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115-518: King's Highway   22 , commonly referred to as Highway   22 , was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario , located between Sarnia and London . Since 1998, the majority of the former route has been known as Middlesex County Road   22 and Lambton County Road   22 . It began at Highway 7 and Highway 79 north of Watford and proceeded 46.0 kilometres (28.6 mi) east to Highway 4 in

230-533: A 16.5 km (10.3 mi) section of the route between the Highway   7/79 junction north of Watford and the Highway   81 junction north of Strathroy was transferred to Lambton and Middlesex counties on April   1, 1997. This was followed up several months later by the transfer of the remaining 22.3 km (13.9 mi) east of Highway   81 to the London boundary on January   1, 1998. Highway   22

345-455: A completely new alignment, and featured interchanges at nearly all crossroads. Construction of an extension around Barrie began in 1950, and the completed freeway was opened on July   1, 1952. The expressway between Highland Creek and Oshawa was also completed in this period, and opened as far as Ritson Road in December 1947, becoming the progenitor to Highway   401. When Ontario signed

460-521: A four-lane diversion was built to the west of the original alignment between Commissioners Road and Springbank Drive. Hutton Road was renamed Wonderland Road North. Wonderland Road was now a continuous four-lane facility from Viscount Road to Kingsway Avenue. The four-lane section was extended north to just beyond Oxford Street in 1982. In 1987, a new four-lane bridge was built over the Canadian Pacific Railway just south of Sarnia Road, replacing

575-410: A house within a year, and resided on the grant for at least five years would receive the title to that land. The government subsequently built over 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) of roads over the following 20   years to provide access to these grants, although the roads were often little more than a trail cut through the forest wide enough for a wagon. Like the lands to the south, statute labour

690-711: A name instead; these are the Central Ontario Route , Georgian Bay Route , Lake Superior Route , Northern Ontario Route and Ottawa Valley Route . Several portions of the King's Highway are designated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway system within Ontario, with the TCH having a main route and several branches, often only following sections of any given provincial highway. They are: In addition to these classes of highways,

805-659: A network of east–west and north–south roads between the Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay . This area was known as the Ottawa–Huron Tract . In 1847, an exploration survey was carried out by Robert Bell to lay out the lines that would become the Opeongo, Hastings, and Addington colonization roads . The Public Lands Act, passed in 1853, permitted the granting of land to settlers who were at least 18. Those settlers who cleared at least 12 acres (4.9 ha) within four years, built

920-463: A preferred route to be announced, and until 1972 for construction to begin. Work was carried out through the remainder of the 1970s, and the freeway was completed and ceremonially opened in late 1982. Now largely rendered redundant by the parallel freeway, the route of Highway   22 was gradually decommissioned and transferred to county and municipal jurisdiction throughout the 1990s. The London–Middlesex Act, passed December   10, 1992, expanded

1035-507: A provincial highway system. The initial system, between Windsor and Quebec , was bookended by branches to Niagara and Ottawa . In 1919, the federal government passed the Canada Highways Act , which provided $ 20,000,000 to provinces under the condition that they establish an official highway network; up to 40% of construction costs would be subsidized. The first network plan was approved on February 26, 1920. At this time, Campbell

1150-502: A resource road, allowing for vehicles otherwise prohibited from public roads. Industrial roads are privately owned routes with which the MTO has entered an agreement to improve or allow public access, and are not considered part of the provincial highway network. The 407 ETR is likewise not considered part of the provincial highway network. While it is still subject to the rules set forth by the HTA, it

1265-497: A rural, two-lane road until it ends at Elginfield Road. South of Southminster Bourne, the road continues as a rural, two-lane road in Southwold where it ends at Ron McNeil Line, just north of Highway 3 . Where the original Wonderland Sideroad was bypassed between Commissioners and Springbank, the former alignment was renamed Old Wonderland Road. When Hutton Road was realigned westward at Riverside to connect with Wonderland Road in 1977,

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1380-482: A sleigh or carriage to pass. He completed the first 101 kilometres (63 mi) to Port Hope by December. The government ultimately decided that his road was unacceptable, and reportedly paid him less than owed. Portions of Danforth's road were later incorporated into Highway 2 , as well as several local roads in Scarborough . The majority of settlers up to this point were United Empire Loyalists — settlers of

1495-485: A statute labour system that required landowners to make improvements in lieu of taxes. Private companies constructed corduroy and later plank roads and charged tolls in the second half of the 19th century. The rising popularity of the bicycle led to the formation of the Ontario Good Roads Association, which advocated for the improvement of roads and recreation as the automobile rose to prominence. By

1610-507: A straight line, it passed through the hamlet of Adelaide before reaching Highway 81 , now known as Middlesex County Road   81, at Wrightmans Corners, just north of Strathroy. At Hickory Corner (at one time an established village known as Amiens), the former route of Highway   22 enters the municipality of Middlesex Centre , with the survey grid turning approximately 45°, relative to Adelaide Metcalfe. It presses through farmland at an oblique angle to lot lines, travelling through

