King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, 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 Nor ...
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 ...
. At its peak, Highway 7 measured in length, stretching from
Highway 40 east of
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron f ...
in
Southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake ...
to
Highway 17 west of
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...
in
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...
. However, due in part to the construction of Highways 402 and 407, the province transferred the sections of Highway 7 west of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and through 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 ...
to county and regional jurisdiction. The highway is now long; the western segment begins at
Highway 4 north of London and extends to
Georgetown, while the eastern segment begins at
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 ...
in
Markham and extends to
Highway 417 in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...
.
Highway 7 was first designated in 1920 between Sarnia and
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
and extended to Brampton the following year. Between 1927 and 1932, the highway was more than doubled in length as it was gradually extended eastward to
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, where
Highway 15 continued to Ottawa via Carleton Place. In the early 1960s, that section of Highway 15 was renumbered as Highway 7. In that same decade, the
Conestoga Parkway
The Conestoga Parkway, officially the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway,
is a controlled-access highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located entirely within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The route travels east and then north throu ...
through Kitchener and the
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...
Bypass were constructed. During the 1970s and 1980s, many sections of Highway 7 were widened from the initial two lane cross-section to four or six lanes. Within part of
York Region
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 was upgraded to a limited-access expressway in preparation for the construction of
Highway 407.
Soon thereafter, that new tollway would act as justification for transferring the section of Highway 7 through 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 ...
(GTA) to regional governments. The sections became Peel Regional Road 107 Bovaird Drive West to Highway 410 and Queen Street East from east of 410 respectively) and York Regional Road 7. In the west, the construction of
Highway 402 between
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron f ...
and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
provided an uninterrupted alternative to Highway 7, resulting in the transfer of the section west of Highway 4. A third transfer took place in Peterborough, briefly separating the route into three discontinuous segments, but has since been rectified by renumbering a section of
Highway 7A. From 2007 to 2012, the section of Highway 7 between
Carleton Place
Carleton Place is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in Lanark County, about west of downtown Ottawa. It is located at the crossroads of Highway 15 and Highway 7, halfway between the towns of Perth, Almonte, Smiths Falls, and the nation's cap ...
and Ottawa has been widened to a divided freeway. In addition, work is underway to extend the Conestoga Parkway to
New Hamburg as well as to build a new freeway between
Kitchener and
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
.
Route description
Western segment
The western segment of Highway 7 travels from
Elginfield in
Middlesex County in the southwest to the
Halton -
Peel border at
Norval near
Brampton
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it t ...
; a distance of . A portion of this segment, from
Waterloo Regional Road 51 south of
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
to
Highway 85 in
Kitchener is a
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 ...
, forming part of the
Conestoga Parkway
The Conestoga Parkway, officially the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway,
is a controlled-access highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located entirely within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The route travels east and then north throu ...
. Plans to build a freeway bypass of Highway 7 from Kitchener to Guelph are currently underway.
At one point Highway 7 travelled as far west as Sarnia, being the main route to the
Blue Water Bridge
The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, United States, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 69 ...
. Upon entering Sarnia from the east on London Line, drivers encountered a plethora of motels and restaurants, the
Sarnia Airport, and attractions such as Hiawatha Racetrack and Waterpark, earning the stretch between Modeland Road and Airport Road the nickname of the "Golden Mile". At the interchange with Highway 40, Highway 7 transitioned into the
Highway 402 freeway which continued westwards to the
Bluewater Bridge at the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
border. Highway 402 was completed between Sarnia and Highway 401 in 1982,
resulting in the redundancy of Highway 7 west of London as traffic shifted to the high-speed alternate. This work involved the realigning of Highway 402 to a new interchange with Highway 40, just north of the existing Highway 7/Highway 40 interchange where Highway 7 would continue to a redirected Exmouth Street. Nonetheless, Highway 7 remained provincially maintained until the segment west of Highway 4 was transferred to county jurisdiction on January 1, 1998; a process referred to as downloading. The former highway is now known as
Lambton County Road 22 (London Line) and
Middlesex County Road 7 (Elginfield Road).
