Ontario Highway 4
Highway 4 | |||||||
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| Route information | |||||||
| Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario | |||||||
| Length | 100.8 km[1] (62.6 mi) | ||||||
| Existed | June 24, 1920[2]–present | ||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||
| South end |  Highway 3 – St. Thomas | ||||||
 Highway 401 Highway 402 Highway 7 | |||||||
| North end |  Highway 8 – Clinton | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| Country | Canada | ||||||
| Province | Ontario | ||||||
| Major cities | St. Thomas, London | ||||||
| Towns | Exeter, Clinton | ||||||
| Highway system | |||||||
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King's Highway 4, also known as Highway 4, is a
Highway 4 was first designated in 1920, when a 51-kilometre (32 mi) route between Talbotville Royal and Elginfield was assumed by the
Route description
Highway 4 starts at an intersection with Highway 3 in Talbotville Royal and continues north as a two-lane undivided highway. For most of its length, the highway bisects agricultural land. It travels along a short 2.7-kilometre (1.7 mi) concurrency with Highway 401 from the community of Tempo to Wonderland Road. It encounters an interchange with Highway 402 before entering London city limits. As Highway 4 enters London, it becomes a Connecting Link, known locally as Wonderland Road. Wonderland Road is a 4-lane arterial thoroughfare serving western London, with several big-box stores, a mall, and residential areas. The route turns east onto Sunningdale Road West, which it for a short distance before turning north along Richmond Street.[3][4][5]
Highway 4 continues north, passing through
History
Highway 4 was originally designated in 1920 when the provincial government assumed the road running from Talbotville Royal (St. Thomas) to the Northern Highway (later Highway 7) at Elginfield, via London. The portions within Elgin County were assumed on August 4, while the portions south of London were assumed on June 24. The portions north of and through London were assumed on August 6.[2] The 51.2-kilometre (31.8 mi) route featured a concurrency with the Provincial Highway (later Highway 2) between Lambeth and downtown London.[6][7]
Until the summer of 1925, Ontario highways were named rather than numbered. When route numbering was introduced, the route between St. Thomas and Elginfield became Provincial Highway 4.[8] 1927 saw several new sections of road assumed that would become portion of Highway 4. On September 14, the route was extended to Highway 8 at Clinton. Further north, a new highway was created on June 22, 1927, between Highway 9 at Walkerton and Highway 6 at Durham. This latter section was designated as Highway 4A.[9]
On March 12, 1930, Highway 4 was extended to Durham, fully absorbing the route of Highway 4A in the process. Two months later, on May 11, it was extended south to Bedford Street (now Edith Cavell Boulevard) in Port Stanley.[10] On April 11, 1934, the highway was extended east to the intersection of Highway 10 in Flesherton.[11] Highway 4 reached its maximum length of 275.6 kilometres (171.2 mi) when it was extended from Flesherton to Highway 24 in Singhampton in the mid-1970s.[12][13][14]
Downloads
As part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premier Mike Harris under his Common Sense Revolution platform in 1995, numerous highways deemed to no longer be of significance to the provincial network were decommissioned and responsibility for the routes transferred to a lower level of government, a process referred to as downloading. Portions of Highway 4 were transferred to the counties of Elgin, Huron, Bruce and Grey on January 1, 1998.[15]
The former portion of Highway 4 south of St. Thomas is now signed as Elgin County Road 4. The former northern portion is broken into several different roads:
- Huron County Road 4 from Clinton to near Wingham
- Bruce County Road 4 (London Road) from near Wingham to Riversdale
- A former concurrency with Highway 9 between Riversdale and Walkerton
- Grey County Road 4 from Walkerton to Simcoe County Road 124 just south of Singhampton
In 2017, the
Major intersections
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 4, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1]
| Division | Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Elgin | −19.2 | −11.9 | Edith Cavell Boulevard | Port Stanley; former Highway 4 southern terminus | |
| −17.3 | −10.7 |  County Road 4 begins County Road 21 west (Warren Street) | Elgin County Road 4 southern terminus | ||
| St. Thomas | −7.5– −2.2 | −4.7– −1.4 | 5.3 km (3.3 mi) gap in County Road 4 | ||
Talbotville Royal ; Elgin County Road 4 northern terminus; Highway 4 southern terminus | |||||
| 2.1 | 1.3 |  County Road 11 east (Clinton Line) | |||
| Elgin – London boundary | Southwold – London boundary | 3.5 | 2.2 |  County Road 18 west (Southminster Borne) | |
