Highway 7

Back in my day, it was called the King’s hwy, there was a ton of traffic on tasty two lane road, it was just crazy to get into White Rose (located where Canada Computers is now located) or Sheridan Nurseries, they’d have to have police to control the traffic on the weekends. Ah, the days when Markham was a township and Unionville were I grew up as a young lad was a mere village in the middle of nowhere.
Nowadays Vaughan and Markham are cities upon themselves and hwy 7 has been under construction for years with expansion, addition of exit ramps at Yonge St and Bayview Ave, now buses down the middle of the road, I’m excited to now have to wait at red lights longer as people exiting the buses will now have to cross more streets to get to their linking bus, from how it seems to be laid out anyway.
From 1979 — 1995, I lived not far from where this mark lays on this map, this place has changed so much, not all for the better, but I’m sure city council enjoys the bigger income, I’ve seen this area go from small town to minor metropolis in a short period of time.
But I digress, hwy 7 is massive and seems to never end, and neither does the construction, but in my field of work, I can’t complain about that.

Highway 7, how I loathe thy traffic. Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan are each plagued with bad traffic, so it’s no surprise that the main road connecting the three most populous municipalities of York Region is an absolute nightmare during rush hour. With the construction in Markham (between Leslie and Warden) and Vaughan (west of Keele), driving on Highway 7 is a great way to make yourself late for an appointment. Sure, the road will be beautiful in appearance and much less of a headache once all the Viva bus lanes and subway construction are completed, but I’m reviewing the road right now in October 2014… so why am I giving it four stars?
For starters, Highway 7 east of McCowan and between Bayview and Keele is great. The section between Bayview and Keele is almost as good as taking the 407. The limit is 80 km/​h, but you can easily do 100 km/​h (just sayin’!), the traffic lights are sparse, and best of all, there’s no bill at the end of the month! Just be aware of the red light cameras.
Now more importantly, Highway 7 is the cultural and culinary heart of Markham and Richmond Hill. Between Warden and Bayview are some, if not most, of the GTA’s best Chinese restaurants. Sure, you could go to Downtown Toronto’s Chinatown for its historical value, but Highway 7’s many plazas offer cheaper, more authentic Chinese food of all varieties. Cantonese, Szechuan, Shanghainese, Hakka, Taiwanese… it’s all here. There’s also Korean BBQ, Japanese and Vietnamese options, but many of these restaurants are Chinese-​run and not as great as the places you’d find in North York. If you’re not looking to eat, there are plenty of Chinese karaōke places, herbal shops and Chinese-​speaking realtors, just in case you’re in a real estate kind of mood.
A great place to start is Times Square and Commerce Gate, located on opposite sides of West Beaver Creek and Highway 7, just west of Leslie. There are many great restaurants at each plaza. Go west towards Bayview and you’ll find endless units of Chinese restaurants on the north side of Highway 7. Go east of Leslie and you’ll find the Commerce Valley and York Blvd. restaurants that range from the standard western grillhouse fare to massive bubble tea joints. East of Woodbine is First Markham Place, a mall/​plaza hybrid that offers plenty of Asian restaurants (Nak Won and The Owl are great Korean restaurants), a food court full of interesting meals, a Cineplex Odeon theatre and stores similar to those inside Pacific Mall.
My favourite places along Highway 7 are Mei Nung Beef Noodle House (Taiwanese, at First Markham Place), Chatime (bubble tea, Commerce Gate), Ten Ren’s Tea Time (more bubble tea and Taiwanese snacks, Times Ave/​Highway 7), Szechuan Legend (Szechuan, Times Square), Richmond Court (Cantonese, Times Square) and Dragon Boat (dim sum/​Cantonese, York Blvd.). If you’re looking to stuff yourself for cheap, check out Korean Grill House at Commerce Gate ($ 10.99 for all you can eat Korean BBQ between 11:30 AM-​3 PM and 10 PM-​close). You get what you pay for, but if you go for lunch, you could easily consider skipping dinner.
Highway 7 might not be located within Toronto’s borders, but it’s a must visit for anyone who likes Asian food, just a few minutes north of Steeles by car, or easily accessible by bus.

Sure I’ll bite, thanks for Allison Y for being the first to review this iconic East-​West road way in the GTA. When I was younger this was the «cool-​street» to drive on because it took us Richmond Hill kids in our parents cars across to Woodbridge and beyond to hang out with other suburban kids in various parking lots along the Hwy 7 strip.
Presently, Hwy 7, which is just a regular road way without a name as of yet, is a disaster to drive on anywhere East of Leslie. Until the Viva bus lanes are complete, do what you can to avoid this stretch, however, once it’s completed from East Markham to the West end of Woodbridge/​Vaughan this will be the most convenient non 400-​series highway for getting around the GTA either by car or by public transportation.
Even better, with the upcoming development of the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at the new TTC subway terminus at Jane and Hwy 7, this road will become the main vein for a new metropolitan downtown centre. Until it’s finished, driver beware you’re in for even MORE road delays running from Keele and Hwy 7 to Weston and Hwy 7.
Stay tuned for more updates. In the long term this road is going to be one of the reasons why the GTA Rocks!

Since Hurontario Street can be reviewed, I am sure Highway 7 is worthy of its business listing. Highway 7 is a major street in the York Region. I can’t tell how long it really is, but all I care is that it takes me from Pickering to Brampton.
The fun part is it is a pain to drive on in the far east side, so it becomes a fun road to drive on *fast* at night, using an old car that you could care less. :-)
The pains are so many. It is constantly congested between Markham and Richmond Hill. When will the construction after construction end? It is loaded with police patrol between Leslie to East Beaver Creek Road on weekends, probably because of the pubs, bars, bowling alley around the neighborhood. Hwy 404 doesn’t help either. I am not drunk driving, but I am forced to be conscious of my driving speed.
Also, the spa I used to go to can thank Hwy 7 for losing my business. I could no longer put up with the 40 minutes drive to get to it which is right on Hwy 7.