1725-417: A two-lane level crossing. The four-lane section of Wonderland Road was further extended to Gainsborough Road in 1996, and a small section south of Fanshawe Park Road was widened to four lanes in 1998. At the south end of the city, for many years Wonderland Road ended at Highway 135 , later Exeter Road. The section between Southdale Road and Highway 135 was widened to four lanes in 1982 by Middlesex County, and

1840-474: Is Highway 537 in Greater Sudbury . They generally serve to connect remote communities to the King's Highway, or to interconnect the King's Highway. 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

1955-659: Is 80 km/h (50 mph), although design standards generally prevent such. Unlike other roads in the Provincial Highway Network, the MTO is not responsible for winter maintenance nor liable for damage incurred as a result of using these routes. The MTO introduced the Tertiary Road system in 1962. With the exception of Highway 802 , none end in settlements. The Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) forms several major routes across Canada. The provincial governments are entirely responsible for signage and maintenance of

2070-645: Is otherwise governed independently under the legislation of the Highway 407 Act. Speed limits on provincial highways are legislated by sections of the road, and vary between 50 km/h (30 mph) and 110 km/h (70 mph). Freeways, including the 400-series highways, are generally signed at 100 km/h (60 mph), although sections exist that are signed lower. Three segments of freeway are part of an ongoing pilot project to test speed limits of 110   km/h in rural areas that are not subject to congestion. A fourth segment, located in Northern Ontario ,

2185-571: The London Transit Commission . The most notorious is Route 10 which travels on Wonderland between Sarnia and Southdale, which was eponymously named 10 Wonderland for decades until September 2016. Other routes that serve portions of Wonderland include Routes 7, 9, 12, 15, 19, 20, 24, 27, and 33. Long term plans initially called for Wonderland Road to be widened to six lanes from the Highway 401 interchange to London's north city limits. In 2017,

2300-579: The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario .  Ontario Provincial Highway Network The Ontario Provincial Highway Network consists of all the roads in Ontario maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), including those designated as part of the King's Highway, secondary highways, and tertiary roads. Components of the system—comprising 16,900 kilometres (10,500 mi) of roads and 2,880 bridges —range in scale from Highway 401 ,

2415-463: The Thirteen Colonies loyal to Britain who fled north to the new colony. These pioneers endured starting anew in untamed wilderness, with little provisions beyond what they could carry. Many were strategically placed along Yonge Street and Dundas Street, and given the duty of clearing half the width of a road along the front of their property lot. Settlers were responsible for the upkeep, and often

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2530-471: The rules of the road . The Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act (PTHIA) sets forth the regulations concerning roads that are under the authority of the Province of Ontario. The act distinguishes and sets out the applicability of the HTA to provincial highways, which are designated as part of The King's Highway (primary), a secondary highway, or a tertiary road. Tertiary roads may also be designated as

2645-514: The rural–urban fringe of the city near Hyde Park Road. It progressively becomes entrenched between subdivisions as it continues northeast. Beyond Wonderland Road , the former route crosses Medway Creek . Immediately prior to being decommissioned, Highway   22 ended at Derwent Road, midway between Wonderland Road and Highway   4 (Richmond Street). However, until the early 1990s, it continued along Fanshawe Park Road as far as Highbury Avenue . Early European settlement in southwestern Ontario

2760-512: The shape of a shield , topped by a St Edward's Crown . In other cases, particularly when approaching the junction of another highway, a square crown marker is used, featuring the route number within an outline of the St Edward's Crown, paired with an arrow plate; exit signs on freeways and at major junctions also use this crown symbol. For secondary highways, the route number is within an outline of an isosceles trapezoid , while tertiary roads place

2875-414: The 1830s, ordered a survey of the lands as well as a road from London to Lake Huron on the shortest line between the two. This line was named in honour of George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont , who was encouraging emigration to the area from England. The surveying itself was carried out by Peter Carroll under the supervision of Mahlon Burwell in 1831 and 1832. A town site named Errol was laid out at

2990-475: The 1970s. Accordingly, it was decommissioned and turned over to local jurisdiction in 1997 and 1998. Highway   22 was a 46.0 km (28.6 mi) highway that connected Highway   7 north of Watford with Highway   4 in London; Highway   7 continued west to Sarnia. The route was located within Lambton County, Middlesex County and the city of London. Since being decommissioned in 1998, most of

3105-598: The 266 kilometres (165 mi) of wilderness known as "the Gap" was a missing link in the Trans-Canada Highway between Nipigon and Sault Ste. Marie . Construction began in 1956, and it was completed and ceremoniously opened to traffic on September   17, 1960, uniting the two segments and completing the route of Highway   17 from the Manitoba border to the Quebec border. Wonderland Road Wonderland Road takes its name from

3220-462: The 500s and 600s, with existing highways numbered between 502 and 673. Tertiary roads are remote routes entirely within Northern Ontario that provide access to resources (e.g. mining and forestry). Tertiary roads are numbered in the 800s, with the five existing highways numbered between 802 and 811. Most of these roads are gravel-surfaced and of low-standard. The speed limit on these routes

3335-521: The City of London launched an environmental assessment named "Discover Wonderland" that would have looked at widening Wonderland to six lanes from Sarnia to Southdale, while investigating how to accommodate pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. However, in August 2021, the city began to consider halting the project due to concerns over environmental impact, with city council ultimately voting 9-5 on September 14 to halt

