History Ontario Highway 17

1 history

1.1 beginnings
1.2 northern development , lakehead
1.3 gap
1.4 queensway
1.5 bypasses , upgrades
1.6 downloads

history

the official ceremony opening of lake superior circle tour , trans-canada highway held on september 17, 1960 near wawa.


beginnings

with establishment of provincial highway network on february 26, 1920, department of public highways, predecessor today s ministry of transportation of ontario, sought establish network of reliable roads through southern part of province. through july , august 1920, highway east of ottawa pointe-fortune @ quebec boundary, known montreal road, assumed department. original routing of highway 17 followed montreal road, st joseph boulevard, , old montreal road eastward out of ottawa; laurier street through rockland; regional road 55 , 26 between clarence , plantagenet; blue corner road , bay road (regional road 4) l original; john street, pharand street, eliza street, front road , main street hawkesbury; shore of ottawa river between hawkesbury , pointe-fortune, , regional road 17 elsewhere. portion of original highway lost when completion of carillon generating station in 1964 raised water level of ottawa river north of voyageur provincial park.

west of ottawa, route assumed arnprior on october 6, following today s carling avenue, march road , donald b. munro drive between ottawa , kinburn, , mohrs road, galetta sideroad , madawaska boulevard between kinburn , arnprior. on june 15, 1921, highway extended pembroke via renfrew, cobden , beachburg. entire route between pembroke , pointe-fortune became known highway 17 in summer of 1925.

although jurisdiction of soon-to-become department of highways did not extend beyond pembroke, rough trail continued north bay, , trunk road constructed department of northern development beyond there sault ste. marie 1923, following route of highway 17 today. pembroke , mattawan road colonization road constructed between 1853 , 1874 encourage settlement in upper ottawa valley. between mattawa , north bay, many aboriginals , settlers made use of mattawa river, headwaters of lie north of lake nipissing. there travel down french river georgian bay , onwards lake superior. highway 17 between mattawa , sault ste. marie traces voyageur route.

northern development , lakehead

following world war i, discussions of cross-continental road through canada became vocal , construction of such route underway in several places. however, funding work halted government distributed funding projects believed more important luxury of new road. significant accomplishment of work nipigon highway between thunder bay , nipigon, opened in 1924.

with signing of department of northern development (dnd) act in 1926, construction resumed on improving many northern roads; ferguson highway main project begin result of act. onset of great depression result in federally funded relief projects being signed provinces in late 1930. thousands of men hired construct highways in remote areas of province temporary camps, named bennett camps after then-prime minister r. b. bennett. provided necessary labour open road links through vast expanses of wilderness in relatively short period of time. beginning in 1931, routes designated trans-canada highway, including route between sault ste. marie , quebec boundary planned connection thunder bay , winnipeg.

a gravel-surfaced highway 17 near kenora in 1939

by june 1931, planning route of highway complete, , work underway on new link between thunder bay , winnipeg parallel canadian pacific railway. first section open between manitoba town of whitemouth , kenora. on dominion day (july 1) 1932, inter-provincial ceremony held in kenora dedicate new route. next link connect road through kenora rough road connecting vermilion bay, dryden , dyment. section opened in 1933.

from east, construction proceeded @ similar pace, although through more barren expanses of forests , lakes. end of 1932, construction had proceeded thunder bay through upsala english river. 75 mi (121 km) gap remained, between dyment , english river. on june 4, 1934, crews cleared last section of forest separating thunder bay winnipeg. however, require year of rock blasting , construction make route navigable vehicles. on july 1, 1935, multi-day motorcade celebration held officially open new highway. convoy of vehicles travelled thunder bay winnipeg along route, resting overnight in kenora before completing two-day journey.

by end of 1935, numerous factors combined resulted in termination of highway camps. federal government of r. b. bennett used section 98 of criminal code in 1931 arrest several leaders of communist party of canada. however, lack of evidence , protests lead release of men, embarrassment of government. men, public support behind them, headed north highway camps, mounting tensions due low wages, poor conditions, lacklustre food, isolation , military-like discipline resulted in organized labour strikes. funding pulled trans-canada highway in 1936.

on april 1, 1937, dnd absorbed department of highways, , road west of pembroke became extension of highway 17. @ point, highway sault ste. marie quebec boundary 1,045.8 km (649.8 mi) long. portions paved @ point: east of sault ste. marie, west of blind river, through sudbury, east of sturgeon falls, through mattawa, , chalk river quebec; remainder gravel road. highway between manitoba boundary , nipigon 659.8 km (410.0 mi), gravel-surfaced. significant exceptions in kenora , thunder bay areas.

before outbreak of world war ii in 1939, new bridge spanning nipigon river completed alongside 91.6 km (56.9 mi) highway eastward schreiber. both opened ceremoniously on september 24, 1937. when war began, construction on highway 17 halted, effort instead focused on simpler northern route via geraldton , hearst.

