King's Highway 83, also known as Highway 83, 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 inwards from the shores of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

, beginning at Highway 21 north of

Grand Bend Grand Bend is a community located on the shores of Lake Huron in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Municipality of Lambton Shores in Lambton County. History Grand Bend is situated on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron ...

and travelling eastward to Highway 23 in Russeldale. Today the route is known by the local names Dashwood Road and Thames Road, as well as by county-assigned designations Huron County Road 83 and Perth County Road 20.

Route description

Highway 83 was a straight highway connecting Highway 21 north of Grand Bend with Highway 23 in Russeldale, lying almost entirely within Huron County. Today, the majority of the former route is known as County Road 83, although the portion that lay within Perth County became part of County Road 20. Between the termini of the route, the highway passed through the communities of Dashwood, Thames Road and

Farquhar Farquhar is a surname of Scotland, Scottish origin, derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''fearchar'', from ''fear'' ("man") and ''car'' ("beloved"). Farquharson is a further derivation of the name, meaning "son of Farquhar". The name originated as a g ...

, as well as the town of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. Outside these locations, the surroundings of the former route consist of a mix of farmland and

woodlot A woodlot is a parcel of a woodland or forest capable of small-scale production of forest products (such as wood fuel, sap for maple syrup, sawlogs, and pulpwood) as well as recreational uses like bird watching, bushwalking, and wildflower apprecia ...

s. West of Hay, itself lying immediately north of

, the

Hay Swamp Hay Swamp (Hay Swamp Management Area) is a provincially significant wetland complex, 1839 hectares (4544 acres) in size, located in parts of the central land areas of the municipalities of Bluewater and South Huron, in southwestern Ontario, Can ...

, a provincially significant

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and conservation area, lies immediately north of the route.

History

Highway 83 was first established by the Department of Highways in 1938 to connect Highway 21 near Grand Bend with Highway 23 in Russeldale. On April 13, 1938, the Thames Road was assumed into the expanding provincial highway network. The route remained generally unchanged over the years, aside from being paved. In 1997, Highway 83 was deemed to serve a local function and was transferred to Perth and Huron counties on April 1,

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

the route in the process.

Major intersections

References

{{Ontario King's Highways 083