Ontario Highway 58
Route information | |||||||
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Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario | |||||||
Length | 15.5 km[2] (9.6 mi) | ||||||
Existed | September 4, 1935[1]–present | ||||||
Southern segment | |||||||
Length | 7.2 km (4.5 mi) | ||||||
South end | Highway 3 in Port Colborne | ||||||
North end | Highway 58A in Welland | ||||||
Northern segment | |||||||
Length | 8.3 km (5.2 mi) | ||||||
South end | Highway 20 near Allanburg | ||||||
North end | Highway 406 in Thorold | ||||||
Location | |||||||
Country | Canada | ||||||
Province | Ontario | ||||||
Highway system | |||||||
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King's Highway 58, commonly referred to as Highway 58, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route is divided into two segments with a combined length of 15.5 km (9.6 mi). The southern segment travels from Niagara Regional Road 3, formerly Highway 3, in Port Colborne, to the Highway 58A junction in the southern end of Welland, a distance of 7.2 km (4.5 mi). The northern segment begins at Highway 20 near Allanburg and travels north and west to a large junction with Highway 406 at the St. Catharines – Thorold boundary, a distance of 8.3 km (5.2 mi). An 18.1 km (11.2 mi) gap separates the two segments within Welland and Pelham. The entire route is located within the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
The history of Highway 58 is tumultuous due to various relocation projects resulting from the construction of the fourth Welland Canal and Highway 406. Prior to 1997, Highway 58 was continuous and travelled through the west side of Welland, maintained under a Connecting Link agreement. The route was first established in 1935, though it remained unnumbered on the 1935 and 1936 official road maps. By 1937 it extended from Port Colborne to St. Catharines, though the route it travelled between those places shifted several times over the following 30 years. In the late 1990s, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) transferred several highways or portions of highways throughout the province to lower levels of government. Highway 58 was decommissioned through Welland on April 1, 1997.
Route description
The segment between Highway 406 in Thorold and Niagara Road 57 east of Thorold is a four-lane freeway. It also contains the Thorold Tunnel, one of the three tunnels under the Welland Canal. The remaining segments vary between a two-lane rural highway and four-lane urban roadway. Overall, the highway is 15.5 km (9.6 mi) in length, with a 18.1-kilometre (11.2 mi) gap separating the two sections.[2][3]
The southern section of Highway 58 begins at a junction with the former
The northern section of Highway 58 begins at an intersection with the western terminus of
At the western end of the tunnel, Highway 58 emerges as a divided highway in Thorold. It meets an interchange with Pine Street; the eastbound on-ramp from Pine Street features a stop sign and no merging lane prior to entering the Thorold Tunnel. West of Pine Street, the route passes beneath a Trillium Railway line and curves slightly southwest. It encounters an interchange with Collier Street, gradually curving to the northwest and passing beneath Richmond Street. Highway 58 ends at a complicated interchange with both St. Davids Road as well as Highway 406 on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment.[3]
History
The first portion of what became Highway 58 was assumed on September 4, 1935. Although only a short stub travelling south from Main Street in Welland (then
On July 17 and 30, 1958, the Department of Highways assumed the West Side Road, constructed in the years prior by Welland County between Port Colborne and Welland.[7][8] The old highway was turned back to the WCA on June 26 and September 4 of that same year.[7] Highway 58 then entered Welland along what is now Prince Charles Drive, meeting and becoming concurrent with Highway 3A at Riverside Drive / Lincoln Street and then turning east along East Main Street.[9] By 1960, the Welland Bypass was completed along the routing of the former
North of Welland, Highway 58 initially travelled concurrent with Highway 3A along Niagara Street and the Merrittville Highway to Highway 20, where Highway 3A ended. Highway 58 turned east and travelled concurrent with Highway 20 across the Welland Canal at Allanburg, before turning north onto the current route. However, it continued north along Allanburg Road into Thorold, where it crossed the Welland Canal on a swing bridge and travelled north into St. Catharines along Ormond Street, Merritt Street and Hartzel Road (Niagara Regional Road 52) to Highway 8 (Queenston Street, now Niagara Regional Road 81).[12]
Effect of the Thorold Tunnel and Highway 406
The routing of Highway 58 was eventually upheaved by two major changes within the Niagara Peninsula. The first was the construction of the
