Ontario Highway 136

King's Highway 136, commonly referred to as Highway 136, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located near Orangeville in the Regional Municipality of Peel. The route was originally part of Highway 24; it was created in 1962 when Highway 24 was rerouted along Highway 51. The highway remained unchanged until 1997, when it was transferred to the Peel Region and Dufferin County.

The majority of the former highway is rural in nature, passing through farmland on the highlands of the Niagara Escarpment, located a short distance south of the southern terminus of the route. Near its northern terminus, the surrounds are suburban as the highway enters Orangeville.

Route description

Highway 136 was a short route through the northern section of Caledon. The former route is mostly rural, surrounded by the expanse of farmland that sits atop the Niagara Escarpment.^[2] The route follows several concession roads along its length, and is known locally by the names of those roads today. It begins at a junction with former Highway 24 (Charleston Sideroad) immediately north of Forks of the Credit Provincial Park, which straddles the escarpment northwest of Brampton.^[3] The route proceeds northwest alongside the Charles Sauriol Conservation Area for approximately 3.75 kilometres (2.33 mi) before entering the community of Alton.^[2] Within Alton, the route follows Main Street until a broad 90° curve directs traffic northeast onto Queen Street. It follows this road out of the community, encountering a railway crossing and the Credit River at the town limits.^[3]

The route takes another 90° curve to the northwest, intersecting Porterfield Road, after which the route takes that name.^[3] It crosses the same railway line and proceeds north for 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) between farm fields. South of Orangeville, the route intersects the Orangeville Bypass (Riddell Road), after which the farmland transitions to suburbs.^[2] It takes a broad curves to the northeast and becomes Townline Road, which acts as the boundary between Peel Region and Dufferin County as well as the town limits of Orangeville. After following this road for a kilometre, it intersects John Street. The final section of the route follows John Street northwest to end at former Highway 9 (Broadway Street).^[3]

History

While the route dates back to 1965 as Highway 136, it is a former alignment of Highway 24, which was re-routed along Highway 51 towards Highway 10 in that year. The road was first built between 1937 and 1938, when Highway 24 was extended north from Guelph to Collingwood via Orangeville. Highway 136 was fully paved by 1966, with the section between Cataract and Alton being paved first, followed by the section from Alton to Orangeville.

The primary purpose of Highway 136 as a provincial highway was to maintain the former routing of Highway 24. However, as the route served a generally local and regional need, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario transferred responsibility for signage and maintenance of the highway to the Regional Municipalities of Peel and Dufferin on April 1, 1997,^[4] at which point the majority of it was designated Peel Regional Road 25.^[5] To avoid confusing motorists and to make the regional route numbers consistent with former provincial route numbers, Peel redesignated several roads on March 26, 1998. Regional Road 25 was renumbered as Regional Road 136.^[6] The portion within Orangeville is known as John Street and Townline Road.^[3]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 136.

References