3450-520: The City of London widened the road north of Southdale to Viscount Road in the late 1980s. In 1997, a southerly extension joined Wonderland Road with 4.62 km of Bostwick Road, which also crossed Highway 402. An interchange was constructed at Highway 402 at the same time. Wonderland Road was separated by Highway 401 from the southernmost section to the Elgin County line, until 2015. On October 31, 2014, London's first roundabout with four lanes opened at

3565-451: The DHO took control of Egremont Road with the intention of reducing the distance between Sarnia and London. The Official Ontario Road Map indicates that Highway   22 continued south along Highway   4 to Highway 2 (Dundas Street) in downtown London from 1940 until 1972, after which it is shown continuing along Fanshawe Park Road to Highway 126 (Highbury Avenue). Planning for

Ontario Highway 22 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-574: The DPHO renamed as the Department of Highways (DHO) and the introduction of The King's Highway title. The chosen route for Highway   22 was approximately 8 km (5 mi) longer than the more direct routing along Egremont Road. While some groups advocated the province instead take over the 22.7 km (14 mi) Sarnia Gravel Road between Wisbeach and Hickory Corner as the Sarnia–London highway,

3795-435: The DPHO. A further 12.8 km (8.0 mi) of roads within Lambton County were assumed eleven days later on July   13. While initially unpaved, the DPHO immediately set forth to pave the entire route. Expecting the work to be carried out gradually over several years, paving of 16 km (10 mi) of Highway   7 east from Reeces Corners began June   15, 1927. Progress was much faster than anticipated, and by

3910-631: The Harbour or from remaining within it.   ... I have good Information that a Road is very easy to be made to communicate with those Waters which fall into Lake Huron.   ... In regard to Lake Huron, tho' it is not so immediate an object of Attention, yet I consider it ultimately of the most extensive and serious Magnitude. John Graves Simcoe , the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada , landed at Niagara on July   26, 1792, after overwintering in Quebec City , from England and set forth to colonize

4025-503: The King's Highway" or "the King's Highway known as n ". However, in common parlance they are simply referred to as "Highway n ". Ontario highways rank second safest in North America for fatality rates, with 0.55 fatalities per 10000 licensed drivers in 2019. The phrase "King's Highway" is used regardless of the gender of the monarch. The 400-series highways and the QEW form the backbone of

4140-414: The King's Highway, with other routes numbered from 2 to 148. The Ministry of Transportation never designated a Highway 1. Some highway numbers are suffixed with a letter A ("alternate route"), B ("business route"), or N ("new route"). In the past, there have also been routes with C and S ("scenic route") suffixes. The entire King's Highway network is fully paved. The term "the King's Highway"

4255-506: The Lake Huron end of the line. While it was expected that Errol would quickly grow in to a thriving port, Sarnia did instead due largely in part to politician and businessman Malcolm Cameron . Cameron advocated for the construction of the London Line, along which Watford and Strathroy were established. By 1850, Errol was abandoned and the London Line was the main thoroughfare between London and

4370-578: The MTO maintains other roads, such as resource roads or industrial roads, that are of strategic importance to the provincial government. These roads are designated with 7000-series numbers for internal inventory purposes, though they are not publicly marked as such. They are often, but not always, former highway segments which were decommissioned as a King's Highway, but remain important as connecting routes to communities or other highways in areas without municipal governance. There were formerly several designated Ontario Tourist Routes that were located throughout

4485-699: The Middle Road , which would become the Queen Elizabeth Way in 1939. In 1937, the DHO merged with the Department of Northern Development , extending the highway network into the Canadian Shield and Northern Ontario . Significant traffic engineering and surveying through the war years , during which construction came to a near standstill, led to the planning and initial construction of controlled-access highways . The 400-series highways were built beginning in

4600-446: The Middle Road and construction began to convert the existing sections to a divided highway. Work also began on Canada's first interchange at Highway 10. The Middle Road was ceremoniously renamed the Queen Elizabeth Way during the 1939 royal tour of Canada , taking its name from Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother , and was completed between Toronto and Niagara Falls on August   26, 1940. Beginning in 1935, McQuesten applied

4715-460: The QEW, which feature yellow text on a reflective blue background. For secondary highways, trailblazers simply add the word "TO" above the route number. Since August 2004, "Highway of Heroes" shields featuring a diagram of a poppy have been posted along Highway   401 between Toronto and CFB Trenton . These were erected to honour fallen Canadian soldiers, whose bodies were repatriated from Afghanistan in funeral convoys along that stretch of

Ontario Highway 22 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-561: The Thames River, house numbers start in the 500s with odd and even numbers switching sides north of Sarnia Road. Heading south through Southdale Road, house numbers immediately increase from the 1000s to the 3000s, due to a numbering convention from Westminster when London annexed the town in 1993. North of Sunningdale, Wonderland Road exits London and is designated as Middlesex County Road 56 in Middlesex Centre where it continues as

