King's Highway 18A, commonly referred to as Highway 18A, was a provincially maintained highway in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. The route began and ended at Highway 18, travelling along the

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

shoreline and through

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. It was the southernmost highway to ever exist in Canada, as the only one to travel south of the 42nd parallel. Highway18A was assumed as a provincial highway in 1938. It was transferred to Essex County in 1978, and has since been known as Essex County Road50.

Route description

Highway18A was a short route that served the headland that protrudes into Lake Erie between

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

and Kingsville in the southernmost part of Essex County. It began and ended at junctions with the former Highway18, now

Essex County Road 20 King's Highway18, commonly referred to as Highway18, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located entirely within Essex County. Since 1998, the majority of the former route has been known as Essex County ...

, that are approximately apart on that road. The west junction was at the community of Malden Centre, while the east junction was located on the western edge of Kingsville. The route itself was long, detouring to the south along the shore of

and passing through Colchester. Highway18A was the southernmost highway in Canada, and the only one to travel south of the 42ndparallel.

History

Highway18A was first assigned during the late 1930s. Essex County council requested that the lakefront road between Malden Centre and Kingsville be taken over by the province and designated Highway18A in June 1935. The Department of Highways (DHO), predecessor to the

Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, assumed the road on April13, 1938. The gravel road was paved from Colchester to Kingsville in 1951, and from Malden Centre to Colchester in 1952. Following recommendations presented in the Selkirk Report in June 1976, the renamed Ministry of Transportation and Communications rebuilt the road to proper standards, including bypassing several corners; the bypassed route is now Twin Gables Drive and Dolson Road. Subsequently, the entire length was transferred to Essex County effective July1, 1978. Essex County promptly resigned the route as Essex County Road50. It is now also known as Heritage Road east of Colchester.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist County roads in Essex County, Ontario 018A

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References