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Donald Cousens Parkway or York Regional Road 48, also referred to historically as the Markham Bypass or Markham Bypass Extension, is a regionally maintained arterial bypass of Markham in the Canadian province of Ontario. Named for former Markham mayor Don Cousens in April 2007, the route initially travelled northward from Copper Creek Drive in Box Grove, south of Highway 407, to Major Mackenzie Drive (York Regional Road 25). A southern extension to Steeles Avenue was later completed and the name Donald Cousens Parkway applied along the extension to Ninth Line. In addition to its role of funneling through-traffic around downtown Markham, the route serves as a boundary to residential development as land to the north and east are part of the protected Rouge Park and southwest limits of the planned Pickering Airport. Construction of the route began in 2002 north of 16th Avenue. In 2004, an interchange with Highway 407 was constructed along with a connection north to Highway 7. Both segments and the interchange were opened by December of that year. The following year, construction began to connect these two segments as well as on the Box Grove Bypass along Ninth Line; the former opened in October 2006 and the latter in the spring of 2007. Construction of the most recently opened segment, connecting the Box Grove Bypass to the interchange with Highway 407, began in 2009. It opened after several delays in 2012 and included a realignment of 14th Avenue. Donald Cousens Parkway and a planned connection with Morningside Avenue form the ''East Metro Transportation Corridor'', originally envisioned by the province in the 1970s as a six lane municipal expressway. During the mid-1990s, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) conducted studies and identified the need for the corridor by 2011. Although York had intended for a continuous alignment, the City of Toronto has opposed the direct connection between Morningside and Donald Cousens Parkway. As a result, it is now proposed to connect Morningside Avenue and Donald Cousens Parkway via a widened Steeles Avenue. However, no timeline has been announced as of 2015. == Route description == Donald Cousens Parkway is intended to relieve north-south traffic congestion on York Regional Road 68 (Main Street, former Highway 48) and York Regional Road 69 (Ninth Line), with signage suggesting drivers use the parkway as a through route past Markham. As trucks are prohibited along Main Street, signage guides them onto the parkway. The road begins north of Steeles Avenue East, which serves as the boundary between Markham and Toronto. A two-laned Ninth Line curves northeast after crossing and being crossed by two separate railway tracks (the Canadian Pacific (CP) Havelock subdivision and the Canadian National Halton subdivision) and becomes Donald Cousens Parkway, expanding to four lanes and travelling along the eastern fringe of the community of Box Grove,〔 alongside which it was built in the mid-2000s.〔 On the west side is a new residential subdivision, while on the east side beyond the CP Havelock subdivision, which the road parallels, is the completely undeveloped Bob Hunter Memorial Park.〔 After passing Box Grove Bypass, where for some time the route ended,〔 the road also becomes known as Box Grove Collector Road (BGCR).〔 The route intersects 14th Avenue (York Regional Road 71) and continues as before, eventually curving north and meeting Copper Creek Drive while departing from the railway tracks and park.〔 It passes a supercenter before an interchange with Highway 407, where it crosses over the toll route.〔 No longer known by the BGCR name, the route meanders north, slowly edging east towards Reesor Road and now surrounded by undeveloped greenspace.〔 It encounters Highway 7, north of which it becomes a divided roadway travelling on the eastern edge of Cornell as well as parallel to and alongside Reesor Road. Approaching and intersecting 16th Avenue, the road makes a broad sweeping curve northwest, continuing to serve as the boundary of urban development in Markham.〔 It narrows to a two lane road, with adjacent land along the northern side prepared for future northbound lanes, before encountering Ninth Line again.〔 Quickly curving north then east, sandwiched between the neighbourhood of Greenborough and Little Rouge Creek, the route makes a final curve north to end at Major Mackenzie Drive on the northern edge of urban development in eastern Markham.〔 A future extension, scheduled to begin construction in April 2018, will carry Donald Cousens Parkway north, crossing over the Stouffville GO Train line on a new bridge and merging into the current southern terminus of Highway 48.〔 As a result of this, Highway 48 and Donald Cousens Parkway (York Regional Road 48) will become the through route while Main Street will meet them at an intersection demarcating the two.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Donald Cousens Parkway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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