Ontario Highway 137
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King's Highway 137, commonly referred to as Highway 137, is a provincially maintained highway in the
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
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 Ca ...
that connects the northern end of
Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
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 ...
via the Canadian span of the
Thousand Islands Bridge The Thousand Islands International Bridge (french: Pont des Mille-îles) is an American-maintained international bridge system over the Saint Lawrence River connecting northern New York in the United States with southeastern Ontario in Canada. Co ...
. While this road connected to the international bridge when it opened in August 1938, it was not designated as a King's Highway until 1965. Highway 137 passes through a portion of the
Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
, a geographic feature which aided construction of the three Canadian spans of the Thousand Islands Bridge. These bridges, all of different designs, travel across the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. Highway 137 is in length and is located entirely within the
United Counties of Leeds and Grenville The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, commonly known as Leeds and Grenville, is a county in Ontario, Canada, in the Eastern Ontario subregion of Southern Ontario. It fronts on the Saint Lawrence River and the international boundary between ...
.


Route description

The short route connects the U.S. border with Highway 401 via the Thousand Islands Bridge. The section on
Hill Island Hill Island is a Baffin Island offshore island located in the Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. The uninhabited island lies in Frobisher Bay, approximately southwest of Iqaluit. Bishop Island and Faris Island Faris Island (alternat ...
is a two-lane highway with limited development and two at-grade intersections, while the mainland section is a four-lane
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
with an interchange at the
Thousand Islands Parkway The Thousand Islands Parkway (often written as 1000 Islands Parkway) is a scenic parkway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It extends easterly from an interchange with Highway 401 in Gananoque for approximately to rejoin Highway401 nea ...
in addition to its northern terminus at Highway 401. Connecting the two segments is a series of bridges between the Ontario mainland and Hill Island, which is a tolled in the southbound direction (northbound tolls are paid on the New York mainland). The entire route is located within
Leeds and Grenville United Counties The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, commonly known as Leeds and Grenville, is a county in Ontario, Canada, in the Eastern Ontario subregion of Southern Ontario. It fronts on the Saint Lawrence River and the international boundary between ...
. Highway 137 begins at the U.S. border crossing between Wellesley and Hill Islands, where it continues as south as I-81 towards
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
. After leaving the toll plaza and passing the
duty free A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, wh ...
stores, the route curves northeast where it travels past the Thousand Islands Tower observation deck before turning north. The highway crosses three spans of the Thousand Islands Bridge over the Saint Lawrence River, including a
Warren truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...
bridge between Hill Island and Constance Island, a arch bridge between Constance and Georgina Islands, and a
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
between Georgina Island and the Ontario mainland. On the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, Highway 137 abruptly turns eastward, passing a road maintenance facility and the southbound toll booths before curving back northward as it widens into a divided highway at an interchange with the Thousand Islands Parkway. The final segment of the highway travels through forest before ending at a
trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
with Highway 401 midway between
Gananoque Gananoque ( ) is a town in the Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Leeds and Grenville area of Ontario, Canada. The town had a population of 5,383 year-round residents in the 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Canadian Census, as well as summer resident ...
and
Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...
. The geography surrounding the entire route features large rock outcroppings of the Frontenac Arch in the Canadian Shield through which the highway passes. The close proximity of bedrock to the surface resulted in substantial savings during the construction of the bridges along the route.


History

The Thousand Islands Bridge system was opened in a ceremony on August 18, 1938 by Canadian prime minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
and American president
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. Also in attendance was Albert Matthews,
lieutenant governor of Ontario The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province bu ...
, representing the King in Right of Ontario. The new bridge approach included an interchange with the St. Lawrence River Road, known today as the Thousand Islands Parkway, but it was not numbered. Until 1965, the route was known as the Ivy Lea Bridge Approach. Highway 137 was first designated in 1965 as far as the Thousand Islands Parkway. It was extended to the newly opened Highway 401 in 1968. The route has remained unchanged in the years since then.


Exit list


References


External links


Highway 137 at OntHighways.com

Highway 137 - Length and Route
{{Ontario King's Highways 137