Highway 24 (Ontario)

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Ontario Provincial Highway 24 is a highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which presently begins at Highway 3 in Simcoe, and ends at Highway 401, in Cambridge.

Highway 24 runs in a North/South direction. Highway 24 has been in service since 1927, and is currently in service. Before 1997, when many major highways were declassified, Highway 24 began south of in Norfolk near Walshingham, and ended in Collingwood, as part of Hurontario Street. The road has also seen key shifts, as communities have been by-passed over the years, including:

Waterford, where a new alignment was built towards Scotland and connected with Highway 24A.

The former Highway 24 is now Brant Road 24, and Highway 24A is now "Brant Road 24A" (and is Waterloo Regional Road 75).

Alton and Orangeville by Highway 136,
and within Cambridge, the Hespeler Bypass (see below).

In Brantford and in Brant County, Highway 24 is interlined with Highway 403 for 9 km.

[edit] Alternative Names

Highway 24 is named as a main road passing through the community. Here are some alternative names for Highway 24:

Guelph: Silvercreek Parkway, Wellington Street, Eramosa Road (Wellington Regional Road 124)
Cambridge: Hespeler Road, Ainslie Street, and Water Street (Hespeler Bypass removed 24 from Queen Street West and Guelph Avenue in 1993)
Brantford: King George Road
Simcoe: Norfolk Street
Erin:
Orangeville: Hurontario Street

[edit] Expansion Plans

On September 12th, 2006, it was announced that the Ontario Provincial Government would be undertaking a study to determine what improvements would be necessary to bring the highway up to current standards and to handle future growth.

This study (which will be completed in 2009) will focus on the portion of the highway between Cambridge and Brantford, where connections to Highways 401 and 403 exist, but suffer from extreme congestion during peak periods.

Potential improvements/expansions include:

improving the road surface, lighting and traffic control devices at selected intersections
widening the road from 2 to 4 lanes near urban centres
complete expansion to a 4-lane highway
construction of a multi-lane, controlled-access freeway (Highway 424)