Ontario Highway 99

Highway 99 shield

Highway 99
Governor's Road
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation
Existed: 1940 – April 1, 1997
Major junctions
West end:   Highway 5 / Highway 24 – Osborne Corners
   Highway 52 in Copetown
East end:  Highway 8 in Dundas
Location
Major cities: Brantford, Hamilton
Towns: Copetown, Ancaster, Dundas
Highway system
← Highway 98Highway 100 →

King's Highway 99, also known as Highway 99 or The Governors Road, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connected Highway 24 north of Brantford with Highway 8 in Dundas, lying approximately midway between Highway 2 to the south and Highway 5. The Governors Road, an important historical highway, continues west of Highway 24 to Woodstock and onwards to London. Highway 99 was first designated as Highway 5B in 1938, but was renumbered by 1940. The route was paved in 1953, but otherwise remained unchanged until the 1980s, when it was truncated at the Brant County – Hamilton-Wentworth boundary. The remainder of the route was decommissioned in 1997.

Route description

Highway 99 was a generally straight highway that served as an alternative route to Highway 2 and Highway 5. It began at an intersection with Highway 24 and Highway 5 north of Brantford at Osborne Corners. From that intersection, Highway 5 travelled west and Highway 24 south, while both travelled north concurrently. Highway 99 travelled east, crossing the boundary between Brant County and Hamilton (then Wentworth County) 6.1 km (3.8 mi) east of Osborne Corners.[1]

Within Hamilton, the highway crossed a Canadian National Railway on an overpass before bisecting the community of Lynden and Copetown, intersecting Highway 52 in the latter. East of Copetown, the route descended the Niagara Escarpment, finally diverging from its otherwise straight path. It passed through the Dundas Valley Conservation Area before entering the town of Dundas, where it turned north and ended at an intersection with Highway 8 (Cootes Drive).[1]

History

Highway 99 was first established by the Department of Highways in 1938 as an alternative route to the busy Dundas Road (Highway 5) and Transprovincial Highway (Highway 2). On April 13, 1938, the 17.2-mile (27.7 km) Governors Road was assumed into the provincial highway network as Highway 5B.[2][3] This designation was short lived, as the route was renumbered Highway 99 by 1940.[4]

When the province took over responsibility for the Governors Road, it was already paved between Copetown and Dundas; the remainder was a gravel road until it was paved in 1953.[5][6][7] The route of the highway remained unchanged until the early 1980s. In 1982 or 1983, the section of the route laying within Hamilton-Wentworth was transferred to that region, leaving a 6.6 km (4.1 mi) stub.[8][9] On April 1, 1997, the remainder of the highway was transferred to Brant County, decommissioning the route number in the process.[10]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 99, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[11] The entire route was located in Brant. 

Locationkm[11]miDestinationsNotes
Osborne Corners0.00.0  Highway 5 / Highway 24
Brantford1.71.1County Road 32 south (Park Road)
3.52.2County Road 13 north (Dawson Road) – St. George
Brant County – Hamilton boundary6.64.1
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Route map: Bing

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mapart (2010). Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Peter Heiler Ltd. p. 17. § Q25–27. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
  2. ↑ "Appendix 3 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1939. p. 84.
  3. ↑ "Southern Portion of the Province of Ontario Shewing [sic] Road Numbers". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1939. p. 12.
  4. ↑ "Southern Portion of the Province of Ontario Shewing [sic] Road Numbers". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1940. p. 14.
  5. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1938–39. § K–L9.
  6. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1953. § T32–33.
  7. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1954. § T32–33.
  8. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1982–83. § N28–29.
  9. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1984–85. § N28.
  10. ↑ Highway Transfers List (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. April 1, 1997. p. 4.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1