Ontario Highway 541

Highway 541 shield

Highway 541
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications
Length: 24.1 km[1] (15.0 mi)
Existed: 1956[2][3] – c. 1973[4][5]
Major junctions
South end:  Highway 17 (in 1973)
  Highway 541A – Falconbridge
 Highway 545 – Hanmer, Capreol
North end: Station Road – Skead, Ontario
Highway system
← Highway 540Highway 541A →

Secondary Highway 541, commonly referred to as Highway 541, was a provincially maintained secondary highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway connected Highway 17 in Sudbury with the community of Skead on the southern shores of Lake Wanapitei, passing through the community of Garson en route. Within the urban region of Sudbury, the highway served to access Sudbury Airport. The designation was applied in 1956, along with many of the secondary highways in Ontario. The province transferred responsibility for the route shortly after the creation of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury in 1973. Highway 541 is now known as Sudbury Municipal Road 86, following Falconbridge Highway and Skead Road.

Route description

The roads that the former Highway 541 designation was applied to are today known as Falconbridge Highway and Skead Road, or collectively as Sudbury Municipal Road 86. A majority of the 24.1 kilometres (15.0 mi) route passes through developed urban areas of Sudbury, though portions of it north and south of Sudbury Airport are surrounded by undeveloped lands. The designation began in the south at Kingsway, today known as Sudbury Municipal Road 55, but the route of Highway 17 through Sudbury in 1973. It progressed northeast through Sudbury, leaving the urban area north of Garson and entering an area with several aggregate quarries. The route curved east and encountered an intersection; to the east was Highway 541A (now Sudbury Municipal Road 89) towards Falconbridge, while to the north Highway 541 continued. South of this intersection, the road was known as Falconbridge Highway, whereas north of the intersection was known as Skead Road.[1][4][6]

Continuing north, the route passed through a non-urbanized area, though still surrounded by houses at regular intervals in addition to more quarries. At Bailey Corners, the highway encountered Highway 545, which continued to the communities of Hanmer and Capreol; drivers continuing along Highway 541 were required to turn. Now travelling east, the route passed Sudbury Airport and several more quarries as it gradually meandered to the northeast. At the community of Skead, located at the southernmost point of Lake Wanapitei, the route ended at Station Road, with the roadway continuing north as a local street.[1][4][6]

Geographically, Highway 541 travelled through the Sudbury Basin, the second largest impact crater on Earth as well as one of the oldest.[7] The mineral deposits here made mining the principal industry in Sudbury for much of its history.[8]

History

The route of Highway 541 was first assumed by the Department of Highways in early 1956, along with several dozen other secondary highways.[2][3] A significant portion of the route followed the Falconbridge Highway, a road constructed in 1937 to connect Sudbury with the mining deposits located in the area several decades earlier.[9] The remainder followed the Skead Road, which travelled north to the southern tip of Lake Wanapitei. It remained unchanged for the next 17 years, until the formation of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury, now Greater Sudbury, in 1973. By 1974, the highway was transferred to the region.[4][5] Today it is known as Sudbury Regional Road 86.[1][6]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 541, as noted by the Ontario Department of Highways.[1] The entire route was located in Greater Sudbury.[6] 

Locationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
Barrydowne0.00.0Municipal Road 55 (Kingsway)Formerly Highway 17
Garson8.45.2Garson–Coniston RoadNow known as Sudbury Municipal Road 90
10.56.5Highway 541A (Falconbridge Highway) – FalconbridgeHighway 541 turned north onto Skead Road at this intersection; Highway 541A now known as Sudbury Municipal Road 89
Bailey Corners16.09.9 Highway 545 (Radar Road) – Hanmer, CapreolHighway 541 turned east at this intersection; Highway 545 now known as Sudbury Municipal Road 85
18.311.4Air Terminal Drive – Sudbury Airport
Skead24.115.0Station RoadRoadway continues north as a local street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Route map: Bing

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Google (March 27, 2015). "Route of Highway 541" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1956. § M31.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Ontario Secondary Roads Now Designated 500, 600" 112 (33,119). The Globe and Mail. February 4, 1956. p. 4. Two new Ontario road numbers appear on the province's 1956 official road map which will be ready for distribution next week. The new numbers are the 500 and 600 series and designate hundreds of miles of secondary roads which are wholly maintained by the Highways Department. More than 100 secondary roads will have their own numbers and signs this year. All of these secondary roads were taken into the province's main highways system because they form important connecting links with the King's Highways
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Photogrammetry Office. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1973. §§ A–B21.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1974. §§ A–B21.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Cartography by MapArt. Peter Heiler. 2010. p. 101. §§ A20–C21. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
  7. ↑ "Sudbury". Earth Impact Database. University of New Brunswick. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ Wallace, C.M.; Thomson, Ashley (1993). Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1-55002-170-2.
  9. ↑ Oiva W., Saarinen (2013). From Meteorite Impact to Constellation City: A Historical Geography of Greater Sudbury. Wilfred Laurier Press. pp. 129–130. Retrieved March 27, 2015.