Ontario Highway 537

Highway 537
Route information
Length:	15.4 km[1] (9.6 mi)
Existed:	1956 – present
Major junctions
South end:	Highway 69 in Wanup
North end:	Finni Road/Hill Street intersection near Wahnapitae (continues as Municipal Road 537)
Location
Major cities:	Greater Sudbury
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways 400-series • Former ← Hwy 535 Hwy 538 →

Secondary Highway 537, commonly referred to as Highway 537, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway is 15.4 kilometres (9.6 mi) in length, connecting Highway 69 near Wanup with Finni Road. It once continued 3.6 km (2.2 mi) further to intersect Highway 17 in Wahnapitae, but was truncated in 1998. It is now the only secondary highway located within a jurisdiction which also maintains a municipal road system.

Route description

Highway 537 acts as a connector route between Highway 17 and Highway 69. It is also the main access road to the communities of Wanup and St. Cloud.

The highway is paved for its entire length, as well as the 3.6 km that continues as Municipal Road 537.

History

Originally, Highway 537 intersected Highway 69 at Wanup. When Highway 69 was subsequently realigned to bypass the community, the portion of the old Highway 69 north of Wanup became a local street named Old Wanup Road, while the portion south of Wanup became an extension of Highway 537.

With the completion of the Highway 69 freeway through the area in 2009, the route of Highway 537 was transferred to a new roadway extending from Wanup to Estaire Road, the former bypass route, while the prior alignment of Highway 537 south of Wanup was renamed as an extension of Old Wanup Road.

Old Wanup Road remains part of the provincial highway system under the unsigned 7000-series designation of Highway 7042.^[1]

On January 1, 1998, the full portion of the route which lay within the town of Nickel Centre, from Highway 17 to 700 m (2,300 ft) north of Finni Road, was downloaded to the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and became Regional Road 537. This reduced the length of the highway by 2.9 km (1.8 mi). When the region was reorganized into Greater Sudbury in 2001, Highway 537 was further reduced in length, as the Nickel Centre boundary no longer existed. The route is now 3.6 km (2.2 mi) shorter than it was prior to 1998.^[1]

Since the municipal amalgamation of 2001, the remainder of the highway now also falls within the city limits of Greater Sudbury, although no further route downloading has taken place as of 2011. It is now the only secondary highway in the province located within a jurisdiction which also maintains a municipal road system.^[2]

As part of the upgrade of Highway 69 to Highway 400, Highway 537 was realigned at its southern terminus. It now crosses over the new freeway and intersects Estaire Road 150 m (490 ft) north of the old junction.

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 537. The entirety of the highway is located within Greater Sudbury^[1]

Location	km	Destinations	Notes
Wanup	0.0	Highway 69 – Toronto
St. Cloud	4.8		Wanapitei River bridge
	15.4	Finni Road	End of highway
Wahnapitae	19.0	Highway 17 – North Bay, Ottawa	End of highway prior to January 1, 1998
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2007). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Government of Ontario. http://www.raqsb.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/tvweb?OpenForm&Seq=5. Retrieved May 28, 2011. 
2. ^ Peter Heiler (2010). Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Cartography by MapArt. p. 101, section C20–D21. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7. 

External links

• Highway 537 at OntHighways.com