King's Highway 76, commonly referred to as Highway 76, 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 C ...

. The route began at Highway 3 in

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

and progressed north through the community of West Lorne, encountering

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 ...

immediately before terminating southwest of Glencoe at Longwoods Road (then Highway 2). Today the route it followed is known as Elgin County Road 76 and Middlesex County Road 76. Highway 76 was first designated in 1936, connecting West Lorne with Highway 3. It was extended northwest to Highway 2 in 1957 in anticipation of the construction of Highway 401 through the area, which took place in 1963. The route remained unchanged until 1997, when it was transferred to

Elgin County Elgin County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario with a 2016 population of 50,069. Its population centres are St. Thomas, Aylmer, Port Stanley, Belmont, Dutton and West Lorne. The county seat is St. Thomas, which is separated from t ...

and Middlesex County.

Route description

Highway 76 began near the

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

shoreline in Eagle, at Highway 3. From there it travelled northwest through a mixture of farmland and woodlots for to the town of West Lorne, meeting . Immediately north of West Lorne before encountering an interchange with Highway 401 (Exit 137). About north of Highway 401, Highway 76 crossed over the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. Highway 76 ended beyond the river at Longwoods Road (then Highway 2) midway between Wardsville and Strathburn as well as near the town of Glencoe. South of the Thames River, Highway 76 was within Elgin County, while north of the river was within Middlesex County. Outside of Eagle and West Lorne, the former highway was entirely rural. Today it is known as Elgin County Road 76 and Middlesex County Road 76 in the respective county.

History

Highway 76 was first assigned by the Department of Highways (DHO), predecessor to today's Ministry of Transportation, on September 16, 1936. It was initially long, connecting Highway 3 with the village of West Lorne to the northwest along an existing gravel township road. The DHO quickly improved the route, fully paving it by 1938. Several highway routings were altered southwest 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 ...

in late 1957, in anticipation for the construction of Highway 401. On December 5, 1957, Highway 76 was extended northwest to Highway 2 between Wardsville and Strathburn. Highway 401 would open between Tilbury and London as a two lane freeway on October 22, 1963 with an interchange at Highway 76. For nearly two years, traffic utilised the future westbound lanes until the eastbound lanes opened July 20, 1965. Highway 76 remained unchanged for the next 30 years. 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

Common Sense Revolution The phrase Common Sense Revolution (CSR) has been used as a political slogan to describe conservative platforms with a main goal of reducing taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the size and role of government. It has been used in places ...

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. As Highway 76 generally served local traffic as opposed to long-distance movement, it was downloaded to Elgin County and Middlesex County effective April 1, 1997. The two counties each retained the number 76 for the route in their respective county road system.

Major intersections

References

{{Ontario King's Highways 076