| Essex County Road 46 | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Maintained by the Essex County transportation department | |
| Length: | 96.2 km (59.8 mi) |
| Existed: | 1970 – present |
| Major junctions | |
| West end: | Highway 40/Highway 3 in Blenheim |
| East end: | Highway 2 in Windsor |
| Location | |
| Counties: | Essex County, Ontario, Chatham-Kent |
| Major cities: | Windsor, Maidstone, Woodslee, Comber, Tilbury, Merlin, Blenheim |
| Highway system | |
County Road 46 is a primary artery in northern Essex County, Ontario, linking Windsor, Ontario with Tilbury, Ontario, serving as a viable alternative to County Roads 42, 8, and Highway 401. In Windsor, the road is named "Provincial Road", and travels as a two-lane road for its entire length from its split with "Division Road". It continues eastward as Chatham-Kent Municipal Road 8.
The road is a typical county road today, having low traffic volumes outside of Windsor, but at one time, it was a vital provincial highway.
Contents |
The road first began as the historic "Middle Road", which led from London and Toronto to Windsor, to allow colonists to enter the area and turn Essex County from untamed forest into farmland.
In the 1920s, the Province of Ontario's Department of Public Highways of Ontario (DPHO, the predecessor of today's Ministry of Transportation) decided to start numbering its roads. This road would gain the designation of Highway 18. in 1929, when the Ambassador Bridge opened, this road was re-named Highway 2A, and was intended to bring travellers into downtown Windsor (and eventually to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel), while Highway 2 (which had absorbed the original routing of Highway 18 along modern day County Road 42), would lead people into downtown Windsor. Highway 3 would travel down the newly-built alignment leading to the bridge. This road was re-named Highway 98 in 1938.
Before 1929, Highway 18 connected Windsor to Tilbury along today's County Road 42/Division Road, while Highways 2 and 3 were concurrent along Howard Avenue from the Ferry Docks (located between Howard Avenue and Ouellette Avenue) to Talbot Road. They split company at Maidstone (today's junction of County Road 34 and Former Highway 114). Highway 3 would continue through Essex, Ontario to Leamington and points east, while Highway 2 followed Malden Road (Former Highway 114) to Middle Road (What would become Highway 2A, then Highway 98, ultimately today's County Road 46).
In 1929, the Ambassador Bridge opened, offering the first direct and permanent link to Detroit. This caused a cascade of route re-numberings in the Windsor and Maidstone areas.
Highway 2 was rerouted along North Talbot Road, and diverted onto the newly-built Provincial Road, leading northwest to Howard Avenue. At Howard, the road turned west along Tecumseh Road to Ouellette Avenue, turning north and terminating at the ferry docks.
Highway 3 would be routed along the newly-built Huron Church Road to the Ambassador Bridge.
Since Base Line Road (Today's County Road 42/Division Road) was much quicker than Highway 2's former alignment along Middle Road, the province decided to extend Highway 18 from Tilbury to Leamington, and to have Highway 2 absorb its Windsor-Tilbury segment. The former routing of Highway 2 (along Middle Road) became Highway 2A (then Highway 98, and today's CR 46).
In 1931, Highway 2 was re-routed along County Road 42's current path, and the precursor to Highway 98 was re-designated as Highway 2A, and this lasted until 1938, when it was re-designated as Highway 98.
When Highway 401 was built in the 1950s, traffic dropped, as drivers preferred the faster and more direct freeway, and this only increased when Highway 401 was twinned from a Super 2 to a four-lane divided freeway in 1965. By 1970, Highway 98 had been decommissioned as a provincial highway, and was turned over to Essex County's control.
Until Windsor became a Separated Municipality in 1998, County Road 46 was designated as a "Windsor Suburban Road" west of its junction with Walker Road, 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 Provincial Road.
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