Ontario Highway 22 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 22 was a minor collector highway which ran from the Highway 7 & Highway 79 Junction near Watford to the Highway 4 Junction in London. Until the 1980s, the highway formed part of an important through route between London and Sarnia. However, the completion of Highway 402 in the early 1980s substantially reduced the importance of Highway 22. In 1998, the highway was downloaded in its entirety to the Counties of Lambton and Middlesex and the City of London.

The history of Highway 22 dates back to 1927 when a new provincial highway was designated across Middlesex and Lambton Counties. The original highway route began at the Highway 7 Junction north of Watford and proceeded south into Watford. From there, Highway 22 turned east towards Strathroy and continued east to join Highway 4 north of London. The highway then ran concurrently with Highway 4 into Downtown London, where it ended at the Highway 2 Junction (Dundas Street). It may be of interest to note that some gasoline company road maps from the 1920s and 1930s erroneously show Highway 22 paired with Highway 7 in a concurrent routing between Sarnia and Watford.

In 1930, Provincial Highway 22 was re-designated as King's Highway 22. The last gravel section on Highway 22 was paved with a concrete surface in 1930. The route of Highway 22 did not change significantly until 1947, when a new, more direct highway alignment was established between Hickory Corner and the Highway 7 Junction near Watford. The new highway alignment bypassed both Strathroy and Watford and shortened the distance between Sarnia and London by 8 km. The old alignment of Highway 22 via Strathroy was decommissioned as a King's Highway, except for the section between Watford and Highway 7, which became an extension of Highway 79. The new alignment of Highway 22 remained a gravel road until in was finally paved in 1952. Mysteriously, the old Highway 22 alignment between Watford and Hickory Corner appears on some maps from the 1950s as Highway 22A. The old Highway 22 route is known today as Middlesex and Lambton County Road 39.

In 1973, Highway 22 was rerouted through London. The old concurrent route of Highway 4 and Highway 22 leading into downtown was discontinued. Instead, the highway was extended easterly along Fanshawe Park Road to meet up with Highway 126. This section of Highway 22 via Fanshawe Park Road was most likely a city-posted route, since the Ministry of Transportation's mileage logs continued to indicate that Highway 22 ended at Highway 4. However, the Official Ontario Road Maps from 1973 to 1990 show that Highway 22 continued east between Highway 4 and Highway 126. In 1991, Highway 126 was decommissioned as a King's Highway. Accordingly, the city-posted Highway 22 route along Fanshawe Park Road between Highway 4 and Highway 126 (Highbury Avenue) was discontinued. On January 1, 1998, Highway 22 was downloaded in its entirety to Lambton and Middlesex Counties. The former highway is now known as Lambton County Road 22, Middlesex County Road 22, and Fanshawe Park Road within the City of London.

Highway 22 traverses a predominantly rural region of Southwestern Ontario. Apart from the City of London, the highway passes through only a handful of small communities along its 46 km route. Services are available in most communities along Highway 22. Most sections of Highway 22 are two lanes, but some parts of the highway near London have been widened to four lanes. The speed limit on rural sections of Highway 22 is 90 km/h (55 mph), unless posted otherwise. Please visit the Highway 22 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 22.