King's Highway 53, commonly referred to as Highway 53, was a provincially maintained highway in the southern portion of the

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

that connected

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

via

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

. The route served as a southerly bypass to Highway 2, avoiding

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Ancaster and Hamilton. In addition to the previously mentioned cities, Highway53 served the communities of

Cathcart Cathcart (; , )
is an area of

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Chelt ...

. First designated in 1935, the route remained in place until it was

downloaded 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 systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote se ...

to local jurisdiction in 1997. For much of its history, the road was

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with Highway2 between Woodstock and Eastwood, as well as between Brantford and Ancaster. Today the route is known by various local names, including Oxford County Road55, Brant County Highway53, Wilson Street, Garner Road and Rymal Road. It serves as an alternative to Highway2 or Highway403.

Route description

Highway 2 and 53 Split approaching Ancaster

The route of former Highway53 began in the west at Oxford County Road2, formerly Highway2. From the community of Eastwood, which lies east of Woodstock, the road travelled southeast as Oxford County Road55 and crosses Highway403, with which there is an

interchange 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 ...

. Soon thereafter, the route entered the community of Muir, at the Oxford County and

County of Brant The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The C ...

boundary. East of this point the route is known as Brant County Highway53, where it continued southeast passing through the community of

Cathcart Cathcart (; , )
is an area of

. As the road approached Brantford, intersecting Highway 24 (Rest Acres Road), it skirted the southern edge of Brantford Municipal Airport. Within Brantford, the former highway is now known as Colborne Street, although the section through downtown Brantford is a

one-way street One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typicall ...

; westbound traffic is directed onto Dalhousie Street. The route crossed the Grand River west of downtown, intersecting and becoming

with former Highway2 at Brant Avenue. It intersected the southern terminus of what is now

Wayne Gretzky Parkway Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...

, towards the eastern end of town, and eventually crossed a

Southern Ontario Railway The Southern Ontario Railway is a shortline railroad in the province of Ontario, owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operated of track from Brantford to Nanticoke, Ontario, ...

track into the community of Cainsville. Soon after, the route passed through the community of Langford and then entered

History

Highway53 was created in the mid-1930s to bypass the congested section of Highway2 between Woodstock and Brantford. It was later extended into Hamilton to improve the layout of highways around that city, specifically Highway 20A. On August14, 1935, the Department of Highways (DHO) assumed the Burford Road, between Highway2 in Eastwood and Highway24 (Mount Pleasant Street) in Brantford, as a provincial highway. The new Highway53 entered Brantford along Burford Street, turning onto Oxford Street at Welsh Street and becoming concurrent with Highway24 to cross the Grand River. On the opposite side, Highway53 ended at Highway2 (Brant Avenue). Burford and Oxford streets have since been renamed as Colborne Street West. At its western terminus, the route intersected Highway2 in Eastwood, then travelled concurrently with it for west into Woodstock. In 1937, a series of route renumberings took place in the Hamilton area. Among these was the renumbering of Highway20A, which prior to then followed Upper Gage Avenue to Rymal Road. Rymal Road was also numbered Highway20A from Duff's Corners, south of Ancaster, to Elfrida, at the junction of Rymal Road and Centennial Parkway (Highway20). Following the renumbering, the route north into Hamilton became Highway 55, while Garner Road and Rymal Road became an extension of Highway53. To connect the two sections of the route, a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

was established along Highway2 between Brantford and Duff's Corners. The highway was fully paved by 1939, though most sections of it had been paved when it was commissioned as a provincial highway. The only unpaved section, between Eastwood and Burford, was paved in 1937 and 1938. In 1954, the concurrency with Highway2 near Woodstock was discontinued, establishing the western terminus at Eastwood. The route remained this way until the late 1990s. In 1997, the remainder of Highway 53 was downloaded to the Regional Municipality of Oxford County,

Brant County The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The C ...

, and the City of Hamilton (formerly the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth). The road is now known as Oxford County Road 55, Brant County Highway 53, and Brant County Highway 2/53 (for being co-signed with fellow defunct road Highway 2). In Hamilton, the road is simply known as Rymal Road and Garner Road. The former is named after William Rymal, (1759–1852), farmer and one of earliest settlers on the Hamilton mountain.

Major intersections

References

{{Roads in Hamilton, Ontario Roads in Hamilton, Ontario Transport in Brantford Transport in Woodstock, Ontario Ontario county roads

053 53 may refer to: * 53 (number) * one of the years 53 BC, AD 53, 1953, 2053 * FiftyThree, an American privately held technology company that specializes in tools for mobile creation and visual thinking * 53rd Regiment Alabama Cavalry * 53rd Regiment ...

1935 establishments in Ontario