Ontario Highway 50
 Highway 50 | |
|---|---|
| Peel Regional Road 50 York Regional Road 24 Simcoe County Road 50 | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by the Regional Municipalities of Peel and York and the County of Simcoe | |
| Length | 53.5 km[1] (33.2 mi) |
| Existed | August 12, 1936[2]–January 1, 1998[3] |
| Major junctions | |
| South end |  Highway 27 – Toronto |
 Highway 7 – Vaughan Highway 49 Highway 9 – Mono Mills | |
| North end |  Highway 89 – Alliston |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Highway system | |
| Template:On-former browse | |
King's Highway 50, commonly referred to as Highway 50, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway, which was decommissioned in 1998, is still referred to as Highway 50, though it is now made up of several county and regional roads: Peel Regional Road 50, York Regional Road 24 and Simcoe County Road 50. The route began in the northwest corner of Toronto at Highway 27 as Albion Road, and travelled northwest to Highway 89 west of the town of Alliston. En route, it passed through the villages of Bolton, Palgrave and Loretto. The road south of Bolton is becoming increasingly suburban as development encroaches from the east and west; but despite this increasing urbanization, the removal of highway status, and the fact that it runs through the former Albion Township, the Albion Road name has not been extended to follow it outside Toronto.
Highway 50 was designated in 1936, connecting the western terminus of Highway 49 with Bolton. One year later, it was extended both north and south to Highway 9 and Highway 7, respectively. In 1962, the route was extended south to Highway 27 in Toronto. A final extension was designated in 1976, extending the highway north to Highway 89. In 1997 and 1998, the entire route was transferred to regional governments, decommissioning the designation.
Route description
Highway 50 began at Highway 27 in the northwest corner of Toronto. Between there and Steeles, it was maintained as a connecting link with Metropolitan Toronto, bearing little resemblance to the rural highway north of the city.
The former route of Highway 50 begins as an urban arterial thoroughfare; as the northwestern-most part of Albion Road. Unlike most other major roads in Toronto, it travels diagonally through the city grid. At Steeles Avenue, the road curves north and serves as the boundary between Brampton to the west and Vaughan to the east, in the regions of Peel and York, respectively, following an alignment that divides the concession road grids of both regional municipalities but follows neither. North of the former Highway 7 (named Queen Street on the Brampton side), the road passes to the east of the "lost village" of Ebenezer and then west of the Canadian Pacific Railway Vaughan Intermodal Facility, a large rail yard. At Mayfield Road (Peel Regional Road 14), which serves as the Brampton and Caledon boundary, the route curves northwest to align to the Peel regional road grid as it turns to run entirely within that region, and enters the village of Bolton, where it is named Queen Street.[4]
North of Bolton, the road enters a rural stretch, where it divides two golf courses and provides access to Albion Hills Conservation Area. Shortly thereafter it enters the village of Palgrave, veering to the west to avoid a pond. North of Palgrave, the road is mostly rural, surrounded by open farmland; to the west is Palgrave Conservation Area. The road meets Highway 9 and curves northward, entering Simcoe County. It travels straight through the small hamlet of Loretto on its final leg northward. The former highway ends at Highway 89, west of Alliston, the location of a Honda Manufacturing plant.[4]
History
Highway 50 was first assumed by the Department of Highways as part of the King's Highway network in 1936, connecting Highway 49 with Bolton. On August 12, 1936, the 5.4-kilometre (3.4 mi) route was designated.[5] One year later, on August 11, 1937, the route was extended north to Highway 9. On October 6, it was extended south to Highway 7 along the York–Peel boundary.[2]
Highway 50 was downloaded, a process that transfers responsibility for funding and maintenance of a highway to the various jurisdictions it resided within, beginning on April 1, 1997. On that day, the section between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7 was transferred to the joint jurisdiction of the Regional Municipalities of York and Peel, and the connecting link in downtown Bolton transferred to the Town of Caledon. The road was designated Regional Road 24 on July 10, 1997,[6] but renumbered as Regional Road 50 on March 26, 1998.[7] York Region did not follow suit with this change, and so the road is still designated as Regional Road 24 by their Public Works Department.[8] The remaining section of Highway 50 north of Highway 7 was transferred to the regions of York and Peel and the County of Simcoe on January 1, 1998,[3] decommissioning the designation entirely. A final transfer took place on August 13, 1998 between the Town of Caledon and Region of Peel, when the former connecting link through Bolton was assumed as part of Regional Road 50.[9] Simcoe County has since designated its portion of the former highway as County Road 50.[10]
Major intersections
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 50, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1]
| Division | Location[4] | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | Etobicoke | 0.0 | 0.0 | Highway 27 – Toronto | |
| 2.7 | 1.7 | Steeles Avenue | |||
| York | Brampton–Vaughan | ||||
| 3.7 | 2.3 |  Regional Road 8 (Gore Road) | |||
| 4.7 | 2.9 | Highway 7 – Brampton, Vaughan | |||
| 13.0 | 8.1 |  Regional Road 49 (Nashville Road) | |||
| 14.4 | 8.9 |  Regional Road 14 (Mayfield Road) | |||
| Caledon | |||||
| 19.3 | 12.0 |  Regional Road 9 (King Street) | |||
| 26.8 | 16.7 |  Regional Road 22 (Old Church Road) | |||
| 33.9 | 21.1 | Highway 9 | |||
| Simcoe | New Tecumseth | ||||
| 40.3 | 25.0 |  County Road 14 | |||
| 43.2 | 26.8 |  County Road 1 | |||
| Alliston | 53.5 | 33.2 | Highway 89 | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
References
- ^ a b Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (April 1, 1989). Provincial Highways Distance Table. Government of Ontario. p. 66. ISSN 0825-5350.
- ^ a b "Appendix 3 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1938. p. 81.
- ^ a b Council Agenda, February 4, 2011
- ^ a b c Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Cartography by MapArt. Peter Heiler. 2010. p. 24, 29. § E28–J30. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
- ^ "Appendix 4 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1937. p. 51.
- ^ PW-A3
- ^ http://www.peelregion.ca/council/bylaws/1990s/1998/by26-1998.htm
- ^ Highway 50 Class Environmental Assessment
- ^ http://www.peelregion.ca/council/bylaws/1990s/1998/by47-1998.htm
- ^ Simcoe County Road Map