the gap

following war, construction on missing segment of highway 17 between schreiber , sault ste. marie proceeded slowly; completion of highway 11 between nipigon , hearst provided road between east , west. however, in 1949 federal government signed trans canada highway act, provided 90% subsidy provinces complete portion of highway required standards. 2 portions of ontario s route eligible subsidy: highway 69 between parry sound , sudbury, , highway 17 along north shore of lake superior.

amongst of difficult terrain encountered in canada, engineers blasted 2,087,234 cubic metres (2,730,000 cubic yards) of rock, removed 5,982,641 cubic metres (7,825,000 cubic yards) of earth, , cleared 6.97 square kilometres (1,720 acres) of forest in order bridge 266 kilometres (165 mi) of wilderness known gap . gap completed , opened traffic on september 17, 1960, uniting 2 segments , completing route of highway 17 manitoba border quebec border.

the queensway

during 1950s, greber plan called creation of numerous parkways , divided highways through growing city of ottawa. 1 of these, known queensway, grade-separated freeway bypass urban alignment of highway 17. greber plan produced jacques gréber under direction of prime minister william mackenzie in late 1940s. although gréber had been corresponding king 1936, world war ii halted plans reaching fruition @ time. following war, gréber again contacted , expertise requested. arrived on october 2, 1945 , began working immediately. greber plan, came known, released in 1950 , presented house of commons on may 22, 1951. plan called complete reorganization of ottawa s road , rail network, , included amongst numerous parkways east west expressway along canadian national railway line.

with rail lines removed, construction of new expressway got underway in 1957 when queen elizabeth visited ottawa open first session of 23rd parliament. on october 15, queen detonated dynamite charges hurdman bridge, overlooks highway crosses rideau river, , formally dedicated new project queensway. @ ceremony, premier leslie frost indicated entire project cost c$31 million , emphasized importance of link trans-canada highway.

the queensway constructed in 4 phases, each opening independently: phase one, alta vista drive (now riverside drive) east highway 17 (montreal road); phase two, highway 7 , highway 15 (richmond road) carling avenue; phase three, carling avenue o connor street; and, phase four, o connor street alta vista drive, crossing rideau canal , rideau river. phase 1 opened traffic on november 25, 1960, extending rideau river. on western side of ottawa, phase 2 opened year later in october, 1961. central section presented greatest challenge, embankment built create grade-separations. in addition, structures on rideau canal , river required several years of construction. on may 15, 1964, majority of third phase ceremonially opened. completing carling avenue interchange , extending freeway far bronson avenue. several months later, on september 17 short complicated section east o connor street opened. left phase four, central section of queensway, opened in 3 segments. on november 26, 1965, structures on rideau canal opened traffic. @ same time, westbound lanes of queensway extended concord street, located west of nicholas street interchange. interchange opened on january 1, 1966, allowing travel in both directions on canal. final segment, linking 2 section of queensway, placed service on october 28, 1966. following this, highway 17 designation applied along queensway , old routing renumbered highway 17b.

bypasses , upgrades

although completed manitoba quebec in 1960, many upgrades original routing of highway 17 had , take place on years. in addition bypasses around every urban centre encountered, many original sections have been downloaded regional , local jurisdiction or decommissioned entirely lay abandoned in forest. of special note reroutings in ottawa valley – highway follows little of original routing – , around thunder bay, has undergone several reroutings , upgrades since 1920s. in following section, upgrades listed west east due complex chronologies.

thunder bay

the original routing of highway 17 travelled port arthur along dawson road, highway 102.

nipigon

highway 17 entered red rock along highway 628 before turning north alongside nipigon river north nipigon.

sault ste. marie

although route , out of sault ste. marie has remained same, highway 17 has been rerouted through city numerous times. in addition, east of city, route has been redirected onto 4 lane at-grade expressway around echo bay.

espanola


sudbury

the route of highway 17 in sudbury follows southwest , southeast bypasses through south end of city. prior completion of route, highway followed municipal road 55 through downtown core.

north bay


upper ottawa valley

construction of renfrew bypass began in june 1974, , continued 3 years, opening in 1977.

ottawa


lower ottawa valley


elsewhere

the last gravel stretches of highway 17, between kenora , dryden , north of batchawana bay, paved in 1964.

downloads

on april 1, 1997, ministry of transportation of ontario (mto) transferred responsibility of maintenance , upkeep along 14.2 km (8.8 mi) of highway 17 east of split highway 417 trim road (regional road 57), process commonly referred downloading. region of ottawa–carleton designated road regional road 174. despite protests of region route served provincial purpose, second round of transfers saw highway 17 within ottawa downloaded entirely on january 1, 1998. additional 12.8 km (8.0 mi) added length of regional road 174. highway downloaded within united counties of prescott , russell, redesignated county road 17.

the result of these transfers truncation of highway 17 @ western end of highway 417, while trans-canada highway designation taken former highway 17 , applied highway 417.