stands, it is quite misleading to the uninformed reader, particularly as it immediately follows the sentence describing Yonge Street as the section between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe, which of course is a comparitively small distance.

Could I please suggest something along the lines of "It was formally listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at 1,896 km (1,178 mi), although this designation required the inclusion of Highway 11, which Yonge Street was once a part of. This is discussed in more detail below." (Or something like that.) (Paulbuckingham (talk) 13:55, 11 July 2010 (UTC))

Get rid of it outright. The Guinness book was WRONG, no matter how reliable a source it is. Let's not continue to proliferate this incorrect assertion. At the most, something like:

"Though only 90 km (56 mi) in length, Yonge street was incorrectly referred to as the longest street in the world in the Guinness Book of World Records for several years. Highway 11, which Yonge Street formed a part of prior to 1998, is the route the record referred to and is comprised of several distinct roadways that together total 1,896 km (1,178 mi)."

Just with grammar. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 21:02, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah, but you'd need a reference to back that Guinness got it wrong. There are many reliable sources that say this, and it's touted by municipal government, tourist departments etc, so to say it's wrong you will need a very reliable source to overrule them. Anything else is your own original research and opinion. Canterbury Tail talk 11:48, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I'll source it to my Mapbook. Yonge Street only goes as far as Holland's Landing. Former Highway 11 then continues as Bradford and Barrie Streets through Bradford. If it's the longest street in the world, then so be it at 90 km. Good luck finding a source that can trump a map to lay claim to Yonge Street (and not Highway 11) being 1896 km long.

Not to mention it hasn't been in the Guinness Book since 1998. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 14:50, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually a map can't really be considered a reliable source most of the time, especially since every commercial map contains deliberate errors (usually on minor points.) There are more references to support the claim than your original research on reading a map. It's just not a reliable source for you to do so to dispute a claim covered in detail. I'm not saying the claim is right, but Wikipedia is not about truth, it's about verifiability. Also streets can change name and designation along the route and still be the same street or route. 401 for instance among many. Canterbury Tail talk 17:08, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

You'll have to take that up at WP:RSN, because you are incorrect on that assumption. Maps are far more reliable at indicating where something exists and doesn't exist than the self-promotion of the Canadian government (Who also claim Peterborough and Kirkfield lift locks as the highest and second highest in the world, even though Belgium has held that title for over 100 years). Not to mention that the official Ontario road map does not have errors (reliable source please?). I also have Footpaths to Freeways by the MOTAC which point blank says "Yonge street was laid out between Lake Ontario and the Holland River", and that the road to Barrie and beyond is another road. Beyond Orillia, it is called the Ferguson Highway. Maps are not reliable references for establishing notability, otherwise they are and are fully accepted at WP:FAC. Ontario's King's Highways written in 1937 by Robert Melleville Smith backs up that Yonge Street only goes to Holland Landing. For every source you have that claims longest street in the world, I have 10 on my lap claiming the opposite. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 18:06, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

i agree with all of you something very strange is going on in this artical and its not right. im searching for longest street in the world im not searching for longest road in the world. i would like to know the actual longest street in the world and its kilometrage/mileage. also guiness book of records might be out of date by now i just want to know the longest street in the world right now. 76.244.155.36 (talk) 03:42, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

It depends what your definition of a street is. Does it exclude any road that has a freeway section? It is just one continuous roadway? Does it have to have urban sections? Within a single jurisdiction? The mid section of Highway 17 over Lake Superior is nearly 1000km long without any turnoffs. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 10:05, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

At the moment the article text and infobox disagree: I don't know how long Yonge Street "really" is/how we want to define this, but whatever is settled on for the text ought to be in the infobox, not 90 km in one place and over 1000 with "citation needed" in the other. I'm inclined to move the article values to the box, but will defer to Torontonians on this. Vicki Rosenzweig (talk) 17:36, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

Initial Yonge Street vs. modern interpretation - What should the article reflect more heavily on in the History and RD?

It's pretty apparent from the sources I've read and the chronology of everything that Yonge Street and the Penetanguishene Road were built successively to connect Lake Ontario with Lake Huron. Lake Simcoe initially bridged the connection by boat between Holland's Landing and Barrie until the "Yonge Street Extension" was built to connect the two. It was only later (as in 20-30 years later) that work was undertaken to push north to Orillia (Middle Crossroad), another 20-30 years before it was underway to North Bay (Muskoka Road) and then yet another 20-30 years before it was pushed north to Cochrane as the Ferguson Highway. It's only a result of a widely published misleading fact in recent years that we know the whole route as Yonge Street, when in actuality the original route was along the Penetanguishene Road and not the Middle Crossroad.

So, should the article reflect this history and briefly discuss that it's now "known" as the route of Highway 11, or should it reflect the modern interpretation and briefly discuss how things were in the 1820s? - Floydian ^τ _¢ 18:43, 27 March 2014 (UTC)