4945-576: The Trans-Canada Highway Agreement on April   25, 1950, it had already chosen a Central Ontario routing via Highway   7, Highway   12, Highway 103 and Highway   69; Highway   17 through the Ottawa Valley was announced as a provincially-funded secondary route of the Trans-Canada the following day. Amongst some of the most difficult terrain encountered in Canada,

5060-631: The US into Upper Canada in July 1794 — would complete the opening of the route to Bond Lake by the end of 1794. The remainder to Holland Landing was opened by the Rangers, under the supervision of Augustus Jones, between December   28, 1795, and February   16, 1796. In 1798, Asa Danforth was hired by the government of Upper Canada to build a road to the Trent River , in what in now Trenton , by July   1 of

5175-475: The Wonderland Gardens concert hall located near Springbank Park . The present-day Wonderland Road corridor is made up of part or all of six London-area roads. The original Wonderland Sideroad was a 3.24 km gravel road running between Southdale Road and the Thames River, with Wonderland Gardens located at the end of the road just before the river. In 1970, a major upgrade took place in conjunction with

5290-610: The approach to roads and roadbuilding in the first years of the 20th century. In 1900, the provincial Instructor in Roadmaking was renamed as the Commissioner of Public Highways in 1900, as well as the Deputy Minister in the new Department of Public Works in 1905. The first legislation on driving was introduced in 1903, and included the first speed limits (15 miles per hour (24 km/h)). The first license plates were created that year,

5405-612: The arrival of news in May of France's declaration of war against Britain . Having reformed the Queen's Rangers , whom he fought alongside during the American War, Simcoe set out to establish military roads to connect his new capital with the Upper Great Lakes and other strategic points. The first road he ordered built was Dundas Street, from the head of Lake Ontario near present-day Dundas to

5520-613: The border at Sarnia. When Ontario's Department of Public Highways (DPHO) first established a network of provincial highways on February   26, 1920, in order to be eligible for federal funding, it did not provide for a direct route between Sarnia and London. While unimproved roads crisscrossed the intermediate farmland, the only provincial connection between the two cities was a circuitous route along what would become Highway   7 and Highway   4. That route travelled north from Warwick through Arkona, east through Parkhill and Alisa Craig to Elginfield, then south to London. Following

5635-516: The building of roads in this period, with each male over 21   years of age required to perform three or more days of statute labour per year, based on the value of their land. The intention was for settlers throughout the length of the roads to work on the portion fronting their lot, which was generally twenty chains , or 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. However, many lots were given to absent clergymen and English nobles, resulting in these "roads" being poorly-maintained quagmires of mud. During

5750-541: The busiest highway in North America, to unpaved forestry and mining access roads. The longest highway is nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) long, while the shortest is less than a kilometre. Some roads are unsigned highways , lacking signage to indicate their maintenance by the MTO; these may be remnants of highways that are still under provincial control whose designations were decommissioned , roadway segments left over from realignment projects, or proposed highway corridors. Predecessors to today's modern highways include

5865-413: The city limits. Wonderland Road is one of only two roads in London to traverse both north and south ends of the city without any breaks or turnoffs, the other being Highbury Avenue . In urban London, the road is four lanes wide, with the road narrowing to two in the rural part. The final section to be widened to four lanes was between Gainsborough and Aldersbrook, which was completed in 2010. North of

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5980-413: The city, completed as part of a re-routing of Highway 4 through city, bypassing the City's downtown core, and linking MTO - controlled portions of Highway 4 both north and south of the city. Therefore, Highway 4 now follows Richmond Street south to Sunningdale Road, Sunningdale west to Wonderland Road, Wonderland south to Highway 401, a 401 concurrency west to Colonel Talbot Road, then Colonel Talbot south to

6095-445: The communities of Poplar Hill, Lobo and Melrose. East of Melrose, Egremont Drive curves northeast onto the alignment of Fanshawe Park Road , taking on that name at Denfield Road. Although the city limits of London now lie 0.6 km (0.37 mi) east of Denfield Road, they were at Derwent Road in the early 1990s. Within the present limits of London, the former route of Highway   22 briefly travels through farmland before reaching

6210-607: The concept of a dual-highway to several projects along Highway   2, including along Kingston Road in Scarborough Township. When widening in Scarborough reached the Highland Creek ravine in 1936, the Department of Highways began construction on a new bridge over the large valley, bypassing the former alignment around West Hill . From here the highway was constructed on a new alignment to Oshawa, avoiding construction on

6325-579: The congested Highway 2. As grading and bridge construction neared completion on the new highway between West Hill and Oshawa in September 1939, World War II broke out and gradually tax revenues were re-allocated from highway construction to the war effort. As the war came to a close, planning began in 1945 on the Toronto–Barrie Highway to ease the congestion on the parallel routes of Highway 11 and Highway 27 . The highway followed

6440-457: The early 1800s, the government of Upper Canada appropriated settlers to various lots which had been surveyed along the lake shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario . The townships established along these fronts contained generally fertile land composed of glacial till and clay-rich loam . As these townships filled up, business opportunities presented themselves for investors to purchase native lands and open them to settlement. The Canada Company

