Ontario Highway 130 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 130 is a minor collector highway in the District of Thunder Bay, which connects Highway 11 & Highway 17 to Highway 61 south of Thunder Bay. The highway passes through a predominantly rural area, although it does serve the small community of Rosslyn Village. The history of Highway 130 dates back to the mid-1950s, when a series of township roads through McIntyre Township and Paipoonge Township were designated as a new provincial highway. Preliminary Route Plans were prepared by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) in July 1955, which showed the proposed route of the new King's Highway through the rural area east of Port Arthur and Fort William. The route through McIntyre Township was first assumed as King's Highway 130 by the DHO on December 18, 1955. The route through Paipoonge Township was first assumed by the DHO on March 7, 1956. The section of the road within Port Arthur was not assumed by the DHO and thus this section of the route remained under municipal jurisdiction. Provincial ownership of Highway 130 began at the city limits as they existed in 1955, near the location of today's McIntyre River Bridge on Oliver Road. The highway was approximately 20 miles (32 km) in length, including the non-assumed section of Highway 130 within Port Arthur (See Map). According to Official DHO Road Bulletins issued in early 1956, Highway 130 was already paved at the time of assumption. However, the 1956 and 1957 editions of the Official Road Map of Ontario showed Highway 130 as having some gravel-surfaced sections south of Rosslyn Village. The non-assumed section of Highway 130 via Oliver Road within the limits of the City of Port Arthur was designated as a Municipal Connecting Link by an Order-in-Council, effective May 26, 1960.

In 1970, the new City of Thunder Bay was created out of the amalgamation of the City of Port Arthur, the City of Fort William, along with the Townships of Neebing and McIntyre. As a result of amalgamation, several changes were made to the way provincial highways were administered in the area. A new Municipal Connecting Link system was designated through the City of Thunder Bay, which excluded the former route of Highway 130 through Port Arthur. In addition, a 6-mile provincially-owned section of Highway 130 from the Highway 590 Junction east of Murillo to the former city limits of Port Arthur was transferred from the province to the new City of Thunder Bay, effective October 1, 1970. The route of Highway 130 through the former City of Port Arthur was stripped of its official connecting link status by an Order-in-Council, effective November 5, 1970. On April 1, 1972, the north-south section of Highway 130 from the Highway 590 Junction to the new limits of the City of Thunder Bay at the Township of Paipoonge boundary was transferred to the City of Thunder Bay. A little over a month later, another section of Highway 130 from the Thunder Bay City Limits to the Highway 11 & Highway 17 Junction near Rosslyn Village was transferred. This section of the highway was transferred from the province to the Township of Paipoonge, effective May 3, 1972. Only the 13.4 km north-south section of Highway 130 from Highway 61 to Highway 11 & Highway 17 was retained in the provincial highway system (See Map). The highway's route has changed very little since the early 1970s, except for a short recent extension along Arthur Street in order to connect Highway 130 to the New Shabaqua Highway (New Highway 11 & Highway 17). This extension in 2007 resulted in a slight increase in the length of Highway 130 to 15.4 km.

Highway 130 is a paved two-lane highway for its entire length. There are no services available on Highway 130 south of Rosslyn Village. The speed limit on Highway 130 is 80 km/h (50 mph), unless posted otherwise. Please visit the Highway 130 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 130.