Highway 61 (Ontario)

Infobox road
province=ON
type=Hwy
route=61
alternate_name=


maint=the Ministry of Transportation
length_km=
length_ref=Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, [http://www.raqsa.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/tvweb 2004 Annual Average Daily Traffic] ]
length_round=1
established=
direction_a=South
terminus_a=jct|state=MN|TH|61 towards Grand Marais, MN
junction=
direction_b=North
terminus_b=jct|state=ON|Hwy|11|Hwy|17 in Thunder Bay
previous_type=Hwy
previous_route=60
next_type=Hwy
next_route=62

Highway 61 is an Ontario provincial highway, extending for 61 km (38 miles) from a junction with Highways 11 and 17 and the Harbour Expressway in Thunder Bay, Ontario to the Pigeon River Bridge, where it meets border.

In Minnesota, the highway continues as Minnesota State Highway 61, which becomes U.S. Highway 61 in Duluth, Minnesota and extends to New Orleans, Louisiana. Minnesota Highway 61 was itself once part of the U.S. federal highway, but lost that designation in 1991.

An "outlaw" bridge across the Pigeon River, the international boundary between Canada and the United States, was built by residents of Thunder Bay and opened on August 18, 1917 to permit access to Minnesota. The Canadian road leading to the customs and immigration facilities at the bridge was initially known as the "Scott Highway" after lumberman William Scott. The bridge was later taken over by the provincial Ministry of Transportation, and an upgraded span now exists as the Pigeon River Bridge, several kilometres east of the original bridge.

The northernmost section in Thunder Bay is a 4-lane undivided expressway, forming the southern half of the Thunder Bay Expressway. The remainder of Highway 61 (in Ontario) is a conventional 2-lane highway.

ee also

* "Highway 61".

References