County Road 42 (Essex County, Ontario)

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Essex County Road 42
Cabana Road, Division Road, Route 2, Route 42
Length:	42 km (26 mi)
Formed:	1930 (as part of Highway 18
Decomd.:	1961 (As part of Highway 39)
Direction:	East/West
East end:	Intersection with CR 42, 2 km south of Belle River
West end:	Windsor City Limits (Intersection with Banwell Road, CR 43)
Counties:	Essex County, Ontario
Major cities:	Windsor, Tecumseh, St. Clair Beach, Puce, Belle River, Ontario, St. Joachim, Tilbury

County Road 42 has quite the colourful history, both as a Provincial highway, and as a county road. It is also one of the longest and busiest of the east-west arterial roads in Essex County, Ontario

[edit] History

The road was a part of Highway 18 from it was first uploaded as a provincial highway on June 11, 1930, designated as Base Line Road. However, since the road was intended to be an "alternate route" to Highway 2, but was much more direct, and quicker, it was re-numbered as Highway 2 on December 16, 1931. The former alignment along Provincial Road was redesignated as Highway 2A.

The road was re-designated as Highway 2 on June 11, 1930, and remained so until 1970, when Highway 2 was re-routed along Highway 39/County Road 22's path west of Belle River.

The bi-directional ramp leading along Division Road just north of the Provincial Road/Cabana Road intersection was gradually changed from a two-lane (one per direction) bi-directional ramp into a one-way one-lane west-to-northbound ramp in 1970, when Highway 2 absorbed nearby Highway 39, and traffic levels decreased.

Until Windsor became a Separated Municipality in 1998, County Road 42 was designated as a "Windsor Suburban Road" (west of its junction with Highway 2/County Road 22), with its shield remaining the same, but with Windsor Suburban replacing "Essex County". This is no longer the case, and all county roads in Essex County have the county's name on their shields.

In Windsor, the road continues as Division Road and Cabana Road.