HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

King's Highway 48, also known as Highway 48, is a provincially maintained highway in southern
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 Ca ...
that extends from Major Mackenzie Drive in
Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...
, through
Whitchurch-Stouffville Whitchurch-Stouffville ( 2021 population 49,864) is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately north of downtown Toronto, and north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is in area, and located in the ...
and
East Gwillimbury East Gwillimbury is a town (lower-tier municipality) on the East Holland River in the upper-tier municipality the Regional Municipality of York. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area of southern Ontario, in Canada. It was formed by the amalgam ...
, to Highway 12 south-east of Beaverton. The route is generally rural and straight, passing near several communities within the
Regional Municipality of York The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...
. The route is long. Most part of the road has a speed limit of , except within town limits, where the speed limit is reduced to or . Highway 48 was first designated in 1937 to connect Port Bolster with Highway 12 in Beaverton. It was extended south to meet with
Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...
in the 1950s in anticipation of a planned freeway connection around the eastern shore of
Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk'' ...
that ultimately became Highway 404. In the mid-1970s, Highway 48 assumed a portion of the route of Highway 46 in Victoria Country, now the city of
Kawartha Lakes The City of Kawartha Lakes (2021 population 79,247) is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is most ...
, extending the route to Highway 35 in
Coboconk Coboconk, often shortened to Coby, is a community in the city of Kawartha Lakes, in the south-central portion of the Canadian province of Ontario. The village lies at the junction of Highway 35 and former Highway 48, on the northern tip of ...
. Between then and 1998, the route was . However, on January 1, 1998 the province transferred the responsibility of maintaining the southern and northern sections to the regional governments that those sections lie within.


Route description

Highway 48 is an L shaped route, travelling north through York Region to the southern shores of Lake Simcoe before turning east towards Highway 12. The route is long and travels through the municipalities of Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, and Brock. Beginning at Major Mackenzie Drive (
York Regional Road 25 York Region, located in southcentral Ontario, Canada, assigned approximately 50 regional roads, each with a number ranging from 1 to 99. All expenses of York Regional Roads (for example, snow shovelling, road repairs, traffic lights) are funded ...
), the route progresses northward from the
rural–urban fringe The rural–urban fringe, also known as the outskirts, rurban, peri-urban or the urban hinterland, can be described as the "landscape interface between town and country", or also as the transition zone where urban and rural uses mix and often ...
of the
Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
into farmland. A future extension of
Donald Cousens Parkway Donald Cousens Parkway or York Regional Road 48, also referred to historically as the Markham Bypass or Markham Bypass Extension, is a regionally maintained arterial bypass of Markham in the Canadian province of Ontario. Named for former M ...
will bypass former Highway 48 (Main Street) through downtown Markham in 2018 just north of Major Mackenzie. The route travels northward for along the 8th concession of York Region (
Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
being the 1st) to just south of , intersecting with
Elgin Mills Road York Region, located in southcentral Ontario, Canada, assigned approximately 50 regional roads, each with a number ranging from 1 to 99. All expenses of York Regional Roads (for example, snow shovelling, road repairs, traffic lights) are funded ...
, former Highway 47 (Stouffville Road and Bloomington Road), York Regional Road 15 (Aurora Road), York Regional Road 74 (Vivian Road), York Regional Road 31 (Davis Drive), York Regional Road 13 (Mount Albert Road) and Queensville Sideroad along the way. North of Ravenshoe Road, the highway diverts onto the boundary between York and Durham through the community of Baldwin before jogging east at York Regional Road 79 (Old Homestead Road). Just south of Sutton, the route curves east, meeting York Regional Road 9 (High Street), which travels into the town. Despite that the highway is now travelling directly east, directional signs still reference the direction of this highway as north. Passing through Virginia and approximately a kilometre inland from
Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk'' ...
, the highway passes through a moderately developed area, with frequent businesses lining the route. It passes south of Duclos Point Provincial Nature Reserve prior to meeting Durham Regional Road 23 (Lake Ridge Road) south of Port Bolster, where it crosses from the Regional Municipality of York to the Regional Municipality of Durham. The highway jogs northeastward several kilometres to align with the former BrockThorah township line, crossing alongside a power transmission corridor several times along this segment. The final section travels eastward to Highway 12, south of Beaverton and west of Cannington and Woodville. The route is mostly rural, passing around the urban areas of Stouffville and south of
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...
. However, the east–west section that lies to the south of Lake Simcoe is slightly developed and features a lower speed limit of . The remainder of the route is signed at . Like other provincial routes in Ontario, Highway 48 is maintained by the
Ministry of Transportation of Ontario The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial ministry of the Government of Ontario that is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, when the pro ...
. In 2010, traffic surveys conducted by the ministry showed that on
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
, 13,300 vehicles used the highway daily along the section between York Regional Road 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive) and York Regional Road 14 (Stouffville Road) while 5,950 vehicles did so each day along the section between Durham Regional Road 23 (Lake Ridge Road) and Brock Side Road 17 (former Highway 12), the highest and lowest counts along the highway, respectively.


