Ontario Highway 109 (#2) History - The King's Highways of Ontario

The second King's Highway 109 was one of two new provincial highways constructed east of Bancroft in the late 1950s to serve the area's quickly-expanding uranium mining industry. A large uranium deposit had been discovered in the remote hills east of Bancroft, but access to the site was difficult due to the lack of suitable roads in the area. Until 1958, the only highway that served this area was Highway 500, which was a meandering and narrow Secondary Highway which ended 26 km to the east of the uranium deposit in Downtown Bancroft. It was decided that better roads would have to be built in order to improve road access to this region so that the mining sites could be developed more efficiently. The primary goal was to provide a more direct connection to Highway 28, which was the area's main through route.

Two new King's Highways were constructed as a result of the uranium mining boom near Bancroft. The two new routes were designated as Highway 109 and Highway 111. The former was the main access route from the mining area to Highway 28, while the latter served as a shorter spur route leading to some on the area's mines. The proposed route of Highway 109 within Hastings County was first designated as a King's Highway on March 20, 1958. Within Haliburton County, Highway 109 was designated in two sections during 1958. The section within Monmouth Township was designated on June 26, 1958, while the section in Cardiff Township was designated on September 25, 1958. Construction of the new highway began in 1958 and the route was apparently opened to traffic in May, 1959. However, according to the bi-monthly road bulletins issued by the Department of Highways, Highway 109 was actively under construction until late 1960. The new route of Highway 109 ran from the Highway 28 Junction at Paudash westerly to the Highway 500 Junction south of Wilberforce. There was a short section where Highway 109 ran concurrently with Highway 111. The highway was paved from Paudash to Cardiff in 1959 and from Cardiff to the Highway 500 Junction in 1960-1961. The highway's completed length was 24 km. In 1964, a major route renumbering took place in the Bancroft area which erased Highway 109 from existence. The entire route of Highway 109 was renumbered as Highway 121, effective March 1, 1964. The Highway 109 designation was never again used for a provincial highway route number. A different, unrelated Highway 109 existed in Scarborough Township east of Toronto in the early 1950s.