Ontario Highway 29 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 29 was a major collector highway which ran from Highway 2 in Brockville to Highway 15 in Smiths Falls. The highway was downloaded in its entirety in 1998 to the County of Leeds and Grenville. Highway 29 was the oldest provincial highway in Eastern Ontario to be lost entirely to downloading.

Highway 29 has a rather strange and complex history. When the highway was first designated as Provincial Highway 29 in May 1927, there was a 27 km gap in the route between Smiths Falls and Carleton Place. On some early gasoline company maps, Highway 29 is shown running concurrently with Highway 15 between Smiths Falls and Carleton Place, via Perth. However, the Official Ontario Road Maps from the late 1920s and early 1930s, as well as the Department of Highways (DHO) mileage charts for Highway 29, indicate that this gap did indeed exist for a number of years. It is not known why this gap in the highway's route existed in the first place. The direct road between Smiths Falls and Carleton Place (via Franktown) was nearly paved in its entirety by 1930. However, for some reason or another, this road via Franktown was not designated as a part of Highway 29 until the road was assumed by the Department of Highways in 1936.

When Highway 29 was first designated in 1927, most of the highway was gravel-sufaced. Only the section of the highway between Carleton Place and Almonte was paved, along with a small section of Highway 29 through Pakenham. In 1930, Provincial Highway 29 was redesignated as King's Highway 29, and the highway was paved from Brockville northerly to Forthton. Additional paving work took place between Newbliss and Smiths Falls in 1931, as well as some minor paving work at the Arnprior end of the highway. The highway was paved from Newbliss to Frankville in 1933. Paving operations continued into 1934, when the remaining gravel section between Forthton and Frankville was paved. The gravel gaps in the northern section of Highway 29 between Arnprior and Almonte were paved during highway improvement projects carried out between 1934 and 1936.

Once the Franktown Road had been assumed in 1936, the length of Highway 29 increased from 94 km to 124 km. The highway also ran concurrently with other routes during its 71-year existence. In 1935, Highway 42 was first commissioned between Highway 29 at Forthton and Westport. Highway 42 was also co-designated along Highway 29 from the junction of these two highways at Forthton southerly to Brockville. In 1961, Highway 15 was rerouted from Perth onto its present route between Smiths Falls and Carleton Place. Highway 15 ran concurrently with Highway 29 along this route from Smiths Falls to Carleton Place between 1962 and 1983.

In 1983, a major route renumbering took place which shortened the length of Highway 29 significantly. Highway 29 was truncated at Smiths Falls, and Highway 15 assumed the old route of Highway 29 from Smiths Falls to Arnprior. At the same time, the co-designation between Highway 29 and Highway 42 from Forthton to Brockville was discontinued. After 1983, Highway 42 ended at the Highway 29 Junction, rather than run concurrently with Highway 29 into Brockville. From 1983 to 1998, the length of Highway 29 was 52.3 km.

Highway 29 was formally decommissioned as a King's Highway on January 1, 1998, when the remaining section of Highway 29 from Brockville to Smiths Falls was downloaded to the County of Leeds and Grenville. The highway is now officially known as Leeds and Grenville County Road 29, although the highway is still commonly referred to as "Highway 29" by motorists. Services are available in most larger communities along Highway 29. Unless posted otherwise, the speed limit on Highway 29 is 80 km/h (50 mph). Please visit the Highway 29 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 29.