The current route begins at Highway 4, approximately north of London and immediately southeast of the village of
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
; the former routing continued west along Elginfield Road through
Parkhill and
Arkona. Though the highway changes direction several times between Elginfield and Kitchener, it is mostly straight and two lanes wide, except east of New Hamburg where it widens to four lanes. Proceeding east-northeast through farmland, the highway meets the southern terminus of Highway 23 just later. It continues, serving as the boundary between
Lucan Biddulph
Lucan Biddulph is an incorporated township in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It was formed on January 1, 1999, by amalgamating the Village of Lucan with Biddulph Township. The township had a population of 4,700 people in the Canada 2016 Census, up ...
to the north and
Middlesex Centre
Middlesex Centre is a township in Middlesex County, in southwestern Ontario, Canada, north and west of London. The Corporation of the Township of Middlesex Centre formed on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former Townships of Delawa ...
to the south, and later as the boundary between
Perth County to the north and
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
and
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
counties, with the
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
of the three at County Road 120A south of
St. Marys. Southeast of St. Marys, Highway 7 curves northeast into Perth County until it reaches downtown
Stratford, where it meets
Highway 8.
The two highways travel east
concurrently for , passing through the town of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
as it travels in a straight line through farmland. Southwest of New Hamburg, the route curves northeast into
Waterloo Region
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...
, eventually widening into the four-lane Conestoga Parkway east of Nafziger Road. It follows this divided
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 ...
past interchanges at
Waterloo Regional Road 51 (Foundry Street) south of
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
,
Waterloo Regional Road 12 (Queen Street/Notre Dame Drive) south of
Petersburg, and
Waterloo Regional Road 70
The following is a list of numbered roads in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario. Numbered roads are maintained by the Waterloo Region
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan ar ...
(Trussler Road) north of
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
, where it enters Kitchener and becomes surrounded by residential subdivisions. Within Kitchener, Highway 7 encounters interchanges at
Waterloo Regional Road 58 (Fischer-Hallman Road)(at which point it widens to six lanes),
Waterloo Regional Road 28 (Homer Watson Boulevard),
Waterloo Regional Road 53 (Courtland Avenue),
Waterloo Regional Road 15 (King Street)/Highway 8 (at which point it widens to eight lanes),
Waterloo Regional Road 14 (Ottawa Street) and
Waterloo Regional Road 55 (Victoria Street). The Highway 8 concurrency ends at the King Street interchange, with it diverging southeast onto the
Freeport Diversion
King's Highway 8, commonly referred to as Highway 8, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route travels from Highway 21 in Goderich, on the shores of Lake Huron, to Highway 5 in the outski ...
. Highway 7 exits at Victoria Street (four-lane arterial) while the parkway continues north into Waterloo as
Highway 85.
Construction began in June 2015 on a future freeway between Kitchener and Guelph that will make use of a reconfigured Wellington Street interchange, just north of Victoria Street, and tie in with the northern end of the
Hanlon Expressway
The Hanlon Expressway or Hanlon Parkway is a high-capacity at-grade suburban limited-access road connecting Highway 401 with the city of Guelph in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route travels in a generally north-south direction on t ...
.
Highway 7 exits Kitchener after crossing the
Grand River, where it enters farmland again for the brief journey to Guelph along Victoria Street and Woodlawn Road. Midway between the two cities, the route enters
Wellington County. Within Guelph, it meets
Highway 6 at the northern end of the Hanlon Expressway. The two routes travel southeast along the expressway to
Wellington County Road 124
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
(Wellington Street, former
Highway 24), where Highway 7 branches northeast into downtown Guelph. It exits the city along York Road after crossing the
Speed River, travelling parallel to and south of the
Goderich–Exeter Railway
The Goderich–Exeter Railway is a short line freight railway that operates around of track in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Created in 1992, it was the first short line railway in Canada to be purchased from a class I railway, in this case ...
. At
Rockwood, the highway enters
Halton Region
The Regional Municipality of Halton, or Halton Region, is a regional municipality in Ontario, Canada, located in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario. It comprises the city of Burlington and the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hil ...
and begins to zig-zag through several communities in
Halton Hills
)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 200px
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = CAN ON Halton#Canada Southern Ontario
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type ...
