Route 81, also known as Markland Road, is a north–south highway on the

Avalon Peninsula The Avalon Peninsula (french: Péninsule d'Avalon) is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland. It is in size. The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of Newfoundland's population, according ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, connecting the towns of Colinet and Whitbourne via

Markland Markland () is the name given to one of three lands on North America's Atlantic shore discovered by Leif Eriksson around 1000 AD. It was located south of Helluland and north of Vinland. Although it was never recorded to be settled by Norsemen, ...

. In 2019, Route 81 was voted third Worst Road in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

by the

Canadian Automobile Association The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA; french: Association canadienne des automobilistes) is a federation of eight regional not-for-profit automobile associations in Canada, founded in 1913. The constituent associations (also called "clubs") ...

's Worst Roads list. Markland Road had been on the list for the last decade.

Route description

Route 81 begins along the banks of the

Colinet River Colinet may refer to: * Colinet, Newfoundland and Labrador Colinet is an incorporated town located on the northwest arm of St. Mary's Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Geography Colinet is notable for two rivers, the Rocky and the C ...

in Colinet at an intersection with Route 91 (Old Placentia Highway). It heads north to leave Colinet and become a gravel road as it passes through hilly terrain for the next several kilometres. It crosses over several small brooks before becoming paved again and passing through farmland. The highway now crosses over the

Hodge River Hodge may refer to: Places United States *Hodge, California, an unincorporated community *Hodge, Louisiana, a village *Hodge, Missouri, an unincorporated community *The Hodge Building, the historic name of the Begich Towers in Whittier, Alaska Oth ...

before passing through Markland. Route 81 continues north to pass along the banks of

Junction Pond Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot T ...

to enter Whitbourne, where it passes through neighbourhoods before making a sharp left onto Main Road in downtown. It now passes by several businesses and passes through some more rural areas before coming to an end at an interchange between Route 1 (

Trans Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

, Exit 28), and Route 80 (Trinity Road).

Major intersections

References

{{reflist 081