Ontario Highway 511 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

Secondary Highway 511 was a local highway within the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew, which served a number of small villages located north of Highway 7. Up until the late 1990s, Highway 511 connected Highway 7 in Perth with Highway 508 in Calabogie. However, the route of Highway 511 which existed in the 1990s was actually much longer than the original route of the highway established back in the 1950s. At one time, Highway 511 and neighbouring Highway 508 were strange anomalies of the provincial highway system, as they did not connect to any other provincial highways apart from each other when they were first established in 1956. Highway 511 is also noteworthy as it was the only Ontario Secondary Highway to ever pass though Lanark County.

The history of Highway 511 dates back to the mid-1950s, when the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) established a new series of Secondary Highways throughout Northern, Central and Eastern Ontario. The proposed route of Highway 511 was first depicted on Preliminary Route Plans prepared by the DHO in April 1956. The highway was designated by an Order-in-Council dated May 9, 1956. Highway 511 began at the Lanark-Darling Township Boundary at Brightside and extended northerly for approximately 21 1/2 miles (35 km) to Highway 508 in Calabogie. According to Official Road Bulletins issued by the DHO in the late 1950s, Highway 511 had a primed bituminous gravel surface at the time of the highway's designation in 1956. The entire length of Highway 511 was surface-treated in 1961, which effectively provided a stabilized hard-surfaced road.

A short northerly extension of Highway 511 took place in 1966, when a new diversion for Highway 508 was completed around the Village of Calabogie. As a result of this new diversion, an old section of Highway 508 through Calabogie was bypassed. The eastern part of Old Highway 508 through Calabogie was renumbered as Highway 511, in order to unite Highway 511 with the Calabogie Bypass (Highway 508 New). This extension added about 0.6 miles (1 km) to the length of Highway 511.

During the early 1980s, a significant extension of Highway 511 took place. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC) acquired jurisdiction and control over Lanark County Road 1 from the Highway 7 Junction in Perth northerly to the southern terminus of Highway 511 at Brightside as a new Secondary Highway. Preliminary Assumption Plans were prepared by the MTC dated March 1, 1982, which showed the proposed 19 1/2-mile (31 km) extension of Highway 511 between Brightside and Perth. These plans were registered on April 1, 1982, which thereby assumed the extension of Highway 511 into the provincial highway system. This extension of Highway 511 was formally designated as a Secondary Highway by an Order-in-Council dated September 16, 1982. When this southern section of Highway 511 from Brightside to Perth was assumed, it finally connected Highway 511 to the rest of the provincial highway network for the first time, via Highway 7. The extension in 1982 increased the mileage of Highway 511 to approximately 39 miles (63 km).

Over the years, a number of realignments and revisions took place along Highway 511 in order to improve the highway's geometry and offer a more direct route. By the early 1970s, the two old bridges which spanned the Madawaska River at the southern entrance to Calabogie were in dire need of replacement. Both Madawaska River Bridges were replaced during 1972, with Highway 511 traffic temporarily diverted over two adjacent Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) structures. The structure over the Madawaska River North Branch was constructed on the existing highway alignment, while the Madawaska River South Branch structure was built on a new diversion. The north bridge crossing had a 5-ton load limit imposed on it by the time it was taken out of service in June 1972, with the south structure reportedly starting to fail altogether due to its age. The new replacement bridges were designed to accommodate modern traffic volumes and provided two lanes of traffic. Previously, Highway 511 traffic had to take turns crossing these single-lane bridges over the Madawaska River in Calabogie.

Several diversions were constructed within the southern part of Darling Township, most notably in the vicinity of the hydro transmission corridor. Several sharp curves in the original highway's alignment were eliminated during reconstruction of Highway 511, which took place in 1980-1981. These old bypassed loops of Highway 511 were legally closed to traffic by an Order-in-Council, effective July 29, 1982. In 1985, the northern section of Highway 511 within Darling Township was reconstructed, with several revisions made to the route from the Lanark-Renfrew County Boundary southerly. The old alignments left behind from this reconstruction were either legally closed to traffic or otherwise transferred to the municipality under various Orders-in-Council during the latter half of 1986. Another notable realignment took place in the Township of Bagot at Dempseys Lake, located south of Calabogie. An improved curve at Dempsey's Lake was constructed during 1982, with the old alignment of Highway 511 transferred to the Township of Bagot & Blithfield by an Order-in-Council dated November 25, 1983. The old highway alignment is known today as Virgin Lake Lane and Old Darling Road, while a section of the highway between these two roads was closed to traffic altogether.

Highway 511 remained in the provincial highway system up until the late 1990s, when the highway was transferred or "downloaded" from the province to the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew in two phases during 1997-1998. Provincial jurisdiction over Highway 511 within Lanark County ended on April 1, 1997, when the section of the highway from the Highway 7 Junction in Perth northerly to the Lanark-Renfrew County Boundary was transferred to the County of Lanark. The balance of Highway 511 between the Lanark-Renfrew County Boundary northerly to the Highway 508 Junction in Calabogie was transferred to the County of Renfrew, effective January 1, 1998. Former Highway 511 is now officially known as Lanark County Road 511 and Renfrew County Road 511. Unless posted otherwise, the speed limit on Highway 511 is 80 km/h (50 mph). Services are available on Highway 511 in Calabogie, Lanark, Hopetown, and along Highway 7 in Perth