Provincial highways in Ontario

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation maintains the system of provincial highways in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Highway classes

Ontario has several distinct classes of highways (French "voie publique"): King's Highways, (which includes Controlled-access highways) and secondary highways, with individual highways referred to as "that part of the King's Highway known as No. xx," or simply "the King's Highway known as No. xx." [http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/90p50_e.htm Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act] ; R.S.O. 1990, Chapter P.50] For the purposes of legal jurisdiction, however, the Highway Traffic Act deems that tertiary roads are also considered to be "King's Highways" (French "route principale"). [Highway Traffic Act; R.S.O. 1990, Chapter H.8]

The term "King's Highways" has been deprecated over the past quarter century, and the old signs were replaced circa 1993. Currently, these highways are designated "provincial highways" [Municipal Act, 2001; SO 2001, c. 25] or "provincially maintained highways" [ [http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/compass/camera/pictures/tris/provroads.htm Provincially Maintained Highways] ] by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The Highway Traffic Act, amended as recently as 2006, still refers to them as "King's Highway". Both terms are sometimes used within the same regulation as the older term is phased out. [Conservation Authorities Act; R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 164, Amended to O. Reg. 172/06]

King's Highways

The King's Highways are currently numbered 2 to 427.Fact|date=September 2007 The Ministry of Transportation never designated a Highway 1.

Some highway numbers are suffixed with a letter. The letter will be one of 'A' ("Alternate route"), 'B' ("Business route"), or 'S' ("Scenic route"). In the past, there have also been routes with the 'C' and 'D' suffixes. They were used so rarely, it is merely speculative as to their purpose, but the two routes (40C and 3C, which both formed loops to their parent routes) may have received the C suffix with the intention of C meaning "Connector", and one road (8D, now Cootes Drive) received the D suffix. Since Cootes Drive was the first fully-completed dual carriageway road in all of Canada (and all of Ontario) at the time (the 1930s), it probably stood for "Diversion", as it looped and bypassed the old alignment of Highway 8 in Hamilton. [http://www.thekingshigwhay.ca/ TheKingsHighway.ca] ]

Highway markers take on one of three designs depending on its use. Standard road shields placed on the highway itself consist of a shield design topped with a crown. In the current design, the highway number and the word "ONTARIO" appear on the shield. Junction signs (used at intersections and on the signs of 400-Series Highways) show a large white crown with the route number in it. Trailblazer signs (those indicating a route "to" a highway) will look like one of the first two but will be green instead of white.

The speed limit on King's Highways is generally 80 km/h (50 mph), except for the Trans-Canada Highway routes and certain other highways in Northern Ontario, which are 90 km/h (56 mph), and 400-series highways and most other freeways, which are generally 100 km/h (62 mph).

400-series Highways

400-Series Highways are a special class, being "exclusively" designed to be controlled-access freeways. Presently, all of them have only been built in Southern Ontario where they form a network similar to the US Interstate Highways. The 400-series highways include Highways 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 409, 410, 416, 417, 420, 427, and the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), which was once designated as Highway 451.

The province also maintains freeways such as the Conestoga Parkway which are up to 400-series standards, yet are not numbered as part of the 400-series network. This is despite some of those freeways exceeding existing 400-series highways in size and traffic volume and despite some of them being connected to the 400-series network. Nonetheless, Ontario freeways do not receive a 400-series number unless they are designed to be complete controlled-access freeways for their whole length. While at-grade intersections still exist on Highways 400 and 406, planning/construction is underway to upgrade them to full freeway standards. The non 400-series routes typically have open-access portions besides the freeway section, with the freeway segment typically being a small section not at the route's termini.

Secondary

Secondary highways exist in Northern Ontario (and used to exist in Central and Eastern Ontario) to connect towns and remote areas, often connecting small to large towns to major Kings Highways. These highways are currently numbered from 502 to 673. Secondary highway markers are trapezoid-shaped. On the face of the marker appear, in order from top to bottom, the Ontario coat of arms, the number of the highway, and the word "ONTARIO".

A few secondary highways remain gravel-surfaced, although most have been paved. The speed limit on nearly all of these routes is 80 km/h (50 mph), although Highway 655 is posted at 90 km/h (56 mph).

The Secondary Highway system was introduced in 1955 to service regions in Northern and Central Ontario. In Northern Ontario, where there is no county-level system of government to take over road maintenance, secondary highways are still in operation and serve a function analogous to that of a county road, while those in Southern Ontario have all been downloaded to the counties and rolled into the county road systems there. Only one secondary highway in the province, Highway 537 in Greater Sudbury, lays within a municipal jurisdiction which also has a county-equivalent road system — it is located in an area that was an unincorporated part of the Sudbury District until being annexed into the city in 2001.

