Ontario Highway 53

Highway 53
Oxford County Road 55, Brant County Highway 53, Brant County Highway 2/53, Burford RoadRymal Road, Garner Road.
Route information
Maintained by City of Hamilton
Length:	76.5 km (47.5 mi)
Existed:	1935 – 1997
Major junctions
West end:	CR 2 (Former Highway 2) – Eastwood
	Highway 403 Highway 24 Highway 2 Highway 6 Highway 20 (Upper Centennial Parkway) / Highway 56 (Rymal Road) – Stoney Creek
East end:	RR 20 / 56 – Hamilton
Location
Counties:	Regional Municipality of Oxford County, Brant County, Hamilton, Ontario
Major cities:	Woodstock, Brantford, Ancaster, Ontario, Hamilton, Stoney Creek
Highway system
Hamilton Municipal Road System (Formerly Ontario King's Highways/Provincial Highway System)
Ontario provincial highways 400-series • Former ← Highway 52 Highway 54 →

Highway 53 is a former provincial highway in Southern Ontario, connecting Woodstock to Hamilton via Brantford. For much of its history, the road was co-signed with Highway 2 from Woodstock to Eastwood, where they parted ways. The road also serves as a viable alternative to Highway 2 or Highway 403.

History

Highway 2 and Highway 53 split southwest of Ancaster

Highway 53's original intention was to bypass a busy and congested section of Highway 2 between Woodstock and Brantford. The road was fully paved by 1939, as most sections of it were already paved when it was first commissioned as a provincially-controlled highway. Highway 53 was extended east to the junction of Highways 20 and 56 in Elfrida. This extension also absorbed the east-west portion of Highway 20A from Duff's Corners to Elfrida.

In 1954, the concurrency with Highway 2 was discontinued, shortening the road by 7 km, thus moving Highway 53's terminus east to Eastwood. In 1997, the remainder of Highway 53 was downloaded to Regional Municipality of Oxford County, Brant County, and the City of Hamilton (formerly the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth). The road is now known as Oxford County Road 55, Brant County Highway 53, and Brant County Highway 2/53 (for being co-signed with fellow defunct road Highway 2). In Hamilton, the road is simply known as Rymal Road and Garner Road.

Rymal Road is named after William Rymal, (1759-1852), farmer and one of earliest settlers on the Hamilton mountain. ^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Bailey, Thomas Melville (1981). Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol I, 1791-1875). W.L. Griffin Ltd. 
2. ^ Burkholder, Mabel (1956). Barton on the Mountain. Hamilton Public Library.