Ontario Highway 19
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North end | Highway 401 near Ingersoll | ||||||
Location | |||||||
Country | Canada | ||||||
Province | Ontario | ||||||
Towns | Ingersoll, Tillsonburg | ||||||
Highway system | |||||||
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King's Highway 19, commonly referred to as Highway 19, is a
Route description
The southern end of Highway 19 begins at Highway 3 in Tillsonburg, while the northern end terminates 400 metres north of the centreline of
The route begins on the southern edge of Tillsonburg at Highway 3 (Talbot Road), travelling north along the eastern side of Big Otter Creek. This section of the highway, known as Vienna Road, lies next to a business/industrial park. At County Road 51 (Simcoe Street), Vienna Road ends and Highway 19 turns west, becoming Oxford Street and crossing Big Otter Creek. At Broadway Street, Highway 19 turns northwest and passes through the downtown strip as well as beside Tillsonburg Town Centre. It continues into residential subdivisions, eventually exiting the town into the municipality of South-West Oxford as it turns north at Quarter Town Line and becomes Plank Line.[3][4]
The route enters farmland, but bisects the hamlet of Ostrander shortly thereafter. It crosses the Ontario Southland Railway, which lies roughly parallel to the entire length of the highway, before passing west of Tillsonburg Airport and curving northwest. After travelling through farmland, the route enter Mount Elgin and intersects County Road 18 (Mt. Elgin Road). After, it continues through more farmland to the community of Salford, where it encounters County Road 46 (Salford Road). It turns northward briefly, emerging back into agricultural surroundings for the final stretch of the route. Just southeast of Ingersoll, it encounters an interchange with Highway 401 (Exit 218); Highway 19 ends immediately north of the westbound ramps. County Road 119 (Harris Street) continues northwest into the town to meet former Highway 2.[3][4]
History
The history of Highway 19 dates back to 1849, when the Baldwin Act and the Act to Authorize Formation of Joint Stock Companies were passed.[5] George Tillson, his sons, and his brother-in-law Benjamin Van Norman were the principal stockholders of the Ingersoll and Port Burwell Road Company, which they formed along with approximately 200 shareholders in September 1849. Proceeding quickly, the company established eight toll booths along the new route, which became known as the Plank and Gravel Road due to the materials with which it was constructed.[6] However, the greed of toll road operators resulted in diminishing upkeep, which forced the province to enact legislature allowing counties to assume ownership of the roads.[5] It took until 1907 for Oxford County to assume the toll road; the proprietors were compensated with $15,500 ($327,600 when adjusted for inflation from 1916).[6]
The gradual implementation of various legislation over the following decade allowed many counties to vastly improve roads under their jurisdiction. By the time the Department of Highways (DHO) assumed the road from Highway 3 in Tillsonburg to Highway 2 in Ingersoll on March 12, 1930 as King's Highway 19, it was once again a gravel road.[1] A year later, on May 27, 1931, the highway was extended north from Woodstock to Shakespeare. As a result of this, a concurrency with Highway 2 was created between Ingersoll and Woodstock. Several months later, on July 1, the department assumed the remainder of the Ingersoll to Port Burwell Road, extending Highway 19 south of Tillsonburg.[7]
As part of a depression relief program, the DHO and Department of Labour undertook several projects in 1933 and 1934, one of which included the Stratford to Tralee Road. On July 4, 1934, the DHO assumed the road as part of Highway 19. To remedy the discontinuity, a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) concurrency with Highway 7 was established.[8] At this point, Highway 19 had grown from its original length of 25.1 kilometres (15.6 mi) to 148.4 kilometres (92.2 mi).[1][9]
The route remained unchanged until the early 1960s, when several highways were renumbered. On December 19, 1961, Highway 19 between Woodstock and Shakespeare was redesignated as
Between then and 1997, no changes were made to Highway 19. On April 1, 1997, the section from Highway 3 south to Port Burwell was
This was followed by a second round of transfers on January 1, 1998, which resulted in the section north of Highway 401 being decommissioned and assumed by Oxford County and Perth County.[14]Today, the majority of the Port Burwell to Tillsonburg segment is designated as Elgin County Road 19. A short segment in Haldimand–Norfolk and Oxford County immediately south of Tillsonburg is designated as County Highway 19. The Ingersoll to St. Marys segment is now known as Oxford County Road 119, while the segment north of Stratford is designated as Perth County Road 119 through
Major intersections
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 19, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[2]
Division | Location | km[2] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
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County Road 19 begins | Port Burwell; Lake Erie waterfront; former Highway 19 southern terminus; Elgin County Road 19 southern terminus | ||||
County Highway 19 begins | Elgin County Road 19 northern terminus; Norfolk County Highway 19 southern terminus | ||||
County Highway 19 ends | Elgin County Road 19 northern terminus; Norfolk County Highway 19 northern terminus | ||||
Tillsonburg | 0.0 | 0.0 | Highway 19 begins Highway 3 – St. Thomas, Simcoe | Highway 19 southern terminus; beginning of Tillsonburg Connecting Link | |
1.4 | 0.87 | County Road 51 east (Simcoe Street) | |||
1.7 | 1.1 | County Road 53 north (Tillson Avenue) / Bloomer Street | |||
4.7 | 2.9 | County Road 20 (Brownsville Road / North Street E) | |||
5.5 | 3.4 | Tillsonburg town limits; end of Connecting Link | |||
Ostrander | |||||
11.1 | 6.9 | County Road 27 west (Prouse Road) | |||
14.3 | 8.9 | Mount Elgin | |||
19.7 | 12.2 | Salford | |||
21.7 | 13.5 | County Road 12 east (Sweaburg Road) | |||
County Road 119 begins | Highway 19 northern terminus; Oxford County Road 119 southern terminus; Highway 401 exit 218 | ||||
Thamesford; formerly Highway 2 ; intersections offset and 200 m (660 ft) concurrency | |||||
Oxford County Road 119 northern terminus | |||||
Stratford | 75.7 | 47.0 | Highway 8 west (Huron Street) – Goderich | Formerly southern end of Highway 8 concurrency | |
75.9 | 47.2 | Highway 7 / Highway 8 east (Ontario Street) – Kitchener | Formerly northern end of Highway 7 / Highway 8 concurrency | ||
County Road 119 begins | Stratford city limits; Perth County Road 119 southern terminus | ||||
98.8 | 61.4 | County Road 131 begins | Perth County Road 119 northern terminus; Perth County Road 131 southern terminus; former Highway 19 follows County Road 131 | ||
Highway 86 ; cosigned as Perth County Line 86 and Wellington County Road 86; former Highway 19 northern terminus; Perth County Road 131 northern terminus | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ^ a b c "Appendix 5 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions of Sections of the King's Highway System for the Years 1930 and 1931". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1932. pp. 76–38. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2016). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
- ^ a b Google (February 23, 2014). "Highway 19 - length and route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-7743-9388-2.
- ^ a b Gillies, Scott. "Highway 19 Was a Toll Road". Ingersoll Times. Sun Media. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ "Appendix 5 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions of Sections". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1932. p. 78.
- ^ "Appendix 4 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions of Sections". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1935. p. 119.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Department of Highways. 1938–1939. § Mileage Table.
- ^ Information Section (December 19, 1961). "No title" (Press release). Department of Highways.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1961. § T30–31.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1962. § T30–31.
- ^ Highway Transfers List (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. April 1, 1997. pp. 2, 4, 7.
- ^ Highway Transfers List - "Who Does What" (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. June 20, 2001. pp. 10–11.