Ontario Highway 43 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 43 was a collector highway which traversed most of Eastern Ontario. The highway began at the Highway 7 Junction in Perth and ended at the Highway 34 Junction in Alexandria, near the Ontario-Quebec Boundary. Highway 43 existed from the late 1930s up until the late 1990s, when it was downloaded in its entirety to the County of Lanark, the United Counties of Leeds & Grenville and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry. At 154 km in length, Highway 43 was the longest King's Highway in Ontario to be completely downloaded during 1997 and 1998.

The history of King's Highway 43 dates back to the late 1930s, when the Winchester-Alexandria Road was assumed as a new provincial highway. Parts of this road were also known as "The Council Road". Preliminary Route Plans were prepared by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) dated September 24, 25 and 28, 1937, for the Counties of Dundas, Stormont and Glengarry, respectively. These plans showed the proposed route of a new King's Highway between the Village of Winchester and the Highway 34 Junction in Alexandria. The proposed highway was just over 40 miles (approximately 65 km) in length. The DHO assumed jurisdiction over the new highway on April 13, 1938 (See Map). Interestingly, there were some discrepancies regarding the western terminus of Highway 43 in early DHO documents. The DHO Official Road Bulletin dated June 2, 1938, indicated that the route of Highway 43 began in Winchester's village centre, rather than at the Highway 31 Junction located south of the village. It was indicated that Highway 31 & Highway 43 were initially overlapped, concurrent routes on the southern approach to Winchester. However, the 1938-1939 Official Road Map and all subsequent editions indicated a slightly shorter mileage for the highway and showed the western terminus of Highway 43 as being at the Highway 31 Junction south of Winchester. Most sections of Highway 43 through the County of Dundas and County of Stormont were already paved at the time of the road's assumption. The pavement width was reportedly quite narrow at first, as the road was paved by the counties prior to the route being assumed by the DHO as a King's Highway in 1938. There were short gravel sections that existed near Chesterville and Monkland, along with a winding section of gravel highway for a distance of 11 miles through Glengarry County west of Alexandria. Early DHO Official Road Bulletins warned motorists to "keep strictly to the right approaching summits" due to the narrow roadway width. To correct this issue, a widened mulch pavement was laid over most sections of Highway 43 during road reconstruction projects carried out in 1939 and 1940. However, the section of Highway 43 through Glengarry County west of Alexandria remained gravel-surfaced for the duration of World War II.

Beginning in 1950, a series of highway improvement projects were carried out along Highway 43, which included several extensive realignments and diversions. Many of the diversions were constructed in order to minimize the number of at-grade railway crossings along Highway 43. The original highway's route crossed the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) several times between Winchester and Alexandria. The first section to be upgraded ran from Monkland to Finch, where three old sections of Highway 43 were bypassed by improved highway alignments. The most notable diversion was constructed east of Finch, where a sizeable portion of the original Highway 43 alignment was bypassed in 1950. The old alignment of Highway 43 followed Concession Road 2-3, Finch-Roxborough Township Road and Kyle Road. Jurisdiction over the old highway was transferred to the County of Stormont, effective October 12, 1953. Another old section of Highway 43 through the community of Avonmore was also bypassed by a new highway diversion in 1951. The old highway via Fairview Drive, Main Street and Centennial Drive was transferred to the County of Stormont, effective October 12, 1953. A third diversion was constructed west of Monkland in 1950-1951. The old alignment of Highway 43 followed Tolmie's Corners Road and Roxborough Gardens Road. The old highway was transferred to the County of Stormont, effective November 2, 1953. In Glengarry County, a diversion was built north of Apple Hill in 1952-1953 which bypassed a portion of the original highway. Jurisdiction over the old highway via Vallance Road and Diversion Road was transferred from the DHO to the County of Glengarry on September 8, 1953. Paving work was completed along Highway 43 in 1954, when the final gravel section west of Alexandria was paved.

In the late 1950s, planning work began for a new bypass around Chesterville. The route for the proposed Chesterville Bypass was designated by an Order-in-Council, effective November 6, 1957. Construction work began on the first phase of the Chesterville Bypass in 1958, where a diversion was completed west of Chesterville in order to bypass two at-grade CPR crossings on the existing route of Highway 43. This first section of the Chesterville Bypass began at Queen Street at the western entrance to Chesterville and continued westerly for approximately 2 km, where it tied back into the existing route of Highway 43. The bypassed route of Highway 43 through Chesterville via Loucks Road and Main Street North was subsequently renumbered as Highway 43B. For many years. Highway 43 entered Chesterville from the west via Queen Street, where it continued into the village centre and connected with the route of Highway 43B at the intersection of Queen Street and Main Street North. Although the entire route of the Chesterville Bypass was designated in the 1950s, the rest of the bypass lying southeast of Queen Street was not completed until the early 1970s.

