Ontario Highway 2A

Highway 2A
(Toronto section)
Route information
Maintained by City of Toronto (Toronto Transportation)
Length:	3.4 km[1] (2.1 mi)
Major junctions
West end:	Highland Creek overpass (continues as Kingston Road)
	Lawson Road Kingston Road Port Union Road
East end:	Highway 401 – Kingston
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways List 400-series Former ← Highway 2 Highway 3 →

King's Highway 2A, commonly referred to as Highway 2A, was the designation of five separate provincially maintained highways in the Canadian province of Ontario. Highway 2A was an alternate route to Highway 2 in London, Chatham and Cornwall; these routes were all eventually redesignated. Highway 2A was also a highway that extended from Windsor to Tilbury, which was redesignated as Highway 98 in 1938.

The final and most familiar section of highway to be designated Highway 2A was the bypass of Highway 2 between Toronto and Newcastle, most of which became part of Highway 401 in July 1952. The short stub of dual carriageway connecting Kingston Road with Highway 401 was once again renumbered 2A in 1956 with the completion of the Toronto Bypass. Despite losing its provincial highway status in 1998, Highway 2A was never renamed and is now part of Toronto's municipal expressway system. The speed limit is 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), and it is patrolled by the Toronto Police Service.

History

Toronto–Newcastle

As automobile use in southern Ontario grew in the early twentieth century, road design and construction advanced significantly. Following frequent erosion of the former macadamized Lake Shore Road,^[2] a cement road known as the Toronto–Hamilton Highway was proposed in January 1914.^[3] By November 1914, the proposal was approved,^[4] and work began quickly to construct the road from Toronto to Hamilton known today as Lake Shore Boulevard and Lakeshore Road. The road was formally opened on November 24, 1917,^[2] 18 feet (5.5 m) wide and nearly 40 mi (64 km) long. It was the first concrete road in Ontario, as well as one of the longest stretches of concrete road between two cities in the world.^[5]

Over the next decade, vehicle usage increased substantially, and by 1920 Lakeshore Road was again highly congested on weekends.^[6] In response, the Department of Highways examined improving another road between Toronto and Hamilton. Middle Road, a continuation of Queen Street west of the Humber River, was chosen to avoid delays on Dundas or Lakeshore. The road was to be more than twice the width of Lakeshore Road at 40 ft (12 m), and would carry two lanes of traffic in either direction.^[7] Construction on what was then known as the Queen Street Extension between Highway 10 and Highway 27 began in early 1931,^[8] and between Highway 27 and the Humber River on November 1, 1931.^[9]

Aside from a resurfaced pavement and guardrails, Highway 2A has not been altered since it opened in 1947.

Before the highway could be completed, Thomas McQuesten was appointed the new minister of the Department of Highways, with Robert Melville Smith as deputy minister, following the 1934 provincial elections.^[10] Smith, inspired by the German Autobahn's—new "dual-lane divided highways"—modified the design for Ontario roads,^[11] and McQuesten ordered that the Middle Road be converted into this new form of highway.^[12][13][14] A 132 ft (40 m) right-of-way was purchased along the Middle Road and construction began to convert the existing sections to a divided highway, as well as on Canada's first interchange at Highway 10.^[7]

Beginning in 1935, McQuesten applied the concept of a dual-highway to several projects along Highway 2, including a section between Birchmount Road and east of Morningside Avenue in what was then known as Scarborough Township.^[15] When widening in Scarborough reached the Highland Creek ravine in 1936, east of Morningside, the Department of Highways began construction on a new bridge over the large valley, bypassing the former alignment around the village of West Hill.^[16] From there to Oshawa, the highway was constructed along a new alignment, avoiding construction on the congested Highway 2.^[17] As grading and bridge construction neared completion between Highland Creek and Ritson Road in September 1939, World War II broke out and gradually money was siphoned from highway construction to the war effort.^[10]

Following the war, construction resumed on roadways throughout Ontario. The expressway between Highland Creek and Oshawa was completed in December 1947.^[17] The Toronto–Barrie Highway was the primary focus of the Department of Highways at the time, and the onset of the Korean War in 1949 continued to stall construction. Despite the delays, highway minister George Doucette officially announced the plans for construction of the new trans-provincial expressway in 1950, with the Toronto to Oshawa expressway serving as a model for the design.^[10]

Along with an extension of the Highway between Oshawa and Highway 35 and Highway 115, most of Highway 2A was redesignated Highway 401 in July 1952.^[17] A short stub between West Hill and the planned Toronto Bypass retained the Highway 2A designation until 1998, when it was transferred to the City of Toronto as part of a provincial downloading of highways to municipalities. Despite this, the highway has retained its name.^[19]

Exit list

List of exits for current Highway 2A in Toronto:

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 2A.^[1] The entire route is located in Toronto. 

km[1]	Mile	Destinations	Notes
0.0	0.0	Highland Creek Overpass	Parclo A2 connecting to Kingston Road and Lawson Road Additional RIRO lane on westbound side between the Parclo to the east and Highland Creek to the west, separated from main highway by a concrete median strip. The lane has an entrance from Kingston Road westbound, and both entrances from and exits to Military Trail and Morrish Road
		Kingston Road	Westbound entrance; access from eastbound 401 via exit 390
		Port Union Road	Modified Parclo A4
3.4	2.1	Highway 401	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; westbound exit via Port Union Road; eastbound entrance via Kingston Road (Exit 390)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Sources

Bibliography

• Brown, Ron (1997). Toronto's Lost Villages. Polar Bear Press. ISBN 1-896757-02-2. 
• Emery, Claire; Ford, Barbara (1967). From Pathway to Skyway. Confederation Centennial Committee of Burlington. pp. 179–182. Retrieved May 3, 2010. 
• Filey, Mike (1994). 's%20First%20Superhighway%22&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q=%22Some%20Superhighway%20History%22&f=false Toronto sketches 3: the way we were. Dundurn Press. pp. 61–62. ISBN 1-55002-227-X. Retrieved February 10, 2010. 
• Shragge, John; Bagnato, Sharon (1984). From Footpaths to Freeways. Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Historical Committee. ISBN 0-7743-9388-2. 
• Stamp, Robert M. (1987). QEW – Canada's First Superhighway. The Boston Mills Press. ISBN 0-919783-84-8.