. These include
Acton, where the route intersects former
Highway 25, and
Georgetown. Just east of Norval, the western section of Highway 7 ends at the Halton–
Peel boundary. The road continues into
Brampton
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it t ...
as
Peel Regional Road 107 (Bovaird Drive).
The former highway then followed
Highway 410
The following highways are numbered 410:
Canada
*Manitoba Provincial Road 410
* Newfoundland and Labrador Route 410
* Ontario Highway 410
* Quebec Autoroute 410
Japan
* Japan National Route 410
United States
* Interstate 410
* U.S. Rou ...
south, where it continued east along Queen Street (also Peel Road 107).
The western segment was separated from the rest of Highway 7 on June 7, 1997, when the section from Brampton to
Markham was downloaded due to the opening of
Highway 407.
Part of that segment through
Vaughan
Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...
and
Richmond Hill was relocated on a new alignment (as a 6 lane at-grade expressway) in 1987 in order to make way for the future toll route (where the two highways were forced to share a narrow corridor due to development) and to eliminate a jog along
Bathurst Street; which also resulted in a section from west of
Dufferin Street
Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northe ...
becoming a westerly extension of Centre Street. Sections of the original road still remain between Bathurst Street and
Bayview Avenue
Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. North of Toronto, in York Region, Bayview is designated as York Regional Road 34.
History
Bayview Avenue follows the first concession line, laid east of Y ...
, but have been renamed as ''Langstaff Road''. Highway 7 through
York Region
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 ...
, despite being a suburban arterial and no longer a provincial highway, is still officially named "Highway 7", but otherwise has no
street name
A street name is an identifying name given to a street or road. In toponymic terminology, names of streets and roads are referred to as hodonyms (from Greek ‘road’, and ‘name’). The street name usually forms part of the address ( ...
, and received the number York Regional Road 7, displacing
Islington Avenue
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
which was redesignated as Regional Road 17. Parts of the Markham portion were once called ''Wellington Street'' as well as sideroad allowance (before 1925 when Highway 7 reached the area
), stub of the old road exists today west of
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
* ...
that was a result of re-alignment of Highway 7. The Toronto Star ran a series of articles in 2013 depicting the urbanization of the former route. Among the issues was a proposed name change to "Avenue 7".
Eastern segment
The eastern segment of Highway 7 runs from
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 ...
(York Regional Road 48) in Markham to Highway 417 in Ottawa, a length of . Between
Brooklin and north of
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, Highway 7 assumes a north–south routing and is
concurrent with Highway 12. The section from Sunderland to the eastern terminus of the highway is designated as part of the Central Ontario Route of the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, 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 A ...
.
Travelling east from Donald Cousens Parkway, Highway 7 exits the urbanized portion of Markham and enters the
Greenbelt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...
, a large tract of land north of the GTA restricted from development. It curves north at the community of Locust Hill along an alignment that eliminated a jog, then curves back to the east as it crosses into
Durham Region
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 T ...
. It travels north of and parallel to Highway 407 to
Brougham
Brougham may refer to:
Transport
* Brougham (carriage), a light four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage
* Brougham (car body), an automobile with a similar style
Automobile models
* Cadillac Brougham, 1987–1992
* Chrysler New Yorker Brougham, c. 1 ...
, curving to cross the former eastern terminus of the freeway near Brock Road (Durham Regional Road 1). East of the Highway 407 overpass, Highway 7 widens to four lanes and curves around the community of
Greenwood and the hill that it stands on. The route crosses the northern end of
Pickering, entering
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cl ...
at Lakeridge Road (Durham Regional Road 23). Between Lakeridge Road and Highway 12, the route was rebuilt for the new Highway 407E and
West Durham Link, with an overpass constructed at Cochrane Road. East of that, the route enters Brooklin and meets Highway 12.
Highway 7 and Highway 12 travel north concurrently from Brooklin through Durham Region to Sunderland, with Highway 7 eventually departing to the east and entering 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 ...
. Despite its name, the highway passes through a mostly-rural landscape in Kawartha Lakes, bypassing south of
Lindsay in the middle of the "city" along a brief concurrency with
Highway 35. East of Lindsay, the route meanders southeast towards
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...
