Ontario Highway 11

Highway 11
Route information
Maintained by Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Existed:	1920 (known as the Ferguson Highway prior) – present
Major junctions
West end:	MN 72 – Baudette, MN
	Highway 12 – Orillia  Highway 60 – Huntsville  Highway 17 – North Bay  Highway 63 – North Bay  Highway 64 – Marten River  Highway 65 – New Liskeard  Highway 66 – Kenogami  Highway 101 – Matheson   Highway 17 / Highway 61 – Thunder Bay  Highway 71 – Fort Frances
South end:	Highway 400 – Barrie
Location
Counties:	Simcoe County, Muskoka Region, Parry Sound District, Timiskaming District, Cochrane District, Rainy River District
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways 400-series • Former ← Highway 10 Highway 12 →

King's Highway 11 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. At 1,780 kilometres (1,110 mi), it is the second longest highway in the province after Highway 17. Highway 11 begins at Highway 400 in Barrie, and arches through northern Ontario, around Lake Superior, to the Ontario–Minnesota border at Rainy River. The road continues as Minnesota State Highway 72 across the Baudette-Rainy River International Bridge. Highway 11 is unique in that it is signed as a north-south route for approximately half its length, and as an east-west route thereafter.

North and west of North Bay, Highway 11 forms part of the Trans-Canada Highway. The highway is also part of MOM's Way between Thunder Bay and Rainy River.

History

1927 postcard of the Ferguson Highway

Highway 11 was originally planned as a trunk road to connect the communities of Southern Ontario to those of Northern Ontario, as a continuous route from Toronto to North Bay. In 1919, Premier of Ontario Ernest Charles Drury created the Department of Public Highways, though much of the responsibility for establishing the route, he left to Minister of the new cabinet position, Frank Campbell Biggs. Most of the route linked previously built roads such as Yonge Street, Penetanguishene Road, Middle Crossroad and the Muskoka Road, all early colonization roads in this region.

Further expansion was planned with a new highway from North Bay to Cochrane. Construction began in 1925, including reconstruction of portions of the old Muskoka Road from Severn Bridge which was officially opened on July 2, 1927. When it was opened, it was named the Ferguson Highway, in honour of Premier George Howard Ferguson (Drury's successor). Roads in northern Ontario later came under the Ministry of Transportation and became provincial highways.

Highway 11 facing north towards Bracebridge

Over the years, Highway 11 grew to stretch from downtown Toronto all the way to the Minnesota border. Highway 11 became synonymous with Yonge Street, the name of the street in Toronto which formed its southernmost segment. It is from this that Yonge Street gained a disputed reputation as the "longest street in the world".

In 1997, the care of the highway portion south of Barrie, including Yonge Street, was transferred by the provincial government to various regional governments as part of significant cost reductions by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. This practice is called downloading, in that the financial burden will fall to a lower tier government, in the premise of reducing taxes. Along with the name Yonge Street, the section in York Region is now York Regional Road 1, the section in Simcoe County is now mostly Simcoe County 4. Within the city of Toronto, which does not have a regional road numbering system, it is now known simply as Yonge Street. Highway 11 consequently assumed the 1.1-kilometre highway stub formerly known as Highway 400A, and now ends at the interchange with Highway 400 just north of Barrie's city limits.

In 2003, a major bridge failure at the Sgt. Aubrey Cosens VC Memorial Bridge at the Montreal River in Latchford caused a complete closure and significant detour.

Major reconstruction of Highway 11 south of North Bay has taken place in recent years, upgrading the route from a two-lane rural highway to a four-lane road. In some sections the route is being built as an expressway with right-in/right-out ramps or at-grade intersections, while in others it is being built as a full 400-Series freeway. By the early-2010s, it is expected that all of the highway between Gravenhurst and North Bay will be four lanes. Despite the at-grade intersections, the normal freeway speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) is posted.

Highway 11 crosses the 45th parallel (halfway between the equator and north pole) 600 metres north of the bridge carrying Highway 118 at interchange 182, just outside of Bracebridge.

Due to a steep incline as it descends Thibeault Hill into North Bay, the southbound Algonquin Avenue segment of Highway 11 features the only runaway truck ramp on Ontario's highway system.^[1] The Ministry of Transportation is currently undertaking a study of potential highway improvements in the North Bay area, which may include a new westerly realignment of this segment to bypass the hill.

Route description

Business routes

Highway 11B is the designation for business routes of Highway 11, nine of which have existed over the years. Two continue to exist today, while the remaining seven have been decommissioned. With the exception of the short spur route into Atikokan, all were at one time the primary route of Highway 11 through the communities they served, and were redesignated as 11B after a newer bypass alignment was constructed.

Highway 11B entering Cobalt

All sections of Highway 11B have now been decommissioned by the province with the exception of the Atikokan route and the southernmost section of the former Tri-Town route between Cobalt and Highway 11.

In 1967, a section of the Cobalt route of Highway 11B collapsed into an abandoned mine, cutting off the town of Cobalt.^[2]

• Holland Landing
• Orillia
• Gravenhurst
• Huntsville
• Powassan
• North Bay
• Cobalt/Temiskaming Shores
• Thunder Bay
• Atikokan

Future

Highway 11 facing south from Highway 12 in Orillia

Highway 11 between Barrie and Gravenhurst is currently a rather unusual right-in/right-out (RIRO) expressway (local access permitted, turnarounds via special interchanges), except for a section around Orillia which is a full freeway. Another freeway section does exist in Barrie with the freeway segment from the southern terminus ending at Penetanguishene Road (Simcoe Road 93). The MTO is currently planning on either converting the existing RIRO expressway to a full six-lane freeway, or bypassing it with an entirely new alignment. An environmental and fiscal study concluded that the improvements from Barrie to Gravenhurst will involve the existing route being widened with the exception of a portion south of Gravenhurst that may potentially be constructed to the east of the current road.^[3]

North of Gravenhurst to North Bay, the highway is a mixture of freeway sections and at-grade rural expressway (planned to be upgraded to a full freeway) except for one gap that remains a two-lane conventional highway; that section is expected to be widened by 2012.

