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History of Secondary Highway 634 (#2):
The second route of Secondary Highway 634 was created out of a route renumbering in 1976. During the 1960s, a new highway was built in the District of Cochrane which
extended north from Highway 11 at Smooth Rock Falls for almost 73 km to Fraserdale to serve the Abitibi Canyon Hydro Dam. This highway was completed in 1966, and was
designated as a Tertiary Highway numbered as Highway 807. In 1976, a decision was made to re-designate
Highway 807 as a Secondary Highway. On October 13, 1976, an Order-in-Council was signed which formally re-designated Highway 807 from Smooth Rock Falls to Fraserdale
as a Secondary Highway. In addition, a road leading from Fraserdale to the Canyon Community company town was also designated as a Secondary Highway on October
13, 1976. The entire 78 km route from Smooth Rock Falls to the Canyon Community entrance was assigned the Highway 634 designation. Highway 634 was already paved at
the time of the route number change in 1976.
In 1982, Highway 634 was extended by 1 km from the Canyon Community entrance to the Abitibi Canyon Dam. A Designation Plan was prepared by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC) dated September 20, 1982, which showed the proposed assumption of the Abitibi Canyon Road as a new Secondary Highway. The new extension to the highway was formally designated as Highway 634 by an Order-in-Council, effective October 14, 1982. In 1986, construction began on a new Highway 634 Bypass around Smooth Rock Falls. This bypass was approximately 2 km in length, and diverted heavy truck traffic away from the urbanized portions of Smooth Rock Falls. Up until the 1980s, the section of Highway 634 which ran through the built-up areas of Smooth Rock Falls & Kendrey Township on Ross Road, Main Street and Dupont Street were under the jurisdiction of the municipality, under a Municipal Connecting Link Agreement with the MTC. With a new highway route established for the movement of through traffic, it was no longer necessary to have a Municipal Connecting Link Agreement in place. Accordingly, the Municipal Connecting Link designation was revoked along the old section of Highway 634 through Smooth Rock Falls by an Order-in-Council, effective October 12, 1989. On January 1, 1998, the province transferred jurisdiction over a 3.4 km section of Highway 634 between the Highway 11 Junction and Cloutierville Road to the Town of Smooth Rock Falls. This transferred section of highway included the recently-constructed Smooth Rock Falls Bypass. However, the transferred section of Highway 634 was subsequently designated as a Municipal Connecting Link on January 21, 1999. Today, Highway 634 is approximately 80 km in length. The highway passes through some very remote areas of the province, and motorists should take note that there are no services available anywhere along this highway. Fill up before leaving Smooth Rock Falls, as it is the only town along the route. The communities of Abitibi Canyon and Fraserdale are effectively gone. Recent editions of the Ontario Official Road Map indicate that this highway is still paved, but the last time I drove this highway in 2003, the northernmost 15 km of the route had reverted to a gravel surface. Unless posted otherwise, the speed limit on Highway 634 is 80 km/h (50 mph). A different, unrelated Highway 634 existed in the Sudbury area between 1956 and 1974. |
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