Ontario Highway 132 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 132 is a minor collector highway in Renfrew County which connects Highway 41 near Dacre to Highway 60 in Renfrew. This highway offers motorists some of the Upper Ottawa Valley's most diverse scenery. Within 30 km, the highway leaves behind the prosperous farms of the Renfrew area and heads west into the beautiful rustic pioneer highlands of the Opeongo Mountains. The highway generally follows the historical route of the Ottawa and Opeongo Colonization Road, which was an early pioneer road established in the mid-19th Century to encourage settlement in western Renfrew County.

Highway 132 was first established in the mid-1950s, when the Dacre-Renfrew Road was assumed by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) as a new King's Highway. A Preliminary Route Plan was prepared by the DHO in November 1955, which showed the proposed route of a new King's Highway between the Highway 41 Junction near Dacre and Renfrew. The DHO assumed the road as King's Highway 132 on January 11, 1956. The new highway was approximately 19 miles (30 km) in length. The section of the route passing through the Town of Renfrew was not assumed by the DHO, and thus that section of Highway 132 remained under municipal jurisdiction. At first, the highway was mostly gravel-surfaced. The only paved sections were from Dacre to the Highway 41 Junction and on the western approach to Renfrew. In 1958, the highway was paved from Shamrock to the western approach to Renfrew. The balance of the highway was paved between Shamrock and Dacre in 1960. The route of Highway 132 has not changed significantly since it was first designated in the 1950s. In conjunction with Highway 41 and Highway 28, Highway 132 forms the only major east-west highway link between Bancroft and the Upper Ottawa Valley.

Highway 132 is a paved two-lane highway from the Highway 41 Junction to Renfrew. Apart from the Town of Renfrew, the only community along Highway 132 is Dacre, located near the Highway 41 Junction. Services are available in Dacre, but fill up in Renfrew if you plan to use Highway 132 at night. There are no 24-hour gas stations located along the Highway 28, Highway 41 and Highway 132 corridor between Peterborough and Renfrew, which represents a distance of nearly 230 km. The speed limit on Highway 132 is 80 km/h (50 mph), unless posted otherwise. Please visit the Highway 132 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 132.