Major intersections

Note the exit numbers start around 105 – currently the first posted exit number is 130 in Orillia – presumably for continuation from Highway 400.

Municipality	Exit number	Intersecting roads
Springwater	104*	Highway 400
Crown Hill (Springwater – Oro-Medonte Boundary)	105*	Penetanguishene Road (Simcoe County Road 93; former )
Oro-Medonte	109**	Oro-Medonte Line 3 (Simcoe County Road 57)/"Gasoline Alley"
Oro-Medonte	115**	Oro-Medonte Line 7 (Simcoe County Road 127)
Oro-Medonte	121**	Oro-Medonte Line 11 (Simcoe County Road 20)
Oro-Medonte – Orillia Boundary	129	Memorial Avenue (Simcoe County Road 49) (currently northbound only)
Orillia	131	Highway 12 South / Old Barrie Road (Simcoe County Road 11)
Orillia	133	Highway 12 North / Coldwater Road
Orillia – Severn Boundary	135	Burnside Line/West Street (Simcoe County Road 18)
Orillia – Severn Boundary	137*	Laclie Street
Severn	146**	South Sparrow Lake Road (Simcoe County Road 38)/Goldstein Road
Severn	151**	Simcoe County Road 169 (formerly Ontario Highways 69 and 169)
Severn – Gravenhurst Boundary	153**	Coopers Falls Road (Muskoka Road 6 and Simcoe County Road 52)
Gravenhurst	154**	Southwood Road (Muskoka Road 13)
Gravenhurst	161**	Kilworthy Road/Kahshe Lake Road
Gravenhurst	169	Muskoka Road 169 (formerly Ontario Highways 69 and 169)
Gravenhurst	175	Bethune Drive (Muskoka Road 41)/Doe Lake Road (Muskoka Road 6)
Bracebridge	182	Highway 118/Muskoka Road 118 West
Bracebridge	184	Cedar Lane (Muskoka Road 37)
Bracebridge	189	Taylor Road (Muskoka Road 42)
Bracebridge	191*	Kirk Line (substandard)
Bracebridge	193	Muskoka Road 117 (formerly Highway 117)
Huntsville	205*	South Mary Lake Road (Muskoka Road 44)/Stephenson Road 4 (at-grade intersection, interchange construction to begin soon)
Huntsville	207	Highway 141/Port Sydney Road (Muskoka Road 10)
Huntsville	212*	Allensville Road/Rowanwood Road (currently an at-grade intersection)
Huntsville	216*	Gryffin Lodge Road/Madill Church Road (currently an at-grade intersection)
Huntsville	219	Muskoka Road 3
Huntsville	221	Muskoka Road 2
Huntsville	223	Highway 60
Huntsville	226	Muskoka Road 3/Old North Road
Huntsville	231	North Waseosa Lake Road/Rockhaven Road (pictured below)
Huntsville – Perry Boundary	235	Novar Road/ Highway 592
Perry	244	Fern Glen Road/Scotia Road
Perry	248	Highway 518/Deer Lake Road
Armour	252*	Doe Lake Road/Three Mile Lake Road (at-grade intersection, interchange under construction)
Armour	257*	Highway 520/Ferguson Road (at-grade intersection, interchange under construction)
Armour	261*	Ontario Street (at-grade intersection, future interchange)
Armour – Strong Boundary	266*	Pevensey Road (at-grade intersection, future interchange)
Strong	271*	Black Creek Road/Robins Road (at-grade intersection, future interchange)
Strong	276*	Highway 124 (at-grade intersection, future interchange)
Strong – Machar Boundary	284*	Machar-Strong Boundary Road/Tower Road (future interchange)
Machar	291*	Highway 124 (Existing Highway 11) (interchange under construction)
Parry Sound District (unincorporated)	294	Goreville Road/Summit Road
Powassan	301	Highway 522/McFadden Line
Powassan	306	Highway 522B/Hemlock Road
Powassan	316	Highway 534/Clark Street
Callander	329	Highway 654/Lake Nosbonsing Road
North Bay	338	Lakeshore Drive
North Bay	344	Highway 17

• *Exit number not signed, based on kilometre post
• **Current RIRO expressway section, possible interchange on new freeway

Images

• 

  Highway 11 just north of North Bay.

• 

  New 4-lane divided highway at North Waseosa Lake Road/Rockhaven Road interchange near Melissa.

• 

  Between Cochrane and Longlac, Highway 11 is straight and flat with little development.

• 

  Winter can pose serious driving hazards along Hwy 11 (near Temagami).

• 

  New 4-lane divided Hwy 11 (near Katrine).

References

1. ^ "Northern Highways Program: 2010–2014. Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
2. ^ Looker, Janet (2000). Disaster Canada. Lynx Images. p. 57. ISBN 1-894073-13-4. 
3. ^ [1]

External links

• Ontario Plaques – Ferguson Highway
• Ontario Highway 11 Homepage – A Virtual Community-by-Community Trip Along the World's Longest Street
• Highway 11 @ AsphaltPlanet.ca