Ontario Highway 42
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King's Highway 42, commonly referred to as Highway 42, 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 ...
. The -long route connected Highway 29 at Forthton with the town of Westport, intersecting Highway 15 en route. Highway 42 was assumed in 1935, and aside from paving the partially gravelled road, generally remained unchanged throughout its existence. In 1997, it was decommissioned and transferred to 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 ...
, subsequently being redesignated as Leeds and Grenville County Road 42.


Route description

Highway 42 began in Westport and proceeded east for to Highway 29 in the
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of Forthton. An oddity in the provincial highway system, the terminus in Westport was one of only a handful that never connected to another King's Highway. Within Westport, the route followed Concession Street, travelling southeast. It made two 90 degree curves south of the town, first to the northeast and then back to the southeast, remaining close to the shoreline of
Upper Rideau Lake Upper Rideau Lake is located in the municipality of Rideau Lakes, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Saint Lawrence River Drainage Basin, and geographically the highest lake on the Rideau Canal System. ...
. At the southwestern edge of the lake, the highway made another sweeping curve to the northeast and entered Newboro. There it crossed the
Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...
and gradually curved to the east just north of Newboro Lake. Briefly paralleling an uplifted railway bed, the highway encountered Highway 15 in
Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside **Crosby (UK ...
. Between Crosby and
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, the route meandered about, travelling in a generally east-southeast direction through the communities of
Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a p ...
, Philipsville and
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. At Delta, the highway becomes sandwiched between Upper and Lower Beverley lakes, curving northeast around the southern shores of the former. At Washburns Corners, the route turns east until reaching Athens. The final segment of Highway 42 — between Athens and Forthton — zigzagged northeast and southeast. Midway between the two communities, it passed through Glen Elbe. The route ended at a junction with Highway 29, where a
slip lane A slip lane, also known as a filter lane in the United Kingdom, is a road at a junction that allows motorists to change roads without actually entering an intersection. Some intersections that are controlled by lights offer a slip lane, which a ...
connected eastbound Highway 42 with southbound Highway 29 towards
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 majority of the land use alongside Highway 42, outside of the few communities along the route, was, and still remains, agricultural. Several sections also pass through thick forests lining the southern fringe 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 ...
. Residences dot both sides of the length of the two-laned highway throughout its length. Since being decommissioned in 1997, the route has been known as Leeds and Grenville County Road 42.


History

Highway 42 was assumed on July 31, 1935, following the mostly paved road between Westport and Highway 29. The remaining of unpaved highway were improved to a gravel surface that year. By 1949, the highway was fully paved. Initially, the highway travelled concurrently with Highway 29 into Brockville. This concurrency was eventually removed; at some point between 1982 and 1984, Highway 42 was truncated at Forthton. It remained this way until March 31, 1998, when the entire route was decommissioned and transferred to the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It has since been redesignated as Leeds and Grenville County Road 42.


Major intersections


References


External links


Highway 42 pictures and information
{{Ontario King's Highways
042 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...