Ontario Highway 131
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Highway 131 was a provincially maintained highway in the
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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 ...
, located in
Simcoe County Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...
and the city of
Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
. The route, which connected
Highway 27 Route 27, or Highway 27, may refer to: Australia * Burke Developmental Road (Queensland) * Zeehan Highway (Tasmania) Canada * Alberta Highway 27 * British Columbia Highway 27 * Manitoba Highway 27 * Prince Edward Island Route 27 * Saskatchewan ...
with Highway 90, existed from 1984 until 1998, after which it was transferred to the responsibility of Simcoe County. Highway131 was a straight rural highway, located west of Barrie's suburban
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, though since then those suburbs have grown out to reach the former highway. Otherwise, the highway is abutted by the occasional farm and surrounded by several forests.


Route description

Highway 131 began at an intersection with Highway 27 (Essa Road), travelling north through the outskirts of Barrie. Although the city of 125,000 residents lay immediately east of the highway, Highway 131 was a two lane road throughout its length. North of Highway 27, the route travelled north through
farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...
, then west of the suburb of Holly. North of Mapleview Drive, the route entered a forested area. After travelling through a valley, the highway met Ardagh Road. It crossed the newly commissioned
Barrie Collingwood Railway The Barrie-Collingwood Railway , commonly referred to as the BCRY, is a shortline railway operating between the towns of Innisfil and Utopia in south central Ontario, Canada. The line was started in 1998 and runs on abandoned Canadian Nationa ...
and shortly thereafter ended at Highway 90 (Dunlop Street), which travelled east to Barrie and west to
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and
CFB Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, CF ...
.


History

In 1984 or 1985, 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 ...
(MTO) assumed ownership of Simcoe County Road31. The purpose was to divert
Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...
and
Wasaga Beach Wasaga Beach (or simply Wasaga) is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Situated along the longest freshwater beach in the world, it is a popular summer tourist destination. It is located along the southern end of Georgian Bay, approximate ...
-bound traffic from Highway 26 in Downtown Barrie. Highway131 remained unchanged throughout its existence. As part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premier
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 ...
under his
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platform in 1995, numerous highways deemed to no longer be of significance to the provincial network were decommissioned and responsibility for the routes transferred to a lower level of government, a process referred to as
downloading In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
. Highway131 was downloaded in its entirety on January1, 1998, and responsibility for the maintenance and signing of the route transferred to the County of Simcoe and City of Barrie. The route was redesignated as
Simcoe County Road 27 King's Highway 27, commonly referred to as Highway 27, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, much of which is now cared for by the city of Toronto, York Region and Simcoe County. The Ministry of Transportatio ...
; the former route of Highway27 into Barrie is now known as Essa Road.


Major intersections


See also

*
York Regional Road 27 King's Highway 27, commonly referred to as Highway 27, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, much of which is now cared for by the city of Toronto, York Region and Simcoe County. The Ministry of Transportation ...


References

{{Ontario King's Highways, state=uncollapsed Roads in Simcoe County Ontario county roads
131 131 may refer to: *131 (number) *AD 131 *131 BC *131 (album), the album by Emarosa *131 (MBTA bus), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus. For the MBTA bus, see 131 (MBTA bus). *131 (New Jersey bus), the New Jersey Transit bus {{numbe ...