6555-417: The early 20th century, the province had taken interest in road improvement and began funding it through counties. The increasing adoption of the automobile resulted in the formation of the Department of Public Highways of Ontario (DPHO) in 1916. The passing of the Canada Highways Act in 1919 resulted in the establishment of a provincial network of highways. The DPHO assigned internal highway numbers to roads in

6670-527: The early years of the 21st century, although several major infrastructure projects including the Herb Gray Parkway and expansion of Highway 69 have proceeded. Recent construction has included the controversial Bradford Bypass and Highway 413 . In Ontario, all public roads are legally considered highways under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA), which sets forth regulations for traffic, or

6785-513: The east of two intersections between those highways — from which it proceeded east along the historic Egremont road. The first 3.7 km (2.3 mi) were located in Lambton County, and this segment is now known as Lambton County Road   22. East of the Lambton–Middlesex boundary at Sexton Road, which also serves as the municipal boundary between Warwick and Adelaide Metcalfe , it is known as Middlesex County Road   22. Continuing in

6900-450: The end of that month the contractor had been ordered to continue paving as much as possible throughout the remainder of the construction season. Paving began simultaneously at the London end of the route. By the end of the 1927 work was completed west from Hyde Park Road to the community of Lobo, nearly 13 km (8 mi). Another 8 km (5 mi) from Lobo to Hickory Corner was paved in 1928. A 35 km (22 mi) segment of paving

7015-491: The entire province. However, beginning in February 1997, Tourism-Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) began to appear on highways. Tourist Routes no longer appeared on maps after 1998. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century, transportation across what became Ontario was generally via the thousands of lakes and rivers. Short trails existed between bodies of water, known as a portage or carrying place, as well as along

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7130-442: The first concrete road in Ontario. The highway became the favourite drive of many motorists, and it quickly became a tradition for many families to drive it every Sunday. Roads and highways in Ontario were given their first serious consideration by the provincial government when the Department of Public Highways (DPHO), predecessor to the modern Ministry of Transportation of Ontario , was established on January 17, 1916. Until then,

7245-557: The first highway patrol established in 1907, licences for chauffeurs in 1909 (regular drivers did not require a licence until 1927), and safety requirements such as headlights. These laws culminated in the creation of the Highway Traffic Act in 1923. Roadbuilding advanced considerably, with the most notable project of the period being the Toronto–Hamilton Highway, the first paved intercity road in Ontario. The highway

7360-455: The following year. He began at the Don River , where Queen Street crosses it today, on June   5 of that year, and proceeded east. Danforth was paid $ 90 per mile to cut a road 10 metres (33 ft) wide, of which the middle half was cut to the level of the ground. He was also to build 5.0-metre (16.5 ft)-wide causeways "wherever necessary" and ensure that slopes were gradual enough for

7475-489: The foot trails and portages used by indigenous peoples in the time before European settlement. Shortly after the creation of the Province of Upper Canada in 1791, the new government under John Graves Simcoe built overland military roads to supplement water-based transportation, including Yonge Street and Dundas Street . At the time, road construction was under the control of the township and county governments. Local township roads were financed and constructed through

7590-550: The forks of the Thames River in present-day London . His Rangers began work on this route on September   10, 1793. Between September   25 and October   14, Simcoe travelled with native guides to Penetanguishene and back. Following the advice of an Ojibwa named Old Sail, the return voyage followed the east branch of the Holland River and thence south to Toronto (known as York from 1793 to 1834); this would become

7705-446: The former route has been known as County Road   22, or Fanshawe Park Road within London; it is two   lanes wide except east of Hyde Park Road in London, where it is four lanes wide. Outside London, the former route is surrounded almost exclusively by sprawling farmland outside of the few small communities through which it passes. Highway   22 began at the intersection of Highway   7 and Highway   79 near Wisbeach —

7820-410: The highway. Ontario has several distinct classes of highways: The King's Highway is the primary highway network of Ontario, and constitutes the majority of the principal inter-urban roadways in the province. As a whole, it is referred to in the singular form as opposed to as a group of its parts (i.e. "the King's Highway", not "the King's Highways"). Individual highways are known as "part of

7935-476: The increasing adoption of the bicycle as a means of transport, and the desire of farmers to get their goods to market quicker, the Ontario Good Roads Association was formed in 1894 by representatives from numerous townships, villages and cities. The Good Roads Movement encouraged education on the building of proper roads, and later equipment to aid in the improvement of roads, as well as lobbying

8050-476: The intersection of Wonderland and Sunningdale. An interchange with Highway 401 and Wonderland Road opened in the fall of 2015. In 2017, Wonderland Road in Elgin County was transferred from Southwold Township to Elgin County in exchange of other County Roads which were transferred down to Southwold Township. In 2018, Wonderland Road between Highway 401 and Sunningdale Road was also designated as Highway 4 through

8165-671: The late 1940s and numbered in 1952. The vast majority of modern road infrastructure in Ontario was built throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. The cancellation of the Spadina Expressway and the introduction of the Environmental Assessment Act in the 1970s resulted in a decline in new highway construction in the decades since. In the late 1990s, nearly 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) of provincial highways were transferred, or "downloaded" back to lower levels of government. Few new provincial highways have been built in