The second change was the initial construction of Highway 406 in the mid-1960s, establishing a new northern terminus for Highway 58 at the St. Davids Road interchange on the Niagara Escarpment. The St. Davids Road interchange was fully opened with the Highway 406 extension to Beaverdams Road on November 21, 1969.[17] Eventually Highway 406 would reroute the section of Highway 58 along the Merrittville Highway between Welland and Highway 20 to instead turn east from Niagara Street along Merritt Road, where it curved north to become the two-laned Highway 406.[18][19] This happened when Highway 406 was extended south from Beaverdams Road to Merritt Road on June 30, 1971.[20][21]
Downloading
Budget constraints brought on by a recession in the 1990s resulted in the Mike Harris provincial government forming the Who Does What? committee in 1995 to determine cost-cutting measures in order to balance the budget after a deficit incurred by former premier Bob Rae.[22] It was determined that many Ontario highways no longer serve long-distance traffic movement and should therefore be maintained by local or regional levels of government. The MTO consequently
No part of Highway 58 today follows the original 1935 route along the Welland Canal. Only a 6.7-kilometre (4.2 mi) section of the 1937 routing, north from Highway 20 (Lundy's Lane) is still used by the route now.[3]
Major intersections
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 58, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[2] The entire route is located in the Regional Municipality of Niagara.[3]
Location | km[2] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regional Road 3 – Fort Erie | Formerly Highway 3; Highway 58 southern terminus | ||||||
Regional Road 23 (Forks Road) – Dain City | |||||||
7.2 | 4.5 | Regional Road 54 begins (Prince Charles Drive) | End of southern section | ||||
18.1 km (11.2 mi) gap in Highway 58 | |||||||
Regional Road 82 south (Allanport Road) | Beginning of northern section | ||||||
28.6 | 17.8 | Regional Road 53 (Beaverdams Road) | |||||
29.6 | 18.4 | Highway 7186 | |||||
30.0– 30.8 | 18.6– 19.1 | Thorold Tunnel under the Welland Canal | |||||
31.0 | 19.3 | Regional Road 67 (Pine Street) | Interchange | ||||
32.1 | 19.9 | Regional Road 56 (Collier Street) | Interchange | ||||
33.6 | 20.9 | St. Catharines | Interchange; Highway 406 exit 11; Highway 58 northern terminus | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
References
- ^ a b "Appendix No. 4 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions of Sections of the King's Highway System for the Year 1935". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1935. p. 49. Retrieved February 3, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2016). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
- ^ "Massasauga range in southern Ontario". Brent Huffman, Toronto Zoo. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
- ^ "Appendix 3 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1938. p. 81.
- ^ "Map Showing Highway Numbers". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1938. p. 12.
- ^ a b Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1959. pp. 239, 241.
- ^ A.A.D.T. Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 And Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1970. pp. 88–89.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1959. Welland inset.
- ^ Warwick, Peter D.A. "Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto Railway 1930-1961". TrainWeb. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1960. Welland inset.
- ^ Google Earth historic imagery, dated 1934/35
- ^ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. "The Thorold Tunnel". Government of Ontario. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^ Walter, Karena (May 2, 2015). "Search Engine: Thorold Tunnel Has Years of Life Yet". St. Catharines Standard. Canoe Sun Media. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^ Planning Branch (1964). Niagara Peninsula Planning Study (Report). Department of Highways. pp. 17–20.
- ^ Regional Municipality of Niagara Planning Studies Report Number 6 (Report). Reed, Voorhees & Associates Limited. December 1971. pp. 5–1, 5–2, fig. 24.
- ^ A.A.D.T. Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 And Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1971. p. 12.
- ^ Southern Terminus of Highway 406 in 1986 (Map). Cartography by United States Geological Survey. Microsoft. July 1, 1986. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
- ISBN 0-8020-0933-6. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
- ^ Information Services (June 28, 1971). "[No Title]" (Press release). Department of Transportation and Communications.
- ^ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Photogrammetry Office. Department of Transportation and Communications. 1972. § M–N23.
- ^ "The Age of Non-Planning". The Neptis Foundation. 28 June 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ISBN 0-7778-9068-2. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ^ Highway Transfers List (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. April 1, 1997. p. 3.