Tertiary

Tertiary roads connect those regions in northern Ontario not served by secondary highways. Legally, "road" (French "route") has the same meaning as highway. These roads are currently numbered 801 to 811, and are marked by a simple rectangular marker with rounded corners bearing the number of the highway and the word "ONTARIO".

Most of these roads are gravel-surfaced and low-standard. The speed limit on these routes is 80 km/h (50 mph), although design standards generally override such.

The Ministry of Transportation introduced the Tertiary Road system in 1962. These roads were mostly resource access roads generally built into the most remote areas in Northern Ontario. These roads were constructed in small numbers, and with one exception (Highway 802), do not end at a settlement. Most of these Tertiary Roads were later upgraded and rebuilt to Secondary Highway standards. At present, there are only six tertiary roads in Ontario. All are gravel roads, except for Hwy 802 and Hwy 805, which both have some paved sections.

Others

In addition to these three classes of highways, the Ministry of Transportation maintains other roads ( Resource roads, Industrial roads) that are of strategic importance to the Ministry, but which are not important enough to be given any special marking. These roads are designated with 7000-series numbers for internal inventory purposes, though they are not publicly marked as such. As a further note, some roads are designated as 7000-series highways but are discontinuous, connected by "non-assumed" roads (roads not under provincial control, such as county roads, or town streets), linking both parts that share the same number.All current 7000-series highways are listed below, numerically: [Ontario Ministry of Transportation, [http://www.raqsa.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/tvweb Provincial Highways Traffic Volumes 1988-2004] ] [ [http://www.onthighways.com ONTHighways.com] ] [ [http://www.raqsb.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/fa027808647879788525708a004b5df8/3c8301422734161b8525708a004b960e/$FILE/2004%20Annual%20Average%20Daily%20Traffic%20(AADT).pdf MTO's listings of 7000-series highways, as of 2004] ] . Also refer to [http://www.raqsb.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/fa027808647879788525708a004b5df8/3c8301422734161b8525708a004b960e/$FILE/2004%20Annual%20Average%20Daily%20Traffic%20(AADT).pdf MTO's listings of 7000-series highways, as of 2004] .

