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List of Ontario provincial highways

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This is a list of provincial highways in Ontario, Canada. Many of these highways were once operated and maintained by the provincial government, but were later devolved to the counties and municipalities through which they passed in the 1990s.

Contents

[edit] 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." <ref name=PTHIA>Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act; R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER P.50</ref> For the purposes of legal jurisdiction, however, the Highay Traffic Act deems that tertiary roads are also considered to be King's Highways (French route principale),<ref>Highway Traffic Act; R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER H.8</ref>

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"<ref>Municipal Act, 2001; SO 2001, c. 25</ref> or "provincially maintained highways"<ref> Provincially Maintained Highways</ref> 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.<ref>Conservation Authorities Act; R.R.O. 1990, REGULATION 164, Amended to O. Reg. 172/06</ref>

[edit] King's Highways

The King's Highways are currently numbered 2 to 148. 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" (Much like expressway bypasses in Mexico today), as it looped and bypassed the old alignment of Highway 8 in Hamilton.

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 (55 mph), and 400-series highways and most other freeways, which are generally 100 km/h (65 mph).

[edit] 400-series Highways

Main Article: 400-series highways (Ontario)

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 is actually 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.

[edit] 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 (55 mph).

The Secondary Highway system was introduced in 1955 to service regions in Northern and Central Ontario.

[edit] Tertiary

Tertiary roads connect those regions in northern Ontario not served by secondary highways. Legally, "road" (French route) has the same meaning as highway.<ref name=PTHIA/> 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, 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.

[edit] 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, though they are not publicly marked as such.

Some 7000-series highways are listed below:

Also, in Southern Ontario and in the city of Greater 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.

[edit] King's Highways

There are no highways having the numbers 1 or 13.

[edit] 400-Series highways

[edit] Secondary highways

[edit] Tertiary roads

[edit] Devolved highways

In 1997 and 1998, many sections of the provincial highway network were downloaded to local municipalities (such as cities, counties or regional municipalities) by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation as a cost-saving measure. While highways were occasionally transferred to local governments in the past, the 1997-1998 downloads represented the most significant changes to Ontario's highway network. Many highways were completely devolved, while of others only short sections remain under provincial jurisdiction (Highway 2, once stretching across Southern Ontario, now is only a few kilometres long). Below is a partial list of partially or wholly devolved highways since 1997.

Additional Highways and Bypass routes devolved: 2B, 2S, 3B, 4A, 5A, 7B, 8A, 11B, 12B, 13, 15A, 16, 17A, 17B, 24A, 35B, 40B, 48B.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links


400-series highways of Ontario
400 | 401 | 402 | 403 | 404 | 405 | 406 | 407 ETR | 409 | 410 | 416 | 417 | 420 | 427 | QEW
Proposed: 424
Ontario Provincial Highways | List of Ontario expressways

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Provincial and Territorial Numbered highways in Canada
BC | AB | SK | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PEI | NL | YU | NWT


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