8280-418: The latter which became standard in the design for the widening of Highway 401 through Toronto in 1962. The Institute of Traffic Engineers subsequently recommended this design to replace the cloverleaf interchange throughout North America. Secondary highways exist solely within the districts of Northern Ontario that lack a county road system , to which they are analogous. The sole exception to this

8395-557: The lay of the land, as opposed to the straight tangents of the surveyed roads yet to come. Some roads in Ontario still closely follow these early Native and European trails, including the Kente Portage Trail (Old Portage Road) in Carrying Place , the oldest continuously used road in the province. The Spit of Land which forms its Entrance is capable of being fortified with a few heavy Guns as to prevent any Vessel from entering

8510-579: The local First Nations. For the next 150   years, France and Britain wrestled for control of the colony of Canada while simultaneously exploiting the land for the fur trade of North America . This culminated in the global Seven Years' War that ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 , which ceded Canada to the British. The colony of Canada was renamed the Province of Quebec until 1791, when it

8625-426: The majority of the primary roads through southern Ontario formed part of the county road systems. The Department of Public Works paid up to 60% of the construction and maintenance costs for these roads, while the counties were responsible for the remaining 40%. The Ontario government passed an act in 1917 to permit the newly formed Department of Public Highways (DPHO) to take over (or assume) responsibility and upkeep of

8740-402: The municipal boundaries of the City of London effective January   1, 1993. The 5.5 km (3.4 mi) section of Highway   22 between Derwent Road (the former boundary) and 600 m (0.37 mi) east of Denfield Road was consequently transferred to the City of London. As part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premier Mike Harris under his Common Sense Revolution platform,

8855-403: The new Westmount development, that saw the road widened to four lanes with a centre median south of Commissioners Road, and a new two-lane road south of Viscount Road (the part west from Steeplechase Drive known as Kanata Drive until the mid 1970s) that bypassed east of the existing road, connecting at Southdale Road with the old Airport Road which ran south 2.5 km to Highway 135. (Airport Road

8970-500: The north end of London. Between those two points, it passed through the small communities of Wisbeach , Dejong , Adelaide , Wrightmans Corners , Hickory Corner , Poplar Hill , Lobo , and Melrose . The highway was located within Lambton County , Middlesex County , and the city of London, and it followed the historic Egremont Road Highway   22 was designated in 1927 to provide a route between Sarnia and London; until then,

9085-474: The north were instead under the mandate of the Department of Northern Development . The two primary trunk routes were extensions of Highway 11 and Highway 17 , to North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie , respectively. Seeking to open the far north, construction of a road to connect North Bay and Cochrane began in 1925, The new gravel highway was officially opened on July   2, 1927, by Minister of Lands and Forests William Finlayson . He suggested at

9200-465: The number within an outline of a rectangle. When these markers appear along or at an intersection with the indicated highway, they feature black text on a reflective white background. There are two exceptions to this: The QEW, which features blue text on a yellow background; and the provincially-maintained section of the tolled Highway 407 , which feature white text on a blue background, with an orange plate with TOLL below in black. Signs prior to 1993 had

9315-629: The numbering of provincially-maintained roads in the summer of 1925, the DPHO began to assume new routes to complement the fifteen existing highways (numbered 2 through 17, excluding 13). Among these was the Sarnia–London Highway, a route that encompassed a portion of Highway   7, as well as a new highway through Watford and Strathroy that would be designated as Highway   22. On July   2, 1927, 40.4 km (25.1 mi) of roads within Middlesex County were taken over, or assumed, by

9430-403: The only provincial highway connection between the two cities was a circuitous route via Highway   7 and Highway   4 through Parkhill and Elginfield . The original routing of Highway   22 passed through Watford and Strathroy until a more direct route was established in 1947. The function of Highway   22 was largely supplanted by the completion of Highway 402 throughout

9545-676: The opening that the road be named the Ferguson Highway in honour of premier Ferguson. The name was originally suggested by North Bay mayor Dan Barker. Despite the official opening, a section between Swastika and Ramore wasn't opened until August. The Ferguson Highway name was also applied to the Muskoka Road between Severn Bridge and North Bay. During the 1920s, the DPHO began to examine possible remedies to chronic congestion on along Highway   2, particularly between Toronto and Hamilton ( Lakeshore Road ), eventually deciding upon widening

9660-408: The original alignment to the east was truncated and renamed Hutton Place. Wonderland is one of the few thoroughfares in urban London to have cycling infrastructure for most of its length. It features a combination of on-street and off-street bike lanes from north of Fanshawe Park to Commissioners Roads, resuming at Southdale and ending at Bradley Avenue. The road is served by multiple bus routes of

9775-451: The position was established on April   15, 1896, under the Department of Agriculture . Doolittle, a Toronto physician, became one of the earliest automobile owners in Canada, and spurred the good roads movement. He became the first person to drive across Canada in 1925, utilizing the railways around Lake Superior where no roads existed, and is known as the "Father of the Trans-Canada Highway". The arrival of automobiles rapidly changed

