History Ontario Highway 70

the highway 70 designation first used along heenan highway, connecting rainy river region kenora provide first canadian road link area accessible united states. in 1922, kenora mpp peter heenan , dr. mctaggart approached government lobby construction of road between nestor falls , kenora. nestor falls northernmost point accessible road rainy river area. heenan become minister of lands , forests in mitch hepburn s cabinet. provided impetus construction begin in 1934. unlike built roads in area, fort frances – kenora highway, known prior opening, constructed through rugged terrain of canadian shield. rocks, forests, lakes, muskeg, , insects served major obstacles during construction of 100-kilometre (62 mi) highway, progressed both ends. late 1935, remaining gap in road sioux narrows bridge. construction on bridge underway march 1936; rapidly assembled using douglas fir british columbia main structural members. bridge completed on june 15, 1936, completing link between fort frances , kenora.

sioux narrows bridge in 1951

on july 1, 1936, premier mitch hepburn attended ceremony in front of rainy lake hotel in fort frances. on rainy afternoon, @ 5:30 p.m., peter heenan handed hepburn pair of scissors cut ribbon crossing road , declare highway open. hepburn, addressing crowd gathered, asked if call heenan highway, think of that? . crowd cheered , hepburn cut ribbon.

the heenan highway assumed dho shortly after merger department of northern development. following merger, dho begin assigning trunk roads throughout northern ontario part of provincial highway network. portion lying within kenora district designated highway 70 on september 1, while portion within rainy river district designated on september 29.

the original route of highway 70 split in 2 south of finland; highway 70 turned east off lake corner, south emo, while highway 70a turned west black hawk south barwick. northern end of highway concurrent highway 17 21.7 kilometres (13.5 mi) kenora, , southern end concurrent highway 71 37.0 kilometres (23.0 mi) between emo , fort frances. during 1952, highway extended south split highway 71, midway between barwick , emo. 1953, new road opened , informally designated new route of highway 70. old routes decommissioned on february 8, , new route designated on march 10, 1954.

throughout mid late 1950s, new highway constructed west thunder bay towards fort frances. road designated highway 120. in 1959, instead decided make new link westward extension of highway 11; major renumbering took place on april 1, 1960: highway 11 established between rainy river , fort frances, highway 71 truncated west of highway 70 junction, , entirety of highway 70 renumbered highway 71.

current highway 6, , former highway 70, facing northwest towards shallow lake.


bruce peninsula

on april 22, 1965, dho recycled highway 70 designation, providing shorter route traffic between bruce peninsula , owen sound. new highway followed existing grey county road through shallow lake - southwest diagonal. surveyed in 1854 ontario s deputy surveyor, charles rankin, provide short route between undeveloped sydenham (now owen sound) , hepworth townsites. route passed through large swamp , result remained unimproved 1 lane trail until 1920s. time road designated provincial highway in 1960s, paved 2 lane route. route remained in service short of 32 years, remaining unchanged aside minor curve alignment improvements , rehabilitation. on april 1, 1997, route of highway 6 south of hepworth highway 21 decommissioned provincial highway. entire length of highway 70 subsequently renumbered part of highway 6 rectify resulting discontinuity.