As originally assumed in 1938, the DHO had jurisdiction over the entire route of Highway 43, including the urban sections of the highway through Chesterville and Alexandria. Jurisdiction over the section of Highway 43 (Kenyon Street) lying within the Town of Alexandria was transferred from the DHO to the municipality, effective March 11, 1961. This urban section of Highway 43 was subsequently designated as a Municipal Connecting Link. The completion of the first phase of the Chesterville Bypass in 1958 resulted in a change to the route of Highway 43 through the Village of Chesterville. Instead of turning north onto Main Street, Highway 43 was rerouted via Queen Street to the western entrance to Chesterville. The DHO assumed jurisdiction over Queen Street through the Village of Chesterville, effective December 31, 1958. The DHO later transferred jurisdiction over the route of Highway 43 through Chesterville (via Queen Street and Main Street South). On July 1, 1967, jurisdiction over the urban section of Highway 43 from the Chesterville Bypass to South Street was transferred to the Village of Chesterville. This urban section of Highway 43 was subsequently designated as a Municipal Connecting Link. Once the second phase of the Chesterville Bypass opened to traffic southeast of Queen Street in 1973, Highway 43 was rerouted along the new bypass. The provincially-owned southern entrance to Chesterville from the village limits at South Street to the Chesterville Bypass was transferred to the County of Dundas by an Order-in-Council, effective September 22, 1976. It has not been confirmed if the former route of Highway 43 through Chesterville via Queen Street and Main Street South was signed as Highway 43B between 1973 and 1976.

In the early 1960s, Highway 43 was extended westerly from the Highway 31 Junction south of Winchester to Highway 7 at Perth (See Map). This new extension was created when the DHO assumed a series of county roads between Winchester and Smiths Falls via Kemptville and Merrickville as a new King's Highway. This proposed extension of Highway 43 through the Counties of Grenville and Dundas was first depicted on Preliminary Assumption Plans dated July 1961. The new route was designated as a King's Highway by an Order-in-Council, effective July 20, 1961. The extension of Highway 43 between Smiths Falls and Perth was created out of a route renumbering. In 1961, Highway 15 was rerouted concurrently with Highway 29 between Smiths Falls and Carleton Place. The former route of Highway 15 between Smiths Falls and Perth was renumbered as Highway 43. For about 3 miles through Winchester, Highway 43 was routed concurrently with Highway 31. This long highway extension in 1961 more than doubled the length of Highway 43 up to approximately 96 miles (154 km) from its previous length of 40 miles (65 km). The non-assumed sections of Highway 43 which passed through the incorporated limits of the Town of Smiths Falls and the Village of Merrickville were subsequently designated as Municipal Connecting Links. The route of Highway 43 through the Village of Kemptville was not assumed initially. A Preliminary Assumption Plan was prepared in March 1962, which showed the proposed assumption of Highway 43 through Kemptville. The plan was registered on May 7, 1962, and the route was designated as a King's Highway by an Order-in-Council, effective July 12, 1962. In the Town of Perth, the Municipal Connecting Link route via Craig Street, Gore Street, Foster Street and Wilson Street began at the eastern municipal limits and ended at Harris Street. Until the late 1960s, the DHO maintained jurisdiction over a 0.4 mile section of Highway 43 from Harris Street northerly to the Highway 7 Junction in Perth. However, jurisdiction over this section of Highway 43 was transferred from the DHO to the Town of Perth by an Order-in-Council, effective April 1, 1969. This transferred section of Highway 43 was subsequently added to the existing Municipal Connecting Link through Perth. From 1969 up until the highway's decommissioning in 1998, provincial jurisdiction over Highway 43 began at the eastern limits of Perth.

In 1966, DHO's Eastern Ontario Planning Study recommended the construction of a new bypass around the southern side of Winchester in order to carry Highway 31 & Highway 43 traffic. The proposed Winchester Bypass was designated as a King's Highway by an Order-in-Council, effective February 18, 1971. Construction of the new Winchester Bypass commenced in 1971. The new Winchester Bypass was completed in 1974 and included a grade-separated crossing of the CPR. The old route of Highway 43 through the Village of Winchester was renumbered as Highway 43B following the completion of the new bypass. A roughly 3 km section of the former route of Highway 31 & Highway 43 through the Village of Winchester via Main Street and St. Lawrence Street was transferred to the Township of Winchester and the Village of Winchester, effective December 17, 1975. About 1.2 km of the old highway from Fred Street northwesterly to the Winchester Fairgrounds (the present day site of the Joel Steele Community Centre) was previously designated as a Municipal Connecting Link and was thus not under provincial jurisdiction.

On January 1, 1998, the entire route of Highway 43 was decommissioned and transferred to the County of Lanark, the United Counties of Leeds & Grenville and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry. This former King's Highway is now officially known as Lanark County Road 43, Leeds & Grenville County Road 43 and Stormont, Dundas, & Glengarry County Road 43, although the road is still often referred to collectively as "Highway 43" by motorists. Services are available in most communities along the highway. Generally, Highway 43 is a two-lane highway, but some sections have been widened to four lanes within towns. Unless posted otherwise, the speed limit on Highway 43 is 80 km/h (50 mph). Please visit the Highway 43 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 43.