| London | 6.0 | 3.7 |  Highway 401 west / Colonel Talbot Road – Windsor | Beginning of Highway 401 concurrency; Highway 401 exit 177 | |
| 8.8 | 5.5 | Toronto | End of Highway 401 concurrency; Highway 401 exit 180 | ||
| 15.9 | 9.9 |   Sarnia | Highway 402 exit 100 | ||
| 18.1 | 11.2 | Exeter Road | Formerly Highway 135 | ||
| 18.4 | 11.4 | Wharncliffe Road S | Former routing of Highway 4 (before Jan. 2018) and Highway 2 along Wharncliffe Rd | ||
| 29.8 | 18.5 | Fanshawe Park Road W | Formerly Highway 22 west | ||
| 34.0 | 21.1 | Richmond St / Sunningdale Rd | Former routing of Highway 4 via Richmond Street south | ||
Arva | |||||
| 37.2 | 23.1 |  County Road 16 (Ilderton Road) | |||
Elginfield | |||||
Lucan | |||||
| 50.1 | 31.1 |  County Road 13 (William Street, Alice Street) | |||
Clandeboye | |||||
| 56.1 | 34.9 |  County Road 24 west (McGillivray Road) | |||
Centralia | |||||
South Huron | 66.3 | 41.2 |  County Road 10 west (Crediton Road) | ||
| 68.4 | 42.5 |  County Road 6 east (Kirkton Road) | |||
| 72.4 | 45.0 |  County Road 83 (Thames Road) | Exeter; formerly Highway 83 | ||
Highway 84 | |||||
Kippen | |||||
| 90.4 | 56.2 |  County Road 3 (Mill Road) | Brucefield | ||
| Central Huron (Clinton) | 100.7 | 62.6 | County Road 13 east (King Street) | ||
| 100.8 | 62.6 | County Road 4 begins | Highway 4 northern terminus; Huron County Road 4 southern terminus | ||
Highway 86 | |||||
County Road 4 begins | Huron County Road 4 northern terminus; Bruce County Road 4 southern terminus; 1.5 km (0.9 mi) concurrency | ||||
| Bruce | Brockton | 161.8 | 100.5 |  Highway 9 west – Harriston County Road 20 north | Former southern end of Highway 9 concurrency |
| 175.3 | 108.9 | Highway 9 east – Kincardine | Walkerton; former northern end of Highway 9 concurrency | ||
County Road 4 begins | Bruce County Road 4 northern terminus; Grey County Road 4 western terminus | ||||
County Road 10 (7th Avenue) | |||||
Owen Sound, Mount Forest | Durham | ||||
Flesherton | |||||
Singhampton; formerly Highway 24 ; former Highway 4 northern terminus; Grey County Road 4 eastern terminus; currently cosigned as Grey County Road 124 and Simcoe County Road 124 | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ^ a b Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2008). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
- ^ a b "Report on Provincial Highways". Annual Report (Report) (1920 ed.). Department of Highways. April 26, 1921. pp. 40, 43. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2016). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Google (October 12, 2021). "Highway 4 – Length and Route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 1-55198-226-9.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). 24 mi : 1 in. Ontario Department of Public Highways. 1923. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Archives of Ontario.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). 16 mi : 1 in. Ontario Department of Public Highways. 1925. Mileage Tables inset. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Archives of Ontario.
- ^ "Provincial Highways Now Being Numbered". The Canadian Engineer. 49 (8). Monetary Times Print: 246. August 25, 1925.
Numbering of the various provincial highways in Ontario has been commenced by the Department of Public Highways. Resident engineers are now receiving metal numbers to be placed on poles along the provincial highways. These numbers will also be placed on poles throughout cities, towns and villages, and motorists should then have no trouble in finding their way in and out of urban municipalities. Road designations from "2" to "17" have already been allotted...
- ^ "Appendix No. 6 – Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions of the Provincial Highway System". Annual Report (Report) (1927 ed.). Department of Highways. March 1, 1929. pp. 59–60. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Appendix No. 5 – Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report) (1930 and 1931 ed.). Department of Highways. October 24, 1932. p. 76. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Appendix No. 4 – Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report) (1934 ed.). Department of Highways. March 18, 1935. p. 119. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1974. § J21. Retrieved October 27, 2021 – via Archives of Ontario.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1977. §§ G21–22. Retrieved October 23, 2021 – via Archives of Ontario.
- ISSN 0825-5350. Retrieved October 13, 2021 – via Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
- ^ Highway Transfers List – "Who Does What" (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. June 20, 2001. pp. 5–7.
- ^ "Highway 4 Re-Route". City of London. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
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