Princess Street is a major arterial road in Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Princess Street begins almost at the waterfront (reached by Executive Lane) east of Ontario Street in the downtown and traverses the entire east-west length of the city limits. All of Princess Street formed part of Highway 2

Highway 2 (Ontario)

King's Highway 2, usually referred to simply as Highway 2 is a provincially maintained highway in Ontario. Once the primary east–west route across the southern end of the province, Highway 2 became mostly redundant in the 1960s following the completion of Highway 401, which more or less...

. In the outlying western sections of the city, the road was known primarily as "Highway 2", with the Princess Street name gradually adopted as the urban area expanded west. Princess Street is the main retail street of downtown Kingston.

Overview

The street was originally called Store Street due to a large government store at the lower end. It was renamed Princess Street in honour of the birth of the Princess Royal in approximately 1830.

From 1942-74, Princess Street intersected with Bath Road

Highway 33 (Ontario)

King's Highway 33, commonly referred to as Highway 33, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route begins at Highway 62 in Bloomfield and travels east to the Collins Bay Road junction at Collins Bay in the city of Kingston, a distance of...

 and Concession Street at a traffic circle

Roundabout

A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...

, which was ultimately removed and replaced with traffic signals as volumes increased and the circle's capacity was exceeded. The general area is still sometimes referred to as the "traffic circle" by long-time residents.

Princess Street operates one-way eastbound from Division Street to Ontario Street.