Secondary Highway 518, commonly referred to as Highway 518, is a provincially maintained secondary 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 ...

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 ...

. Highway 518 spans between

Parry Sound Parry Sound is a sound or bay of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. It is highly irregularly shaped with many deep bays and islands. Killbear Provincial Park is located on the large peninsula that separates the sound from Georgian ...

and Kearney. It serves as one of the many links between Highway 400 and Highway 11. The highway was assumed in 1956, and has remained generally unchanged since, aside from being truncated slightly at both ends.

Route description

Highway 518 generally parallels the Seguin Trail, a

recreational trail Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

along the old rail bed of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway. It begins at Exit 220 of Highway 400, south of the town of Parry Sound, where the road continues west as Hunter Drive to the former route of Highway 69 (Oastler Park Drive). From Highway 400, the route travels straight east to Orrville, where it turns north onto Star Lake Road. The route zig-zags through rugged

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 ...

and thick forests, generally arching northeast until meeting the

Nipissing Colonization Road The colonization roads were created during the 1840s and 1850s to open up or provide access to areas in Central and Eastern Ontario for settlement and agricultural development. The colonization roads were used by settlers to lead them toward area ...

north of the

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of Seguin Falls. The highway crosses the Seguin Trail, turns east and parallels it through Bear Lake,

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

and Sprucedale. The trail arcs south at this point, and Highway 518 continues east. South of Doe Lake, the highway turns northeast, while Star Lake Road continues east. The highway

interchanges Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

with Highway 11 at Exit 248, then immediately turns south and parallels Highway 11 until it meets Star Lake Road, which it turns east and follows through Emsdale. Within that town, it intersects Highway 592, the original route of Highway 11 before the freeway bypass opened. Highway 518 continues east through forests, ending at the entrance to Kearney. However, signage has not been removed east of this point.

History

Highway 518 was first assumed by the Department of Highways in early 1956, along with several dozen other secondary highways, but was likely maintained as a development road prior to that; it was long. The highway was extended east from Kearney to Sand Lake in 1963, increasing its length to . Its route remained unchanged between then and January 1, 1998, when the easternmost were decommissioned, returning the eastern terminus to the boundary into Kearney. The westernmost section of 518, between Highway 400 and

Oastler Park Drive King's Highway 69, commonly referred to as Highway 69, is a provincially maintained north–south highway in the central portion of the Canadian province of Ontario. In conjunction with Highway 400, it links Toronto with the city of Greate ...

, has also since been decommissioned by the extension of Highway 400, and is now known as Hunter Drive.

Major intersections

References

{{Ontario Secondary Highways

518 __NOTOC__ Year 518 ( DXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paulus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 12 ...

Roads in Parry Sound District