History

Highway 48 incorporates a significant portion of the former Scarborough and Markham Plank Road, now known as
Markham Road Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...
, into its length. This section was not incorporated into the highway until 1954, yet predates the Highway 48 designation entirely. Markham Road began as the eighth concession east of
Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
in the Home District of
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
, and was
blazed Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A bla ...
by settlers to whom land had been granted along the
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
. The right-of-way extended from Lake Ontario in the south to what is today York Region Road 8A (Baseline Road) in Sutton, just south of Lake Simcoe, in the north. Improvements to the road and the necessary funds were authorized by an act of the Upper Canada provincial parliament on February 13, 1833 for the section in Scarborough township between
Danforth Road Danforth Avenue (informally also known as the Danforth) and Danforth Road are two historically-related arterial streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Danforth ''Avenue'' is an east-west street that begins in Old Toronto at the Prince Edward ...
(present day Painted Post Drive) and the Eighth Concession at the border with Markham township. These improvements were supervised by residents Peter Secor, Richard Houck and Robert Armstrong. By 1847, the section between Scarborough and Markham had become known as the Scarborough and Markham Road. On July 28 of that year, the parliament of the
Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...
passed an act to establish the Scarborough and Markham Plank-road Company, which was authorized to further improve the road surface to
macadam Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...
ized or planked construction between Kingston Road in Scarborough and Markham Village in the north, and further north and then east to Stouffville along the Markham-Stouffville township line, a line then formed between today's Stouffville Road and Main Street Stouffville. The company was allowed to erect gates and charge tolls to pay for the work. On March24, 1937, the
gravel road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unite ...
between Beaverton and Port Bolster, known as the Port Bolster Road, was assumed by the Department of Highways; it was paved in 1947. On February 10, 1954, the highway designation was extended south to the future site of Highway 401 in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
— though not all the way to the then- Highway 2 (Kingston Road) — where a
cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...
was constructed in anticipation of it developing into a freeway around the eastern side of Lake Simcoe; Highway 404 was constructed for this purpose, but along or parallel to Woodbine Avenue instead. In 1962, the highway was extended to Highway 46 at Bolsover via a concurrency with Highway 12 north from Beaverton. This routing would last until November 4, 1966, when the Beaverton Bypass opened,Department of Highways p. 49 routing Highway 12 to the east. A new road was opened connecting Highway 48 south of Port Bolster with the bypass on the same day, and both Highway 12 and Highway 48 were rerouted. Portions of the former route of Highway 48 and Highway 12 were renumbered as Highway 48B. However, the segment between Port Bolster and what is now Brock Sideline 17 was decommissioned entirely. The original route of Highway 48, prior to 1954, is now part of Durham Regional Road 23. The portion of Highway48 within Scarborough, between Highway401 and Steeles Avenue, was transferred to
Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
on September 28, 1963. On June 28, 1967, the routing of Highway 46 was shifted in the vicinity of Balsam Lake on to a new inland bypass; the old route became known as West Bay Drive.Department of Highways p. 85 On 1975, Highway 46 was truncated at Bolsover; the severed section was renumbered as an extension of Highway 48, bringing it to its peak length of . The new section of highway between Highway 12 and Bolsover was reconstructed over the following year, opening to traffic on August 19, 1976. The section between Highway 401 and the then-unopened
Highway 407 The following highways are numbered 407: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 407 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 407 * Ontario Highway 407 Costa Rica * National Route 407 Iceland * Route 407 (Iceland) Italy * State road 407 Japan * Japa ...
interchange was turned over to the Region of York and the City of Toronto on April 1, 1995, and is known as Markham Road south of Highway 407, and Main Street thereafter to Sixteenth Avenue, where the name Markham Road resumes for until Major Mackenzie Drive. The section within York Region is also designated as York Regional Road 68. On January 1, 1998, the section of Highway 48 between its southern junction with Highway 12 and Coboconk was transferred to the
Regional Municipality of Durham The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Toron ...
and
Victoria County Victoria County is the name of several locations: In Australia: *Victoria County, Western Australia * County of Victoria, South Australia In Canada: * Victoria County, New Brunswick * Municipality of the County of Victoria and the eponymous histo ...
(now
Kawartha Lakes The City of Kawartha Lakes (2021 population 79,247) is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is most ...
), removing the concurrency with Highway 12 in the process. The section from Highway 12 to Highway 35 is now known as Portage Road and signed as Durham Regional Highway 48 and Kawartha Lakes Road 48.


Major intersections


References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography *


External links


Ontario’s Highways
{{Roads in Kawartha Lakes 48 048 East Gwillimbury Georgina, Ontario Roads in Markham, Ontario Whitchurch-Stouffville