Ontario Highway 3 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 3 is a major collector highway which generally follows the Lake Erie shoreline between Windsor and Fort Erie. Significant portions of Highway 3 follow the historical route of the Talbot Road, which was an early 19th Century Ontario pioneer road that was established to encourage settlement near the north shore of Lake Erie. The designation of Highway 3 as a major east-west highway route across Southern Ontario brought additional prosperity and development to this region. Highway 3 served as a vital through route between the London-St. Thomas area and Windsor, until the completion of Highway 401 in the 1960s. In recent decades, Highway 3 has declined in importance in terms of carrying through traffic, although the highway still serves numerous towns and cities along the province's southern tier.

Highway 3 was first established in 1920 when a series of roads leading from Windsor to Niagara Falls, via Leamington, St. Thomas, Tillsonburg, Dunnville and Welland were designated as a new provincial highway. The original route of Highway 3 was changed near Windsor and Fort Erie, in response to the two new International Bridges between Canada and the United States which had been constructed during the late 1920s. The completion of the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo, New York in 1927 resulted in a shift in traffic patterns between Dunnville and the Niagara Frontier. Traffic began to favour the shorter Fort Erie route. Originally, Highway 3 turned north at the community of Chambers Corners, located northeast of Dunnville. Highway 3 then continued to Niagara Falls via Becketts Bridge and Welland, while Highway 3A continued towards Fort Erie via Wainfleet and Port Colborne. In 1929, the two route numbers were reversed, so that Highway 3 would become the through route to the Peace Bridge. Highway 3 continued from Chambers Corners to Fort Erie, while Highway 3A turned towards Niagara Falls at Chambers Corners. The Ambassador Bridge was completed between Windsor and Detroit, Michigan in 1929. Highway 3 was rerouted onto Huron Church Road in order to service this important new bridge. The old road into Downtown Windsor was renumbered as Highway 3A, which later became Highway 3B. In the late 1930s, the Department of Highways (DHO) reconstructed Highway 3 as a divided highway from Windsor to Oldcastle. In addition, the DHO set aside land along Highway 3 from Oldcastle to Maidstone in order to extend this divided highway easterly towards Essex. This right-of-way from Oldcastle to Maidstone was graded for a second roadway, but the graded roadway was never actually utilized for a dual highway. Traces of the grading for this proposed 1930s divided highway are still visible today along the south side of the existing highway.

The route of Highway 3 changed very little from the 1920s until the 1990s. A new bypass was completed around Tillsonburg in the 1970s and the St. Thomas Expressway was completed in 1981. The St. Thomas Expressway is a two-lane undivided arterial highway that is completely controlled-access. The highway was constructed with grade separations and a full interchange at First Avenue. Sufficient right-of-way was reserved so that the highway can be converted into a proper divided highway in the future when traffic volumes warrant such improvements. During the 1970s and 1980s, Highway 3 was relocated onto a new roadway between Maidstone and Ruthven. The new highway bypassed Essex and several other small communities along the original highway. In 1999, the Leamington Bypass was completed, which allowed through traffic to bypass the congested route through downtown.

Considerable portions of Highway 3 were lost to downloading in 1997-1998, when nearly 35% (or just over 150 km) of this highway was transferred to municipalities. The 145 km section of Highway 3 from the Highway 77 Junction near Leamington to the Highway 4 Junction at Talbotville Royal was decommissioned or downloaded, because this section of the highway carried little through traffic. This downloaded section of Highway 3 is now known as Essex Road 34, Chatham-Kent Road 3,and Elgin Road 3. Two other sections of Highway 3 were downloaded to Niagara Region in 1998. A 3.4 km section of Highway 3 was downloaded from Townline Road (Port Colborne City Limits) to the Highway 140 Junction. A 5.6 km section of Highway 3 was also downloaded through the urbanized area of Fort Erie, from Rose Hill Road to Niagara Boulevard at he foot of the Peace Bridge. The downloaded sections of Highway 3 in Niagara Region are now known as Niagara Road 3. Highway 3 is now a discontinuous route, severed into three separate pieces which are linked together by municipally-maintained roads.

Significant improvements are now scheduled for the Highway 3 corridor from Windsor to Leamington. The existing route of Highway 3 is one of the most congested two-lane highways in the province and these improvements will ensure that the highway continues to meet increased traffic demand in the future. Construction began on the widening of the Essex and Maidstone Bypass between Essex Road 34 and Essex Road 8 in 2007. The existing two lane highway will be widened from two lanes to four lanes, in addition to intersection and roadside safety improvements. The remainder of Highway 3 from Walker Road (Essex Road 11) to Essex Road 34 is tentatively scheduled for improvement in 2009-2010. This project will see Highway 3 widened to a five-lane urban cross section. Fortunately, the right-of-way for this proposed highway widening was set aside in the late 1930s for a future divided highway, which never materialized.

Highway 3 passes through predominantly rural areas along its trek across Southern Ontario. The principal towns located along the original highway are Windsor, Leamington, Blenheim, St. Thomas, Aylmer, Tillsonburg, Delhi, Simcoe, Dunnville, Port Colborne and Fort Erie. Most sections of Highway 3 are two lanes, but the road is a four-lane divided highway from the Highway 401 Junction to Cabana Road in Windsor. Near Cabana Road, Highway 3 joins Huron Church Road, which continues through Windsor to the Ambassador Bridge as a six-lane divided arterial road. Highway 3 is a four-lane undivided highway from Fort Erie to Gasline, a community just east of Port Colborne. Other short undivided four-lane sections exist along Highway 3 near major towns along the highway's route. Services along Highway 3 are generally fairly plentiful, although they are a little scarcer along the rural sections between St. Thomas and Leamington. The speed limit on Highway 3 is 80 km/h (50 mph), unless posted otherwise. Please visit the Highway 3 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 3.