9890-485: The post 1993 city limits) to Highway 7. Hutton Sideroad passed under the Canadian National Railway tracks via a one-lane subway located slightly west of the current wider subway, which was constructed in the late 1950s. At some point in the middle of the 1960s, Sarnia Road was realigned to continue westward from Hutton Road along the part of Third Concession known up until then as Springfort Road, and Hutton Road

10005-504: The province in the image of Britain. The ambitious abolitionist statesman, whom served the British during the American Revolutionary War , was appointed to lead the new colony on September   12, 1791. Although Niagara-on-the-Lake (then known as Newark) served as the capital for a year, Simcoe moved it to what is now Toronto after July   30, 1793, at the behest of French merchant Philippe de Rocheblave , following

10120-592: The provincial highway network. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the Autoroute system of neighbouring Quebec , and are regulated by the MTO. The 400-series designations were introduced in 1952, although Ontario had been constructing divided highways for two decades prior. Initially, only Highways   400, 401 and 402 were numbered; other designations followed in

10235-472: The roadway midway between Lakeshore Road and Highway 5 (Dundas Street), or the Middle Road . It was to be more than twice the width of Lakeshore Road at 12 m (39 ft) and would carry two lanes of traffic in either direction. Construction on what was then known as the Queen Street Extension west of Toronto began in early 1931. Before the highway could be completed, Thomas McQuesten

10350-420: The route of Yonge Street . Simcoe's Rangers would commence "run[ning] the line of the new road" with Surveyor General Augustus Jones in February 1794. By mid-May, the Rangers had cleared and marked 14   lots from Eglinton Avenue to just north of Sheppard Avenue before being redirected to defend Fort Miami . William Berczy — and the nearly 200 Pennsylvania Dutch settlers whom accompanied him from

10465-459: The route that would become Highway   402 began following the completion of the Blue Water Bridge in 1938. A divided highway was constructed through Sarnia following World War II ; it was completed and designated in 1953. The DHO announced its intent to extend the route to Highway   401 in 1957. However, while some preliminary work began in the early 1960s, it would take until 1968 for

10580-403: The routes, except through National Parks . It is signed with distinctive green markers with a white maple leaf on them throughout Canada. While other provinces generally place a highway number within the maple leaf of the TCH marker (with a shared "Highway 1" designation across the western provinces ), Ontario places them below or beside provincial shields and either leaves them blank or inserts

10695-512: The settlers themselves were largely left to their own resolve. Statute labour was gradually abolished around the turn of the 20th century. Malden Township was the first to do so in 1890, and a majority of other municipalities followed suit by the 1920s. However, the law remained in place provincially until being officially repealed on January   1, 2022. Beginning in 1852, the Grand Trunk Railway gradually assembled together many of

10810-462: The shorelines of the larger lakes. In 1615, French explorer Samuel de Champlain was the first European to pass through the lands between the Great Lakes , accompanied by Huron and Iroquois guides. His emissary Étienne Brûlé as well as Franciscan Récollets such as Joseph Le Caron and Joseph de La Roche Daillon were the first to explore various lands of the area, all with the assistance of

10925-544: The subsequent decades. While older freeways have some lapses in safety features, contemporary 400-series highways have design speeds of 130 km/h (81 mph), speed limits of 100 km/h (62 mph), various collision avoidance and traffic management systems, and several design standards adopted throughout North America. Of note are the Ontario Tall Wall median barrier and the Parclo A-4 interchange design,

11040-405: The system, and in 1925, the numbers were signposted along the roads and marked on maps. In 1930, provincial highways were renamed King's Highways and the familiar crown route markers created. The DPHO was also renamed the Department of Highways (DHO). The 1930s saw several major depression relief projects built by manual labour, including the first inter-city divided highway in North America along

11155-464: The towns of Watford and Strathroy successfully petitioned for the route to pass through them instead. The mindset of the time was that bypassing the communities would bring about their demise and that tourists would be better served by having frequent access to services and accommodations. By the 1940s this mentality had flipped to one in which bypasses reduced congestion and accidents by removing through traffic from business areas. On April   16, 1947,

11270-465: The various shortline railroads in what was soon to become Ontario to form a single route across the province, connecting Sarnia with Montreal via Toronto, by 1884. Simultaneously, the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed a route across northern Ontario, connecting Thunder Bay with Ottawa by 1880. The government largely subsidized these endeavours, and funding for road construction fell to

11385-408: The various levels of government to fund road development and maintenance. Members would travel from town to town and across the countryside, espousing the value of properly built roads to communities. Two of the most influential members in its early days were Archibald William Campbell and Dr. Perry Doolittle . "Good Roads" Campbell would become the province's first Instructor in Roadmaking when

11500-488: The wayside, despite the pleas of townships, villages and settlers. In 1896, the provincial Instructor in Road Making reported "It is doubtful if there is a mile of true macadam road in Ontario outside of a few towns or cities   ... by far the greatest part of the milage of the province is mud, ruts and pitch-holes   ..." The cries of municipalities went unanswered, but it would not stop their ambition. Coupled with

11615-430: The words "The King's Highway" below the crown, but current versions do not have the words. In addition to regular highway markers, there are trailblazers, which indicate a route towards that highway. These are the same shape as their corresponding highway marker. Trailblazers for the King's Highway, which can be shields or crowns, feature white text on a reflective green background, with the exception of trailblazers for