, encountering the divided freeway
Highway 115 southwest of the city. The two routes travel east concurrently along the southern edge of the city. Highway 115 and the divided freeway end at Lansdowne Street, onto which Highway 7 turns.
The segment between Peterborough and
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
was built in the 1930s during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, as a
public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
employment project. It was constructed parallel to a
CP Rail corridor (now abandoned east of Peterborough) that was built in the 1880s, and used hand-power to dig and build the road whenever possible.
From Peterborough to Norwood, the route travels in a straight line through the
Peterborough Drumlin Field
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
, connecting to the southern terminus of
Highway 28 and crossing the Indian River while otherwise passing through farmland. At
Norwood the route suddenly begins to meander as it approaches the undulated
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 ...
. The section east of
Havelock to Perth, unlike the rest of the highway, travels through a relatively isolated area, with few services or residences along the route outside of the several towns that it connects. In contrast to the surroundings west of there, this section is located in dense forest with numerous lakes and
muskeg
Muskeg (Ojibwe: mashkiig; cr, maskīk; french: fondrière de mousse, lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bog or p ...
dotting the landscape. It services the villages of
Marmora, where it connects with the northern terminus of former
Highway 14,
Madoc
Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (also spelled Madog) was, according to folklore, a Welsh prince who sailed to America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492.
According to the story, he was a son of Owain Gwyned ...
, where it intersect
Highway 62,
Actinolite
Actinolite is an amphibole silicate mineral with the chemical formula .
Etymology
The name ''actinolite'' is derived from the Greek word ''aktis'' (), meaning "beam" or "ray", because of the mineral's fibrous nature.
Mineralogy
Actinolite is ...
, where it meets the northern terminus of
Highway 37, and
Kaladar
Kaladar is a compact rural community and unincorporated area in the municipality of Addington Highlands, Lennox and Addington County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the junction of Ontario Highway 7 and Ontario Highway 41.
To the nor ...
, where it intersects
Highway 41.
East of Kaladar, Highway 7 begins to serve
cottage
A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...
s along the shores of several large lakes that lie near the highway. It intersects the northern terminus of former
Highway 38 near
Sharbot Lake
Sharbot Lake is a suburban community and unincorporated area in the municipality of Central Frontenac, Frontenac County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Named after the Sharbot family, who were local residents, it appeared in Lovell's Gazetteer in ...
and later passes south of
Maberly before exiting the Canadian Shield and reentering farmland. On the outskirts of Perth, the route meets former
Highway 43 and curves northward. It travels around the western and northern shorelines of
Mississippi Lake before passing directly south of
Carleton Place
Carleton Place is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in Lanark County, about west of downtown Ottawa. It is located at the crossroads of Highway 15 and Highway 7, halfway between the towns of Perth, Almonte, Smiths Falls, and the nation's cap ...
. Just east of there, Highway 7 widens into a four lane freeway for the remainder of the distance to Highway 417. This section, completed by early 2012,
was built by "twinning" the existing two lane highway with a second parallel carriageway to serve as the eastbound lanes. Highway 7 ends at an interchange with Highway 417, where drivers can proceed east to
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...
or north to
Arnprior
Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Downtown Ottawa, at the confluence of the Madawaska River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior has experienced sig ...
.
History
The route which would later become Highway 7 was first established by the
Department of Public Highways as part of the initial provincial highway network on February26, 1920. This route connected Sarnia to Guelph.
On April 27, 1921, the route was extended east to the Wellington–Halton boundary. Several days later, on May 4, the highway was extended further east to
Hurontario Street
Hurontario Street is a roadway running in Ontario, Canada between Lake Ontario at Mississauga and Lake Huron's Georgian Bay at Collingwood. Within Peel Region, it is a major urban thoroughfare within the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, wh ...
in Brampton.
''The Great Northern Highway'', as it was known at the time, was numbered as Highway 7 during the summer of 1925.
Assumptions on June 22 and July 2, 1927 extended Highway 7 from Brampton to Peterborough. A portion of the original routing of Highway 12 between Sunderland and Lindsay was renumbered in this process and a concurrency established between Brooklin and Sunderland.
