Ontario Highway 545 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

Secondary Highway 545 was a local highway in the District of Sudbury that once connected Highway 541 near Falconbridge to the tiny community of Milnet, located north of the City of Sudbury. Highway 545 was designated in two sections during 1956. The road from the Highway 541 Junction at Baileys Corners northwesterly to the Highway 69 Junction east of Hanmer and the road from the Town of Capreol northerly to Milnet were first designated as Secondary Highway 545 by an Order-in-Council dated May 9, 1956. A Preliminary Route Plan was prepared by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) in May 1956, which showed the proposed assumption of these two roads as part of a new Secondary Highway. From the Hanmer area northerly to Capreol, Highway 545 shared an overlapped concurrent route with Highway 69. The new highway was reported to have a length of 16.9 miles (27 km) originally, not including the overlapped section with Highway 69. Highway 545 was already paved between Baileys Corners and the Highway 69 Junction at the time the route was first designated in 1956. The balance of Highway 545's route north of Capreol was gravel-surfaced. A primed bituminous surface was laid along Highway 545 from Capreol to Milnet in 1959. Highway 545 was paved from Capreol northerly to the Moose Mountain Mine Road (Tertiary Highway 806) Junction in 1963.

As originally assumed in the 1950s, the DHO did not acquire jurisdiction over the section of Highway 545 through the incorporated limits of the Town of Capreol. A Municipal Connecting Link was established for this non-assumed section of Highway 545 in the late 1950s. The Municipal Connecting Link designation extended for 1.1 miles through Capreol from Meehan Avenue northerly via Dennie Street into the town centre and Sellwood Avenue from the town centre northerly to the northern municipal limits at Stull Street. This route was formally designated as a Municipal Connecting Link by an Order-in-Council, effective May 21, 1959. Jurisdiction over a short section of Highway 69 & Highway 545 was transferred from the DHO to the Town of Capreol in 1960. Provincial jurisdiction over the route from Meehan Avenue southerly to the southern municipal limits near Hanna Avenue was transferred over to municipal control, effective January 1, 1960. As a result of this municipal road transfer, the Capreol Municipal Connecting Link was extended southerly for a distance of 0.7 miles between Meehan Avenue and the southern municipal limits of Capreol. This change to the Municipal Connecting Link was designated by an Order-in-Council, effective January 28, 1960.

Three small diversions were constructed over the years to improve the alignment of the highway. One diversion of Highway 545 was constructed as part of a highway junction improvement project which took place at Baileys Corners in 1958-1959. About 1/2 mile of Highway 545's original route was bypassed as a result of this project. A second diversion was constructed along Highway 545 immediately west of the Falconbridge Radar Base in 1972-1973, which bypassed a short section of the highway. South of Hanmer, a curved diversion was built during the 1950s to improve the highway's alignment. The old route of Highway 545 through the corners (today's Guenette Drive and Hydro Road) was transferred to the Township of Capreol, effective April 1, 1964.

Highway 545 remained in the provincial highway system up until 1974, when jurisdiction over the entire route of Highway 545 was transferred to the newly-formed Regional Municipality of Sudbury on November 13, 1974. This highway transfer also included the overlapped route of Highway 69 & Highway 545 between Hanmer and Capreol. The Municipal Connecting Link route through the Town of Capreol was revoked by an Order-in-Council, effective December 30, 1974. Today, Former Highway 545 is known as Sudbury Road 85 (Radar Road) and Sudbury Road 84 (Old Highway 69, Dennie Street, Sellwood Avenue & Moose Mountain Mine Road) and also Milnet Road.