*Highway 7016: Peter Road, near Bothwell, Ontario. This is now a municipal road.
*Highway 7036: spur off Highway 11 in Newmarket Township, near Cochrane, for a distance of 4.4 km.
*Highway 7037: Loop of Highway 11 in Hanny Township. Loops Highway 11 for 9.5 km (former alignment of Highway 11?).
*Highway 7041: loop off Highway 6 at Whitefish Falls. 1.3 km in length.
*Highway 7042: loop off Highway 69 in former Dill Township, Greater Sudbury; former alignment of Highway 69 known locally as Old Wanup Road. 15.2 km in length.
*Highway 7044: loop off Highway 144 between Windy Lake and Cartier. 23.2 km in length.
*Highway 7048: spur off Highway 11 in Rainy Lake to Rainy Lake Landing, Ontario, a distance of 1.0 km.
*Highway 7051: Winter Ferry Dock with Highway 96 on Wolfe Island. Now municipal road.
*Highway 7057: Willard Lake Road, spur off Highway 17 to Willard Lake, 72 km west of Vermilion Bay. 1.3 km in length.
*Highway 7059: Long Bow Lake Road, loop of Highway 17. East junction with Highway 17, looping back to Highway 17 at its western junction, 3.4 km later.
*Highway 7082: Smith Street, spur off Highway 17 in Nairn Township, to Nairn Township/Lorne Township boundary, a distance of 2.9 km.
*Highway 7087: Highway 2 in Windsor, Ontario, from Highway 3 to Banwell Road (E.C. Row Expressway).
*Highway 7094: Rest Acres Road, in Paris, Ontario. This is now part of Highway 24
*Highway 7102: loop off Highway 71 in Godson Township
*Highway 7104: spur off Highway 105
*Highway 7116: Bloomfield Road (Park Ave. to Highway 401) in Chatham, Ontario. This road was turned back in 1998, and is now only designated as Chatham-Kent Road 27.
*Highway 7125: Rockeries Road, spur off Highway 17 near (just west of) Clearwater Bay
*Highway 7146: Main Street Tunnel in Welland
*Highway 7162: Ontario Street, in Burk's Falls, Ontario. Former alignment of Highway 11. Now part of an extended Secondary Highway 520.
*Highway 7180: Talbot Street in St. Thomas, Ontario, original alignment of Highway 3 was maintained from completion of the St. Thomas Expressway in 1982, until being turned back in 1997.
*Highway 7181: spur off Highway 581 to Remi Lake
*Highway 7182: former Highway 69 alignment north of Highway 559
*Highway 7186: Thorold Stone Road from Highway 58 east to Thorold Townline Road (Niagara Regional Road 70). 0.8 km in length.
*Highway 7182: Shebeshekong Road ("Regional Road 559" (not to be confused with Secondary Highway 559), 18 km in length from Highway 559 to Highway 69 in Carling.
*Highway 7187: King Street Bypass, connecting Highway 401 to Highway 8 in Kitchener, a distance of 3.3 km.
*Highway 7189: Eastport Drive, connecting Queen Elizabeth Way exit 93 to former Highway 2 in Hamilton (a distance of around 2.1 km)
*Highway 7195: York Regional Road 71 (Centre Street), connecting former Highway 7 with Dufferin Street in Thornhill, a distance of around 1 km.
*Highway 7197: The so-called "Hwy 403-Trafalgar Road Connector", built in 1985, opened in 1986, became eastbound carriageway for Highway 407 in 1997.
*Highway 7202: Highway 410 from Peel Road 5/Derry Road to Peel Road 15 (Steeles Avenue), and then from Peel Road 15/Steeles Avenue) to the intersection of Bovaird Drive/Heart Lake Road. [http://www.raqsb.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/fa027808647879788525708a004b5df8/3c8301422734161b8525708a004b960e/$FILE/2004%20Annual%20Average%20Daily%20Traffic%20(AADT).pdf MTO's listings of 7000-series highways in the area, as of 2004]
*Highway 7236: From Highway 406 to Seaway Mall Drive in Welland. Now almost completely downloaded to Region and signed as Niagara Regional Road 41.
*Highway 7237: Highway 48/York Regional Road 14, for 1 km. has an Average Annual Daily Traffic count of 22,800.
*Highway 7241: Oastler Park Drive (formerly part of Highway 69 until that road was realigned along the current Highway 400). This 7000-series road is around 8.1 km in length at this time. Its termini are with Highway 69/Highway 400, and the intersection of Bowes Street and Louisa Street in Parry Sound.
*Highway 7250: Thunder Bay Expressway (Highway 11/Highway 17 (12.9 km in length)
*Highway 7260: New Wasaga Beach bypass, from the intersection of Highway 26 and Mosley Street, to the intersection of Sixth Line East and Highway 26, a distance of 7.9 km
*Highway 7270: Initial designation, now mostly complete and part of a new Highway 17 alignment from Bar River Road to Black Road east of Sault Ste. Marie, a distance of 27.7 km. (The western segment remains unfinished)
*Highway 7271: Temporarily part of a new Highway 17 alignment from Trunk Road (former Highway 17) for 1.5 km before terminating at Highway 7270 (where the current Highway 17 continues).
*Highway 7272: Future Highway 11 freeway alignment currently under construction bypassing South River and Sundridge (17.0 km in length)
*Highway 7273: Upper James Street in Hamilton, Ontario. Former alignment of Highway 6, terminates at a Pioneer Gas Bar). Has an Average Annual Daily Traffic count of 19,200 vehicles per day.
*Highway 7274: Highway 6 airport connection (Highway 7274), from Highway 6 to Airport Road (0.6 km in length), near Hamilton and Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport.
*Highway 7276: Highway 410's new extension, temporary designation until the road is completed

Also, in Southern Ontario and in the city of Sudbury there are systems of regional, municipal or county roads that are also numbered. These roads are maintained by the local government (Township, City, or County/District/Region), not by the province.

There are also several formerly-designated Ontario Tourist Routes that were located throughout the entire province, but these have since become harder to find, as many signs have been taken down. There are also "Historic Colonization Roads" throughout Central and Eastern Ontario, shown on maps and on street signs. See List of Ontario Historic Colonization Roads for more information.

References

External links

* [http://www.mto.gov.on.ca Ministry of Transportation Ontario]
* [http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/map/ Official Ontario road map (from MTO)]
* [http://www.embargo.ca/highway11 Ontario Highway 11 Homepage - A Virtual Town-by-Town Trip Along the World's Longest Street]
* [http://www.routemarkers.com/canada/#Ontario Ontario Highway Route Markers]
* [http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/part-10-rules-of-the-road-f48.html Ontario Highway Traffic Act - Rules of the Road]
* [http://members.aol.com/hwys/OntHwys/OntHwys.html Ontario Provincial Highways]
* [http://www.onthighways.com/ OntHighways.com]
* [http://mdo20.0catch.com/route/on/onsign.html Road Signs of Ontario]
* [http://www.thekingshighway.ca/ The History of Ontario's Kings Highways]
* [http://hwyends.hhso.ca/ The King's Highway Ends Site]