King Street, Kitchener, Ontario - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Waterloo Regional Road 15, or King Street is the major north-south arterial road in Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

, as well as Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

. In both Kitchener and Waterloo, King Street divides the city into the east and west sides. King Street "resumes" in southern Kitchener and continues to Cambridge, Ontario

Cambridge, Ontario

Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...

Kitchener Downtown

In Kitchener, King Street starts where the Highway 8 Freeport Diversion ends in a half-clo interchange

Parclo interchange

A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The parclo interchange was developed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation as a replacement for the cloverleaf on 400-Series Highways, removing the dangerous weaving patterns and allowing for more...

with the Conestoga Parkway

Conestoga Parkway

The Conestoga Parkway is a freeway in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in the Canadian province of Ontario. It runs northeast/southwest through the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and is connected to Highway 401 via the Highway 8 Freeport Diversion and King Street East.- Route...

. After the Freeport Diversion passes under the Conestoga overpasses, the Highway 8 designation continues on the Conestoga west of the junction if one takes the loop ramp, while going straight ahead will default to King Street, which continues in a northwesterly fashion through the Kitchener downtown area and eventually to the border with Waterloo. The Conestoga Parkway east of the interchange serves as a bypass of King Street.

Although it runs north-south, King Street is labeled east-west, since the city of Kitchener was originally planned relative to the Grand River

Grand River (Ontario)

The Grand River is a large river in southwestern Ontario, Canada. From its source, it flows south through Grand Valley, Fergus, Elora, Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, Paris, Brantford, Caledonia, and Cayuga before emptying into the north shore of Lake Erie south of Dunnville at Port Maitland...

, which runs north-south. The same is true for the other major north-south routes in the city (e.g., Weber Street), and the reverse is true for the major east-west arteries in the city (i.e., although they run east-west, they are labeled north-south).

King Street is the major street of downtown Kitchener, containing such buildings as the Kitchener City Hall

Kitchener City Hall

The City Hall of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, has gone through many iterations through the 20th century, culminating in the current building, which opened in 1993....

and Market Square. Throughout downtown, it is also lined with shops and boutiques, as well as nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

s. North of downtown, King Street is home to Grand River Hospital

Grand River Hospital

Grand River Hospital is a 495-bed hospital serving Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada and surrounding communities, primarily through the K-W Health Centre and the Freeport Health Centre, both located in Kitchener...

. It also contains television studios (for CKCO), as well as radio stations (96.7 Chym FM

CHYM-FM

CHYM-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 96.7 FM in Kitchener, Ontario. Owned by Rogers Radio, the station airs an adult contemporary format under the brand CHYM FM....

, for instance). 91.5 The Beat

CKBT-FM

CKBT-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 91.5 FM in Kitchener, Ontario from the Global TV tower at 475 Ayr Road, near Paris. The station broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format branded as 91.5 The Beat.-History:...

studio was relocated to the southern end of Kitchener/Cambridge in the Sportsworld plaza back in 2010.

In 2004, when the Highway 8/Conestoga Parkway half-clo interchange was realigned to increased traffic capacity, the number of lanes headed towards King Street was reduced from two to one, due to the need to accommodate the new flyover ramp from the Conestoga to Highway 8.

Kitchener-Cambridge

There is also another King Street in southern Kitchener that runs north-south. It originally began at Wilfred Avenue (a residential street) and ran southward into Cambridge

Cambridge, Ontario

, wedged in between the Freeport Diversion and Weber Street.

That road was initially part of the downtown King Street until the portion between Wilfred Avenue and Weber Street was used instead as the right-of-way for the Highway 8 Freeport Diversion freeway, with its terminus being redirected towards Weber Street. When the Diversion was completed in the late 1960s, in order to connect the two segments of King Street, one had to use the freeway via the Fairway Road interchange.

South of Weber the street "resumes" again and continues to Cambridge, meeting up with the Freeport Diversion a second time at an at-grade Y-intersection, with the Freeport Diversion traffic being given priority. King Street continues on eastward as a divided at-grade expressway which carries the designation Highway 8, south to Highway 401

Highway 401 (Ontario)

King's Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border...

and Cambridge. This road is often referred to as Old King Street or King East, in order to distinguish it from the downtown thoroughfare. King East provided a link between Highway 401 and the Freeport Diversion, as well as continuing the Highway 8 designation.

In 1987, the at-grade intersection was replaced with a two-ramp parclo interchange, when the freeway extension (secretly designated Highway 7187, though signed as Highway 8) of the Freeport Diversion was constructed to provide a direct freeway link to Highway 401 easterly to Toronto. Highway 401 west traffic however continues to use King East to reach the Freeport Diversion.

In 2001, the Highway 401 exit signage to King Street east was changed from Highway 8 to Shantz Hill Road, as Highway 8 had been downloaded from the province to municipal authorities in 1998.

Waterloo

Upon crossing into Waterloo, King Street turns into a northeastward direction and continues until passing out of the city and into Woolwich Township

Woolwich, Ontario

The Township of Woolwich is a rural township in Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Region of Waterloo, immediately to the north and east of the City of Waterloo. Its 2006 census population was 19,658.-Communities:*Bloomingdale*Breslau*Conestogo*Elmira...

. As in Kitchener, King Street crosses Weber Street in Waterloo (it intersects a third time at the north end of Weber Street), and also has an interchange with the Conestoga Parkway, which is now designated as Highway 85

Highway 85 (Ontario)

King's Highway 85, commonly referred to as Highway 85, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway, which is mostly controlled-access, travels through the Regional Municipality of Waterloo along the Conestoga Parkway from its interchange with...

.

A major difference between King Street in Kitchener and in Waterloo, however, is that upon entering Waterloo, King Street is labeled north-south (the dividing line being Erb Street) instead of east-west as in Kitchener. The same is true of all major north-south thoroughfares in Waterloo.

Just as King Street is the main thoroughfare in downtown Kitchener, it is also the main strip of "Uptown Waterloo" (the central district of Waterloo). Shops and pubs line the street roughly from the border with Kitchener up to Bridgeport Road. Also, two major shopping mall

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

s are situated on King Street: Waterloo Town Square in Uptown Waterloo and Conestoga Mall

Conestoga Mall

Conestoga Mall is a major shopping mall situated at 550 King Street North in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Located at King Street's interchange with Highway 85 , it is the largest shopping centre in Waterloo, and third-largest in Waterloo Region...

at the junction with Highway 85 (both are currently in the midst of major redevelopment projects).

Woolwich and Wellesley

Waterloo Regional Road 15 also continues west at the T intersection of King St. N and Lobsinger Line, locally known as Wagner's Corners. "Lobsinger Line" is named after a local community figure in the village of St. Clements, Ontario.

Lobsinger Line is the main road for the communities of Heidelberg, Ontario and St. Clements, Ontario as well as the Old Order Mennonites. While driving along Lobsinger Line, it is common to see signs for produce, eggs, firewood, and "No Sunday Sales", from each of the laneways.

Lobsinger Line ends at the T intersection of Lobsinger and Waterloo Regional Road 5, in the hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

of Crosshill, Ontario.

Kitchener Downtown

Kitchener-Cambridge

Waterloo

Woolwich and Wellesley

See also