During the early 1930s, the DHO decided that Highway 7 would ultimately serve as an alternative route between Toronto and Ottawa; at that time the only option was via Highway 2 and Highway 16. The first step in this undertaking was to extend Highway 7 as far as Madoc along existing settler routes. This section was assumed on September 17, 1930.
On November 18, 1931, construction was accelerated between Madoc and Perth as a major
depression-relief project when eight contracts were set to build the new route. Over 2700 men blasted rock,
dredged muskeg and endured a constant barrage of
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...
-
sucking
Suction is the colloquial term to describe the air pressure differential between areas.
Removing air from a space results in a pressure differential. Suction pressure is therefore limited by external air pressure. Even a perfect vacuum cannot ...
insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
in order to construct this new link. The majority of it followed along a Canadian Pacific right-of-way (now abandoned past the town of
Havelock) which had been cleared in 1881, deviating at times to provide a better
alignment
Alignment may refer to:
Archaeology
* Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks
* Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones
Biology
* Struc ...
, avoid large muskeg or to lessen excavation work, most of which was performed by hand.
On February 10 and February 17, the route, still incomplete, was surveyed and assumed as an extension of Highway 7. The new highway was opened to traffic on August 23, 1932.
Between the 1930s and 1960s, Highway 7 connected Sarnia with Perth; Highway 15 continued from Perth to Ottawa. By the mid-1950s, the well established highway network had changed travel characteristics, and the numbering of Highway 15 between Perth and Ottawa was confusing motorists. The
Ottawa Board of Trade petitioned the Department of Highways to renumber several highways surrounding the city.
The department performed a series of renumberings similar to these recommendations following the extension of
Highway 43 on September 8, 1961. Highway 15 was rerouted between
Smiths Falls
Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal waterway passes thr ...
and Carleton Place to travel concurrently with
Highway 29; Highway 7 was extended along the former routing from Perth to Carleton Place and signed concurrently with Highway 15 eastward to Ottawa. This brought the highway to its peak length of .
Transfer of portions to lower governments (downloading)
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, 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 ...
(MTO)
"downloaded" (i.e., transferred responsibility for) several sections of Highway 7 to regional and county governments. There are three separate issues that led to these downloads.
Due to budget cuts instituted by the
Mike Harris
Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...
government, many highways deemed to serve a local or regional function were downloaded to local jurisdiction. The sections of Highway 7 west of London were transferred to
Lambton County
Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cl ...
and
Middlesex County, largely supplanted by the completion of nearby
Highway 402 in 1982.
On April 1, 1997, the section from Sarnia to
Thedford was transferred to Lambton County.
The section from Thedford to Elginfield was transferred to Lambton and Middlesex counties on January 1, 1998.
As the construction of Highway 407 progressed across the northern end 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 ...
, the MTO transferred sections of Highway 7 to the regions of Peel and York. On June 7, 1997, the section between
Highway 410 and
Highway 404 was transferred to the regions of Peel and York;
the section from Highway 404 to McCowan Road was transferred to York Region on April 1, 1999. Several months later, on September 1, a short section between McCowan Road and Markham Road was transferred. Finally, on January 25, 2007, the section between Markham Road and east 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 ...
, where the highway narrows to two lanes today, was transferred. Within Peel Region,
Highway 410 and Highway 7 ran concurrently north–south between Bovaird Drive and Queen Street. The Queen St. portion of the route was numbered Peel Regional Road 21 on July 10, 1997, but renumbered as Peel Regional Road 107 on March 26, 1998. To make the former highway easier to follow through
Brampton
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it t ...
, the Bovaird Drive portion of the route was subsequently also numbered Regional Road 107, after the highway was transferred to the Region of Peel on November 28, 2001.
The non-Highway 7 portions of Queen Street and Bovaird Drive west and east of Highway 410 are designated as Regional Roads 6 and 10 respectively.
