Highbury Avenue

Highbury Avenue
Wenige Expressway Formerly Highway 126
Route information
Maintained by City of London
Length:	5 km (3.1 mi)
History:	Opened December 9, 1963 (as a two-lane expressway) Widened in 1966 (to a four lane, grade-separated expressway)
Major junctions
North end:	Wilton Grove Road
South end:	Hamilton Road
Location
Major cities:	London
Highway system
Roads in Ontario Ontario municipal expressways (in alphabetical order) ← Harbour Expressway Highbury Avenue Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway →

Highbury Avenue is an arterial road/expressway located in London and St. Thomas, Ontario. The speed limit, on the expressway portion is 100 km/h.^[1]

For the citizens who live and work in both cities, Highbury Avenue is considered an essential commuter route between both cities and also to Highway 401 and Highway 402.

Route description

The Highbury Avenue expressway seen from the Commissioners Road overpass looking north and south respectively. The concrete southbound lanes were being rehabilitated at the time these photos were taken.

Highbury Avenue begins at South Edgeware Road in St. Thomas where it proceeds north as a two lane highway (Elgin County Road 30) until Wilton Grove Road in London. From there it briefly becomes a four-lane, 4.5 km (2.8 mi) expressway north from Highway 401 to Hamilton Road.^[2] It then continues north as a four-lane arterial street through the rest of London.

At approximately Fanshawe Park Road, Highbury Avenue continues north from London as a two-lane highway (Middlesex County Road 23), where it ends at Elginfield Road (Highway 7).

History

The expressway portion was built in 1966.^[3] This road was originally planned to be completed as part of a network of expressways to serve London along the Thames River. However, local opposition led to this expressway portion of Highbury ending at Hamilton Road..^[4] The road was given provincial highway status as Highway 126 on December 9, 1963.^[5] For a time the expressway portion of the road was unofficially named "George Wenige Expressway" after a former mayor of London, George Wenige. There were also plans to extend the expressway south to St. Thomas, but these plans were shelved.

In 1989, the interchange at the intersection of Bradley Avenue and Highbury was completed. In 1991, responsibility for Highway 126 was transferred from the provincial government to the City of London. Later in 1994, the Highbury Avenue interchange and overpass at Highway 401 was reconstructed. The reconstruction led to the cloverleaf interchange being converted to a Parclo-A4 interchange configuration with traffic lights, no longer being completely controlled-access (freeway-to-freeway).

Major intersections

The following table lists the major intersections along the portion of Highbury Avenue that was once assumed by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. The road continues north and south of these points, but distances are not available.

Location	km[6]	Destinations	Notes
London	0.0	County Road 37 (Wilton Grove Road)
	0.8	Highway 401 – Windsor, Toronto	Formerly a cloverleaf interchange
	1.8	Bradley Avenue
	4.0	Commissioners Road	Two additional ramps proposed
	5.6	Hamilton Road	At-grade intersection; End of expressway portion
	7.6	Dundas Street	Formerly Highway 2
	11.7	Kilally Road	End of former Highway 126; Highbury Avenue continues north as Middlesex County Road 23

References

1. ^ Cameron Bevers. "The King's Highway 126". http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Highway126.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010. "The four-lane freeway has a 100 km/h speed limit." 
2. ^ Cameron Bevers. "The King's Highway 126". http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Highway126.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010. "Highbury Avenue Freeway is still a fully controlled-access route from Hamilton Road to the Highway 401 Interchange." 
3. ^ Cameron Bevers. "The King's Highway 126". http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Highway126.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010. "In 1966, the entire section of Highway 126 lying to the south of Hamilton Road was converted into a four-lane controlled-access freeway." 
4. ^ Cameron Bevers. "The King's Highway 126". http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Highway126.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010. "During the 1960s, several ambitious plans were developed to construct a series of freeways across London, in order to provide improved connections to Highway 401 from the central and northern half of the city. However, plans to extend the Highway 126 Freeway further north were eventually scrapped." 
5. ^ AADT Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 And Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1969. p. 112. 
6. ^ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (April 1, 1989). Provincial Highways Distance Table. Government of Ontario. pp. 85. ISSN 0825-5350.