Ontario Highway 55

Highway 55
Niagara Stone Road Mississauga Street
Route information
Maintained by the Regional Municipality of Niagara
Length:	12.9 km[3] (8.0 mi)
Existed:	November 5, 1970[1] – April 1, 1997[2]
Major junctions
South end:	Regional Road 81 (Queenston Street / York Road) – St. Catharines, Queenston
	Regional Road 100 (Four Mile Creek Road) – Virgil
North end:	Regional Road 87 (Mary Street) – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Location
Major cities:	Niagara-on-the-Lake
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways 400-series • Former ← Highway 54 Highway 56 →

King's Highway 55, commonly referred to as Highway 55 and historically as the Niagara Stone Road and Black Swamp Road, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, which connected the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) with Niagara-on-the-Lake, following Niagara Stone Road. The route divides a swath of fruitland at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment, passing at an oblique angle to the concession road grid.

A former Highway 55 designation connected Highway 6 with Highway 53, passing through the Mountain district of Hamilton. The more recent designation was applied in 1970, following the establishment of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. On April 1, 1997, Highway 55 was transferred to Niagara and designated as Niagara Regional Road 55.

Route description

Highway 55 began at an intersection with the old Iroquois Road, which later became Highway 8, until 1970, when it became Niagara Regional Road 81; it is also known as Queenston Street to the west and York Road to the east. The roadway carrying Highway 55 continued south as Taylor Road (Niagara Regional Road 70). Pressing north, the highway passed beneath the QEW, which ascends over the Garden City Skyway to cross the Welland Canal. The highway entered Homer, then curved north east and entered farmland. From here to its northern terminus, the highway was dead-straight. It passed south of the St. Catharines/Niagara District Airport and later intersected Niagara Regional Road 106.^[4]

Highway 55 passed through the small town of Virgil, which is centred on the Four Mile Creek. It intersected Four Mile Creek Road (Niagara Regional Road 100) in the centre of the town, then entered back into an agricultural area. Shortly thereafter, the highway entered the urban area of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where it ended at Mary Street (Niagara Regional Road 87).^[4]

Several wineries are established along the former route of Highway 55, most notably the Jackson-Triggs Estate.^[4][5]

History

A former Highway 55 designation connected Highway 6 and the QEW with Highway 53, passing through the Mountain district of Hamilton; this route was decommissioned in 1961. The more recent designation was applied in late 1970, following the establishment of Niagara Region.

Highway 55 ended near the QEW, pictured in the background rising on to the Garden City Skyway

During the initial settlement period of the Niagara area, following the American Revolutionary War, new wagon routes were built over native footpaths. Grimsby and Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) quickly became established settlements, but travel was cumbersome between them. Pioneers were forced to travel south along the Niagara Road to Queenston, where they turned west and followed the Iroquois Road.^[6] To remedy the situation, locals gathered in 1798 and constructed the Black Swamp Road to connect Newark with the Iroquois Road near its crossing of Ten Mile Creek (now the location of the Welland Canal).^[7] The route, often subject to flooding from the waterlogged soil which it travelled over,^[6] was gradually improved, especially during the 1830s.^[8][9] During the latter half of the 1800s, the road was macadamized, and gradually came to be known as the Niagara Stone Road as the surrounding swampland was drained and farmed.^[6]

The original incarnation of Highway 55 travelled through Hamilton. It was established in 1937, following Upper Gage Avenue north from Rymal Road (itself designated Highway 53 that same year) to Crockett Avenue and the Sherman Access. It turned west and followed the access down the Niagara Escarpment, ending at Highway 6 (John Street).^[10] The route of this highway changed several times through the late-1950s as the Burlington Skyway was constructed. By 1959, a route down the new Kenilworth Access, north along Kenilworth Avenue and along what is now Burlington Street to the QEW; both routes existed simultaneously between 1957 and 1958. ^[11] By 1961, this route had been decommissioned.^[12]

