Ontario Highway 67 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 67 is a minor collector highway in the District of Cochrane which connects Iroquois Falls to Highway 11 at Porquis Junction. Until the late 1990s, Highway 67 extended further west towards the Timmins area.

The history of Highway 67 dates back to 1937, when the Northern Development Trunk Road between Timmins and Iroquois Falls was assumed as a new King's Highway. A Preliminary Route Plan was prepared in April 1937, showing the proposed route of the highway between Timmins and Iroquois Falls. The route was assumed by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) as King's Highway 67 on June 30, 1937. Originally, Highway 67 was 44 miles (70 km) in length. At first, the highway was gravel-surfaced for its entire length, but the highway was paved with concrete from Timmins easterly to the Pamour Mine near Hoyle in 1937 and 1938. This newly-paved section of Highway 67 is believed to have been the first concrete highway ever built in this part of Ontario. In the late 1930s, a new highway was constructed from Highway 67 at Hoyle easterly to Highway 11 at Matheson. This new route was completed in 1940, and was designated as Highway 67A by the DHO. This route number was apparently chosen because the highway formed an alternate route to Highway 67 via Porquis Junction. However, this new highway quickly became the preferred traffic route between Timmins and Matheson. In 1944, the route of Highway 67A was given its own distinct route number; Highway 101.

Following the completion of the new highway between Timmins and Matheson, improvements to the rest of Highway 67 came about somewhat more slowly. Highway 67 was paved from Porquis Junction to Iroquois Falls in 1945 and from Connaught to Barbers Bay in 1946. Another section of Highway 67 was paved between Barbers Bay and Porquis Junction in 1952. The section of Highway 67 from Connaught to the Highway 101 Junction at Hoyle remained gravel-surfaced right up until 1956, when that portion of the route of Highway 67 was redesignated as Secondary Highway 610.

In 1948, construction began on a mining access road southwest of Timmins. As mining development quickly pushed westwards from Timmins during the 1950s, the DHO decided to assume this mining access road, known as the Warren Lake Road, as a new extension of Highway 67. A 26-mile section of the Warren Lake Road southwest of Timmins was assumed as Highway 67 on October 19, 1955. Following the highway extension to Warren Lake, the total length of Highway 67 briefly reached 70 miles (113 km). However, shortly after the extension of Highway 67 in 1955, the DHO decided to renumber several highways in the Timmins area. The route number changes came about in early 1956, and precipitated a number of modifications to the area's highway network. The section of Highway 67 from Warren Lake to Hoyle (via Timmins) was renumbered as Highway 101. At the same time, Highway 67 was rerouted along the Barbers Bay Cutoff between Timmins and Porquis Junction. The Barbers Bay Cutoff was a 6-mile (10 km) highway diversion that was constructed by the DHO in the late 1930s south of Frederickhouse Lake. This diversion connected Highway 67 at Barbers Bay to Highway 101 west of Matheson. Until it was designated as Highway 67 in 1956, the Barbers Bay Cutoff was an unnumbered King's Highway. The old route of Highway 67 between Barbers Bay and Hoyle was redesignated as Secondary Highway 610 in 1956. After the 1956 route renumbering, the length of Highway 67 was chopped from 70 miles (113 km) down to only 23 miles (37 km).

Apart from some minor realignments, the route of Highway 67 did not change much until the late 1990s, when the Ontario Government downloaded most sections of the highway. In addition, the short concurrent route of Highway 67 and Highway 11 near Porquis Junction was discontinued. The entire southern section of Highway 67 between Highway 101 and Highway 11 at Porquis Junction was turned over to the City of Timmins and the Town of Iroquois Falls, effective January 1, 1998. The former highway is now simply named "Municipal Road", although most area residents still refer to the road as Highway 67. Only 11 km of Highway 67 survived the 1997-1998 highway downloading. The highway was kept under the province's jurisdiction between Porquis Junction and Iroquois Falls because it was the only suitable truck route into Iroquois Falls. The only other highway access to Iroquois Falls is via Secondary Highways 577 and 578, but heavy trucks are prohibited on these routes because of steep hills and sharp curves. Currently, the route of Highway 67 ends at DeTroyes Avenue (Old Highway 577). Prior to the decommissioning of Highway 578 in 1997, Highway 67 ran north along Synagogue Avenue and Cambridge Avenue to connect with Highway 578 (Anson Drive) north of Downtown Iroquois Falls.

Highway 67 passes through a very rural area along its pre-1998 route. The only town located along the highway is Iroquois Falls. Highway 67 is a two-lane road for its entire length. Services are only available in Iroquois Falls and at the Highway 101 Junction. The speed limit on Highway 67 is 80 km/h (50 mph) between Porquis Junction and Iroquois Falls, unless posted otherwise. The City of Timmins and Iroquois Falls raised the speed limit on most sections of Former Highway 67 (Municipal Road) from Highway 101 to Porquis Junction to 90 km/h (55 mph). Please visit the Highway 67 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 67.