11730-457: Was appointed the new minister of the renamed DHO, with Robert Melville Smith as deputy minister, following the 1934 provincial elections . Smith, inspired by the German autobahns —new "dual-lane divided highways "—modified the design for Ontario roads, and McQuesten ordered the Middle Road be converted into this new form of highway. A 40 m (130 ft) right-of-way was purchased along

11845-538: Was chosen to run along the macadamized old Lake Shore Road between the two cities, instead of Dundas Street to the north, because of the numerous hills encountered along Dundas. In November 1914, the proposed highway was approved, and work began quickly to construct the road known today as Lake Shore Boulevard and Lakeshore Road from Toronto to Hamilton. The road was finished in November 1917, 5.5 metres (18 ft) wide and nearly 64 kilometres (40 mi) long, becoming

11960-481: Was completed on October   28, 1929, uniting the pavement west of Warwick with Hickory Corner. Minister of Highways George S. Henry cut a ribbon at a ceremony in Strathroy that day to officially open the paved Sarnia–London Highway. Despite this, a 4.9 km (3.0 mi) section of Highway   22 between Hyde Park Road and Highway   4 remained unpaved. This final segment was paved in 1930. That year also saw

12075-702: Was divided into Upper Canada (modern Southern Ontario) and Lower Canada (modern Southern Quebec) by the Constitutional Act . This was done to provide a British-style governance to the United Empire Loyalists fleeing north following the American Revolution . In addition to the native portages and lake shore trails, routes developed alongside significant rivers such as the St. Lawrence , Ottawa , Humber and Grand Rivers. These meandering trails followed

12190-403: Was extended northward along the former section of Sarnia Road and Cameron Road. In 1977, a new four-lane bridge was opened connecting Wonderland Road south of the river to Hutton Road (at that time 5.0 km within city limits) north of the river. This bridge was named in memory of Londoner Guy Lombardo , who had recently died and had often played at nearby Wonderland Gardens. At the same time,

12305-410: Was first adopted in place of "provincial highway" in 1930, and signs similar to the current design replaced the previous triangular signs at that time. Some legislative acts refer to roads that are under the jurisdiction of the province as "provincial highways". The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of Ontario, forming a special subset of

12420-453: Was introduced in 1956 to service regions in Northern and Central Ontario , though it once included a route as far south as Lake Ontario. Many routes that would become secondary highways were already maintained by the province as development roads prior to being designated. Since 1998, none have existed south of the districts of Parry Sound and Nipissing . Secondary highways are numbered in

12535-485: Was now the Federal Commissioner of Highways. Until the summer of 1925, Ontario highways were named rather than numbered. When route numbering was introduced, the following numbers were allotted: The number of Provincial Highways—as they were initially known—expanded quickly from there. The provincial highway network did not extend into the Canadian Shield nor Northern Ontario initially, and Trunk Roads in

12650-514: Was predominantly focused along the shores of Lake Erie , as water-based routes were the principal means of transportation at the time. However, the War of 1812 made evident the need for overland roads. The Long Woods Purchase and the Huron Tract Purchase , in 1819 and 1833 respectively, opened the lands west of London to settlement. Sir John Colborne , the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada in

12765-492: Was removed from the provincial highway system as a result of these transfers. Today it is known as County Road   22, Egremont Drive and Fanshawe Park Road. Despite Lambton County designating County Road   22 along London Line between Highway   40 in Sarnia and the county boundary east of Wisbeach, Highway   22 never continued west of Watford. The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 22, as noted by

12880-489: Was responsible for the majority of road development and maintenance. However, by 1860, due to the unsuitability of much of the land for any kind of settlement or agriculture, the roads were almost impassable in many places, except when frozen in winter or dry in summer. The large timber drive that was clearing the forests of the Ottawa–Huron Tract in this period contributed somewhat to road construction and maintenance, but

12995-402: Was set to be announced in 2020, but has been delayed since. Ontario uses two distinct shapes of signage to mark the King's Highways. Confirmation markers, or reassurance markers , are utilized along the designated road to confirm (near intersections) or reassure (elsewhere) drivers that they are on the correct route. The markers, known as shields , feature the route number within an outline in

13110-629: Was so-named because the London airport was located in the southwest area before 1942.) North of the Thames River, the modern-day Wonderland Road corridor consisted of: Hutton Sideroad, which existed from Riverside Drive 2.27 km north to the Sarnia Gravel Road (Third Concession Road of London Township); a north-south 1.32 km section of Sarnia Road which ran from Hutton Road and then continued westwards along today's Gainsborough Road (Fourth Concession Road of London Tp.); north of this point, Cameron Sideroad continued northward (3.51 km within

13225-424: Was the most successful of these ventures and brought settlers to vast areas of land in what would become Southwestern Ontario by building routes such as Huron Road and Toronto–Sydenham Road during the 1830s and 1840s. As the second township frontage along Lake Ontario also filled, the government came under pressure to open up the unforgiving terrain of the Canadian Shield to settlement and sought to establish

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