Ontario Highway 39
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| Route information | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 33.8 km (21.0 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Existed: | 1934 – 1970 (re-numbered as Highway 2) | ||||||||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||||||||
| West end: | Highway 3B in Windsor, Ontario | ||||||||||||
| East end: | Former Highway 2 in Belle River, Ontario | ||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Counties: | Essex County, Ontario | ||||||||||||
| Major cities: | Windsor, Tecumseh, St. Clair Beach, Puce, Belle River, Ontario | ||||||||||||
| Highway system | |||||||||||||
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King's Highway 39, commonly referred to as Highway 39, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 34.6-kilometre (21.5 mi)-long route connected Highway 3 in downtown Windsor with Highway 2 south of Belle River, travelling along the southern shoreline of Lake St. Clair. Highway 39 was established in 1934. In 1961, the Pike Creek Bypass was opened and Highway 39 was rerouted along it. However, the entire route was renumbered as Highway 2 in 1970, retiring the designation from the provincial highway system. Highway 2 was itself decommissioned along the former route of Highway 39 on January 1, 1998 and transferred to Essex County and the City of Windsor. It was subsequently redesignated as Essex County Road 22.
Route description
Highway 39 began in downtown Windsor at the intersection of Ouellette Avenue and Riverside Drive, which was also the terminus of Highway 3B, Highway 18 and Highway 98. Highway 3B, Highway 98 as well as Highway 2 (which continued along Riverside Drive to the Ambassador Bridge) travelled concurrently south along Outlette Avenue to Tecumseh Boulevard. There, the designations split, with Highway 3B branching west and the others branching east. At Howard Avenue, Highway 2 and Highway 98 branched south, while Highway 39 continued east along Tecumseh Boulevard out of Windsor. At Banwell Road, Highway 39 jogged south from Tecumseh Boulevard to the Pike Creek Bypass, now Essex County Road 22, which it gently curved east onto. It followed that modern route south of Pike Creek, through Puce and Belle River, then curved south to end at Highway 2[1]
History
Reroutings
The road originally travelled along what is now Essex County Road 2 (Tecumseh Road), where it led straight into Windsor along today's Tecumseh Road.
In 1961, the two-lane limited-access Pike Creek Bypass was created (and would eventually link up with the E.C. Row Expressway once it was built), that allowed traffic to avoid travelling down the busy County Road 2 (Tecumseh Road) between Puce and Tecumseh. Highway 39 was then re-routed along the new Pike Creek Bypass, deleting the other roads as provincial highways.
The new routing of the road led it along its old path towards Puce, but then diverged along the Pike Creek Bypass towards Manning Road (Essex CR 19). It then turned right (north) for around 2 km, where it met up with Tecumseh Road (CR 2, its old alignment) in Tecumseh. It then turned left and travelled along Tecumseh Road, to its terminus with Highway 3B (Oullette Avenue).
In 1970, Highway 2 was re-aligned along its path, eliminating Highway 39 from the system. Highway 2 would be decommissioned in 1998, however, and redesignated as Essex County Road 22.
Aside from a brief segment east from Manning Road for about 1 km, the road is entirely 2-lanes and without store and house accesses (it was built as a two-lane expressway and only has access at intersections, with no adjacent properties or driveways).
Due to the huge housing boom in western Lakeshore, the road has become extremely congested, and many people have desired the road be widened to four lanes, or even a divided highway or freeway, but due to the narrow right of way, the road is being widened to four lanes as a new Super-Arterial road or even a Super 4, with the possibility of an interchange at Manning Road.
In 1970, Highway 2 was re-routed along all of Highway 39's path, thus deleting it. The Pike Creek Bypass was still in provincial control (as Highway 2) until 1998, when it, too was deleted. It is now known as Essex County Road 22.
Major intersections
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 39, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. The entire route was located in Essex County.
| Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor | 0.0 | 0.0 |   Highway 2 / Highway 18 west (Riverside Drive) | Beginning of concurrency with Highway 2, Highway 3B and Highway 98 | |
| 2.9 | 1.8 | Highway 3B west (Tecumseh Boulevard) | End of Highway 3B concurrency; Highway 2, Highway 39 and Highway 98 turned east onto Tecumseh Boulevard | ||
| 3.6 | 2.2 |  Highway 2 / Highway 98 south (Howard Avenue) | End of Highway 2 and Highway 98 concurrency | ||
| 5.5 | 3.4 | Walker Road | |||
| 10.3 | 6.4 | Lauzon Parkway | |||
| 13.4 | 8.3 | Banwell Road | Highway 39 turned south | ||
| 14.3 | 8.9 | Pike Creek Bypass | In 1970, a gentle curve connected Banwell Road and the Pike Creek Bypass | ||
| Windsor–Sandwich boundary | 16.3 | 10.1 |  County Road 19 (Manning Road) | ||
| Puce | 23.5 | 14.6 |  County Road 2 west (Old Tecumseh Road) | Route of Highway 39 before 1961 | |
| 23.8 | 14.8 |  County Road 25 south (East Puce Road) | |||
| Belle River | 29.4 | 18.3 |  County Road 27 (South Street) | ||
| 33.8 | 21.0 | Highway 2 east – London | Now Essex County Road 42 | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
See also
References
- ↑ Google (February 21, 2014). "Highway 39 - approximate length and route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 21, 2014.