History of King's Highway 17B (Thunder Bay):
The Fort William and Port Arthur (later Thunder Bay) Highway 11B & Highway 17B Business Route was established in 1968, following the completion of the Lakehead
Expressway. The Highway 11 & Highway 17 designation was assigned to this new bypass route around Fort William and Port Arthur, while the old route of Highway 11
& Highway 17 through the two cities via Hodder Avenue, Cumberland Street, Bay Street, Memorial Avenue, May Street and Arthur Street was renumbered as Highway 11B
& Highway 17B. The two highways ran concurrently for their entire 17.5 km route through Thunder Bay. The entire business route was under municipal jurisdiction.
Even before the completion of the Lakehead Expressway, the route of Highway 11 & Highway 17 through Port Arthur and Fort William was considered to be a Municipal
Connecting Link under local jurisdiction. Orders-in-Council designating the route through Port Arthur and Fort William were signed on June 12, 1958 and February 19,
1959, respectively. A revised Municipal Connecting Link for Highway 11B & Highway 17B through the newly-created City of Thunder Bay was designated by an
Order-in-Council dated November 5, 1970. The Municipal Connecting Link designation through Thunder Bay was formally repealed by an Order-in-Council dated February 5,
1981. However, the business loop continued to be signed by the municipality for many years thereafter. The Thunder Bay Business Route has been omitted from all MTO
mileage logs after 1989. However, the route continued to be marked on the Official Ontario Road Map up until 1997, which suggests that the route continued to be
signed until that time.
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