In the Peterborough area, Highway 7 was rerouted from travelling through the city to bypassing it along Highway 115. This situation took over six years to set in place. On April 1, 1997, the sections of Highway 7 entering the western edge of Peterborough along North Monaghan Parkway and Sir Sanford Fleming Drive were transferred to the county and city, creating a gap between
Springville and the Peterborough Bypass. This situation was rectified on May 1, 2003, when the section of Highway 7A that until then was a continuation of the road south from Springville to Highway 115 was renumbered as Highway 7. The concurrency with Highway 115 was extended southwest to remove the discontinuity entirely.
Recent work
York Region
In 2005, Highway 7 was made the second main arterial for York Region's
Viva Rapid Transit
Viva is the bus rapid transit operations of York Region Transit in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Viva service forms the spine for YRT's local bus service, providing seamless transit service across York Region with connections to northern Toronto. ...
service (after Yonge Street), leading to the expansion of the CN MacMillan Bridge and Highway 400 overpass.
Carleton Place
On August 22, 2006, work officially began on a project to expand Highway 7 between Ottawa and Carleton Place into a freeway through a process known as ''
twinning'',
in which a second
carriageway
A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of tra ...
is built parallel to an existing road and
grade-separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...
interchanges constructed.
Plans for this expansion were first conceptualized in 1979 when a planning study was undertaken. However, budgetary constraints forced an early end to this study in 1981. In 1988, the project was reinstated. A study released that year recommended that Highway 7 be widened to five lanes with a centre turning lane south of Carleton Place as an interim measure; this was carried out in 1993. Full planning on the four-laning of the route began in 1993.
In mid-2005, the Government of Ontario announced the project to the public. The work was carried out over three contracts: from Highway 417 to Jinkinson Road, from Jinkinson Road to Ashton Station Road, and from Ashton Station Road to Highway 15. In July 2007, a C$45 million contract was awarded to R.W. Tomlinson for the first phase of the route west from Highway 417. Bot Construction was awarded the $73.2 million contract for the second phase, which included two interchanges, four overpasses and service roads, in early 2008.
The first phase was opened to traffic on July 31, 2008 Towards the end of 2009, the $25.8 million contract for the third phase was awarded to
Aecon Group. The second phase was completed ahead of schedule on December 3, 2008, bypassing south of the former route at Ashton Station Road and merging to two lanes west of Dwyer Hill Road. The third phase was completed in late 2011/early 2012, connecting to Carleton Place.
Future
On March 23, 2007, the
Government of Ontario
The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...
announced the approval of an
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
for a four-lane
controlled-access highway
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 i ...
between
Kitchener, and
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
, as traffic on
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 ...
is growing steadily and approaching capacity, along with the current two-lane alignment of Highway 7. This would connect to the
Conestoga Parkway
The Conestoga Parkway, officially the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway,
is a controlled-access highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located entirely within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The route travels east and then north throu ...
via an expansion of the existing Wellington Road interchange, the new junction would be a four level interchange; the government's eventual plan is to have a Highway 7 freeway running from Stratford to Guelph. The eastern end of the proposed Highway 7 freeway would terminate at, and interline with, the
Hanlon Expressway
The Hanlon Expressway or Hanlon Parkway is a high-capacity at-grade suburban limited-access road connecting Highway 401 with the city of Guelph in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route travels in a generally north-south direction on t ...
(Highway 6), which is also scheduled for upgrades to a full
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 ...
beginning in June 2015.
In early 2011, Ontario Infrastructure Minister
Bob Chiarelli
Robert Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who served from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ottawa West and Ottawa W ...
hinted at possible plans to extend the four-laning of Highway 7 west from Carleton Place to Perth.
In July 2020, the Ford government announced that it would fund the highway project linking Guelph and Kitchener and building a new bridge for the highway over the Grand River. It is expected to cost 764 million dollars for the 18-kilometre freeway.
Major intersections
References
External links
Highway 7 at thekingshighway.ca
{{Ontario King's Highways
007
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
Ontario 007
Carleton Place
Transport in Halton Hills
Kawartha Lakes
Roads in Brampton
Roads in Markham, Ontario
Roads in Ottawa
Transport in Guelph
Roads in Kitchener, Ontario
Transport in Peterborough, Ontario
Transport in Pickering, Ontario
Transport in Stratford, Ontario
Transport in Vaughan
Transport in Whitby, Ontario
Roads in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo