Ontario Highway 47

Highway 47 shield

Highway 47
Route information
Length: 34.3 km[1] (21.3 mi)
Existed: October 20, 1937[2] – January 1, 1998[3]
Major junctions
West end:  Highway 48
East end:  Highway 12
Location
Regions: York
Durham
Towns: Stouffville
Uxbridge
Scugog
Highway system
<td width="100%" align=center" colspan="3" style="padding:0;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center">Current highways
  Highway 40 Highway 48  
Former highways
  Highway 46  

King's Highway 47, commonly referred to as Highway 47 and locally as Stouffville Road, Toronto Street and Brock Street, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The mostly rural route travelled through the towns of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Goodwood, and Uxbridge on its eastwest path between Highway 48 and Highway 12. The route was established in 1937, existing until it was transferred to the Regional Municipality of Durham and the Regional Municipality of York at the beginning of 1998.

Route description

"A rural paved highway running alongside forests and fields. The road is moderately busy. A storm is approaching in the distance."
Durham Regional Highway 47 east of Highway 12

At the time of its decommissioning, Highway 47 began at Highway 48, and travelled east through a rural portion of Whitchurch-Stouffville along what is now York Regional Road 40 (Bloomington Road), passing through rolling farmland. Only a decade prior, the highway travelled through the town of Stouffville along Main Street, then turned north along the Tenth line, following it to Bloomington Road and York - Durham Line, where it curved gently into the 1997 routing of the highway. The re-routing served to bypass this urban section.

Within the Regional Municipality of Durham, the route passed through Goodwood, where it curved northeast through forests. The highway then zig-zagged northeast to the town of Uxbridge. East of there, the highway continued through marshes, past Durham Regional Road 23 (Lakeridge Road), and into flat farmland. The route ended at Highway 12 south of Greenbank.[4]

History

The Stouffville to Greenbank Road was first assumed by the Department of Highways as Highway 47 on October 20, 1937, connecting Stouffville and Uxbridge with Highway 12, south of Greenbank.[2][5] The highway remained generally unchanged, with the exception of a short westward extension on February 10, 1954. On that day, the route was extended to meet Highway 48, which was itself extended south to Scarborough.[6]

During the early-1990s, Highway 47 was rerouted north of Stouffville, following Bloomington Road instead of Tenth Line and Main Street.[7] The gentle curve at the YorkDurham boundary was removed and a signalized intersection created in its place.[3] On January 1, 1998, the responsibility for signage and maintenance of Highway 47 was transferred to the Regional Municipalities of Durham and York.[3] It was subsequently redesignated as Durham Regional Highway 47 and an eastward extension of York Regional Road 40.[4]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 47, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1] 

DivisionLocationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
YorkWhitchurch–Stouffville0.00.0 Highway 48Continues west as Stouffville Road
2.11.3 Regional Road 69 (Ninth Line)
4.22.6 Regional Road 14
 8.65.3 Regional Road 40 (Bloomington Road)
 Regional Road 30 (YorkDurham Line)
Bloomington Road travels west while YorkDurham Line travels northsouth
Durham
Goodwood12.27.6 Regional Road 21
Uxbridge17.110.6 Regional Road 1 south (Brock Road)
24.515.2 Regional Road 8 (Brock Street)Western junction with Durham Regional Road 8
24.715.3 Regional Road 8 (Main Street)Eastern junction with Durham Regional Road 8
27.016.8 Regional Road 23 (Lakeridge Road)
Scugog34.321.3  Highway 7 / Highway 12
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Highway Planning Office (1989). Provincial Highways Distance Table. Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. p. 64.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Appendix 3 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1938. p. 81.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Highway Transfers List "Who Does What" (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. June 20, 2001. p. 2.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Cartography by MapArt. Peter Heiler. 2010. p. 31. § E33G25. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
  5. Official Road Map (Map). Department of Highways. 1937/38. § L78. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. "Appendix 3". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1954. p. 155.
  7. Dexter, Brian (December 16, 1993). "Spectre of Stouffville Dump 'Unbelievable,' Mayor Says". The Toronto Star. p. NY4.