The recent incarnation of Highway 55 was designated on November 5, 1970, during the same year that the Regional Municipality of Niagara was formed.^[1][13][14] The route followed the entire length of the Niagara Stone Road from Homer to Niagara-on-the-Lake and remained unchanged over its 27 years of existence. Highway 55 was transferred to the Regional Municipality of Niagara on April 1, 1997, as part of the first round of mass downloading.^[2] The route is now known as Niagara Regional Road 55.^[4]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 55, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.^[3] The entire route is located in the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

Location	km[3]	Destinations	Notes
Homer	0.0	Regional Road 81 (Queenston Street / York Road)	Continues south as Regional Road 70 (Taylor Road)
	0.3	Regional Road 86 (Stewart Road)
Niagara-on-the-Lake	5.3	Regional Road 83 (Carlton Street)
	8.2	Regional Road 100 (Four Mile Creek Road)
	10.1	East & West Line
	12.9	Regional Road 87 (Mary Street)	Continues northeast as Mississauga Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways and Communications. March 31, 1971. p. 149. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Highway Transfers List (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. April 1, 1997. p. 3. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Provincial Highways Distance Table. Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. 1989. p. 67. ISSN 0825-5350. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Peter Heiler (2010). Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Cartography by MapArt. p. 19, section Q34–R35. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7. 
5. ^ Bramble, Linda (2003). Touring Niagara Wine Country. James Lorimer & Company. p. 65. ISBN 1-55028-795-8. http://books.google.ca/books?id=MciZsSiKE54C&lpg=PA65&ots=O62MiP48GR&dq=Jackson-Triggs%20%22Highway%2055%22&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q=Jackson-Triggs%20%22Highway%2055%22&f=false. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Niagara Historical Society Museum (July 30, 2009). "The Road that Goes by Many Names". Niagara This Week (Metroland Media Group). http://www.niagarathisweek.com/niagarathisweek/article/185363. Retrieved April 1, 2011. 
7. ^ Merritt, Richard; Butler, Nancy; Power, Michael, eds (1991). The Capital Years: Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1792–1796. The Niagara Historical Society. p. 190. http://books.google.com/books?id=gEUz5Fz4QWwC&pg=PA190&dq=%22Niagara+Stone+Road%22&hl=en&ei=GuaVTdybB5PEgAeA-cHHCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22Niagara%20Stone%20Road%22&f=false. Retrieved April 1, 2011. 
8. ^ Statutes. Government of Upper Canada. 1834. p. 278. http://books.google.com/books?id=38kvAAAAIAAJ&q=Niagara+%22Black+Swamp+Road%22&dq=Niagara+%22Black+Swamp+Road%22&hl=en&ei=J36WTcuYG5GdgQfT-NW0CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBjgK. Retrieved April 1, 2011. 
9. ^ Narhi, Brian K (2006). Early Niagara District Court Records, 1787–1841. Midnight Sun Press. p. 84. http://books.google.com/books?ei=8XeWTcyvBaTj0gGIwdWGDA&ct=result&id=6TNlAAAAMAAJ&dq=Niagara+%22Black+Swamp+Road%22&q=%22Black+Swamp+Road%22#search_anchor. Retrieved April 1, 2011. 
10. ^ Ontario Department of Highways (1937/38). Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Travel and Publicity Bureau. Section K9. 
11. ^ Ontario Department of Highways (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959). Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Hamilton inset. 
12. ^ Ontario Department of Highways (1961). Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Section K9. 
13. ^ Department of Transportation and Communications (1971). Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Photogrammetry Office. Section M23. 
14. ^ Prager, Bill (June 14, 1972). "Moving into the 20th Century". The Windsor Star 108 (90): p. 14. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5zY_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=sVEMAAAAIBAJ&dq=sudbury%20regional&pg=3105%2C3867807. Retrieved October 28, 2011. 

External links

• King's Highway 55 pictures @ Asphalt planet