Ontario Highway 125 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 125 is a collector highway within the District of Kenora which connects Red Lake to Balmertown and Cochenour. The highway was first established in 1955 as an access road to Red Lake Airport, but the highway was later extended northerly to Cochenour. A Preliminary Route Plan was prepared by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) in June 1955, which showed the proposed King's Highway from Highway 105 near Red Lake to Red Lake Airport. The DHO assumed the road to Red Lake Airport as King's Highway 125 on November 23, 1955. The new highway was initially 8 miles (13 km) in length. During 1957, the DHO acquired property between Red Lake Airport and the Cochenour Ferry Dock for an extension of Highway 125. A Land Plan was registered on March 25, 1957, which granted title to the DHO for the extension of Highway 125 to Cochenour. This extension to Cochenour completed Highway 125 to its current length of roughly 8.5 miles (14 km). Originally, Highway 125 was gravel-surfaced for its entire length, but the route was paved in its entirety with hot-mix asphalt in 1962.

Despite its short length, Highway 125 is rather noteworthy, as it is Ontario's northernmost King's Highway. Only one Secondary Highway in Ontario goes further north than Highway 125. Secondary Highway 599 runs north from Ignace up to the Pickle Lake area, surpassing the latitude of Highway 125 by approximately 40 km. Highway 125 passes through mostly rural portions of the Red Lake area, as the highway actually skirts around both Balmertown and Red Lake. The highway is two lanes for its entire length. Unless posted otherwise, the speed limit on Highway 125 is 80 km/h (50 mph). Services are available in Red Lake, Balmertown and Cochenour. Please visit the Highway 125 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 125.