Ontario Highway 117
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King's Highway 117, commonly referred to as Highway 117, 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 Ca ...
. The route travelled across Muskoka between Highway 11 north of Bracebridge and Highway 35 at
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, with Baysville being the only significant community between the two. It was created in 1974 by renumbering a portion of Highway 118, and existed until 1998, when it was transferred to the District Municipality of Muskoka. Today the former highway is known as Muskoka District Road 117.


Route description

Highway 117 connected Highway 11 north of Bracebridge with Highway 35 in Dorset and is now known as Muskoka Road 117. More than half of the route travels along the southern shoreline of
Lake of Bays Lake of Bays is a township municipality within the District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. The township, situated north of Toronto, is named after the Lake of Bays. During the 2016 census, the township had a population of 3,167 and ...
. While a majority of the route is surrounded by rock and forest as it winds through 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 ...
, it passes through the communities of Baysville, Ninth Grove, Grandview, Browns Brae and Grove Park. Beginning at Exit 193 along Highway 11, immediately north of Bracebridge, the former Highway 117 travels east through thick forests, with sparse residences lining the route. In Baysville, the route crosses the
Muskoka River The Muskoka River is a river in the Muskoka District of Ontario, Canada. It rises in the highlands of Algonquin Park and flows southwest through a number of lakes including *Lake Muskoka *Lake Joseph *Lake Rosseau *Lake of Bays which empty into ...
and curves northeast. It follows the southern shoreline of Lake of Bays for the remainder of its length, providing access to numerous cottages surrounding the lake. Highway 117 ended at Highway 35 just south of Dorset.


History

Highway117 was originally a portion of Highway118. The Department of Highways, predecessor to the modern
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 control of the road between Bracebridge and Dorset on November16, 1955. The rest of the initial route of Highway118 — between Highway 69 at Glen Orchard, and Bracebridge — was assumed one week later on November23. This routing of Highway118 remained in place until 1974, when the portion between Bracebridge and Dorset was redesignated as Highway117, reducing the length of Highway118 to . Throughout its existence, Highway117 remained unchanged. However, budget constraints brought on by a recession in the 1990s resulted in 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 ...
provincial government forming the ''Who Does What?'' committee to determine cost-cutting measures, in order to balance the budget after a deficit incurred by former premier
Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...
. It was determined that many Ontario highways no longer served long-distance traffic movement and should therefore be maintained by local or regional levels of government. The MTO consequently transferred many highways to lower levels of government in 1997 and 1998, which resulted in the removal of a significant percentage of the provincial highway network. As the entirety of Highway117 generally served local and seasonal traffic on the south side of Lake of Bays, and not long-distance movements, the route was transferred to the District Municipality of Muskoka. On January1, 1998, Highway117 was redesignated as Muskoka District Road117.


Major intersections


References

{{Ontario King's Highways 117