Mississauga Road: What to call it?
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There was an issue with road names back in the 1970s. Following amalgamation in 1974, the new City of Mississauga found itself in a bit of a quandary over the duplication of road names – namely that of Queen Street, and by extension, Mississauga Road.
Both Port Credit and Streetsville had a Queen Street (as did Cooksville, but that was an easier fix at the time). We have explored the history of Mississauga Road and our several Queen Streets with past articles in this series:
But back to this week’s story.
In 1975, Erin Mills Parkway was completed, connecting to the QEW in the south and stretching northwards, almost to Highway 401, as recalled in another article from this series:
• https://www.modernmississauga.com/main/2022/10/27/the-history-of-mississaugas-erin-mills-parkway
But Erin Mills Parkway was not an entirely new route on the landscape. North of Dundas Street, the new Parkway followed the old alignment of Fifth Line West, and then north of what is now Battleford Road, the Parkway curved (and still curves) to the east, meeting up with the route of Mississauga Road near what is now Turner Valley Boulevard and Argentia Road. It all was a bit confusing, as there was an intersection of Mississauga Road with Mississauga Road, where the old road met the new Erin Mills Parkway.
A decision was made in March of 1978 to rename the portion of Mississauga Road between Turner Valley Boulevard, over Highway 401 to Derry Road, as Erin Mills Parkway. The name reverted to Mississauga Road north of Derry Road … at least as far as Steeles Avenue. North of Steeles Avenue, Mississauga Road was then known as Fourth Line West as it ran northwards through Brampton and Caledon. By August of 1978, Brampton and Caledon had agreed to the renaming of Fourth Line West to Mississauga Road through their jurisdictions to create road-name uniformity (with the concession that the City of Mississauga rename their portion of Second Line East to Chinguacousy Road for the same reason). With that resolved, only the issue of name continuity for Mississauga Road within the City of Mississauga remained.
From Mississauga Times, March 23, 1977
Port Credit had formally renamed Joseph Street, south of Lakeshore Road, as Mississauga Road South, in part to avoid confusion with Streetsville’s Joseph Street and in part to align with road-name continuity. The bigger question was what to do about Queen Street in Streetsville, which followed to the same road alignment as Mississauga Road. After all, Mississauga Road, in name, ran both to the south and north of Streetsville, just not through Streetsville itself. With the concern over already having two Queen Streets in the new city, the 1978 discussions around the Mississauga Road, Erin Mills Parkway and the Queen Street names were focused on resolving the potential confusion.
From Mississauga Times, March 29, 1978
In the Spring of 1978, the Road Naming Committee for the City of Mississauga recommended that the “designation of Mississauga Road North and South in Port Credit be abandoned. It also recommended that Queen Street North and Queen Street South in Streetsville be changed to Mississauga Road”, citing concerns over “postal delivery and potential emergency calls” with confusion over road naming and duplication of addresses. Councillor Hazel McCallion, the former Mayor of Streetsville and then the City of Mississauga Councillor for Streetsville, asked for the matter to be deferred until she held a public meeting on the issue. Councillor Frank Leavers of Port Credit concurred so that he, too, could consult with his constituents.
The public meetings were held in June of 1978, with the resulting recommendation that Mississauga Road and Queen Street, from Dundas Street to Erin Mills Parkway / Turner Valley Boulevard be renamed Streetsville Road, and that the route from Dundas Street southwards to Lake Ontario be named Mississauga Road, eliminating any North and South designations. Both Port Credit and Streetsville were on board, but that concept met with decidedly less favour elsewhere. In July of 1978, the Road Naming Committee rejected the idea, and instead favoured naming the whole length of the road as Mississauga Road, including through Streetsville.
From Mississauga Times, August 23, 1978
By August of 1978, voices of discontent and alternative opinions were on the rise, as recounted by John Stewart in the Mississauga Times newspaper. Some 63 submissions for alternative name choices were presented to the committee. One of the objectors was Dr. Paul Fox, principal of Erindale College (now the University of Toronto Mississauga). Another voice fervently against the renaming was none other than Councillor Hazel McCallion, who was in the midst of campaigning for the 1978 municipal election against Mayor Ron Searle. Of course, Hazel would be elected the new Mayor of the City of Mississauga on November 13, 1978. With the turn of the calendar and the newly elected mayor, priorities changed, and from the newspaper record, the desire to rename Queen Street through Streetsville quietly faded.
On our streetscape today, you will still find Queen Street North, Queen Street South, Mississauga Road South, and of course, Mississauga Road, with the 1978 attempt to unify them under one name belonging only to memory.
