Ontario Highway 7A History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 7A is a minor collector highway which serves as an alternate route to Highway 7 between Manchester and Cavan, near Peterborough. Highway 7A allows through traffic to bypass the longer, more circuitous route of Highway 7 via Sunderland and Lindsay. The highway was first established in 1933, when a new cut-off route was established along Lansdowne Street through Peterborough. This 4 km cut-off route was paved prior to being designated as a King's Highway. Highway 7A allowed through traffic to bypass Downtown Peterborough, by providing a more direct connection between Highway 7 and Highway 28. In 1938, Highway 7A was extended westerly to the Highway 7 and Highway 12 Junction at Manchester. The Department of Highways assumed the existing county road through Cavan, Bethany and Port Perry and designated the route as Highway 7A. Most sections of the Highway 7A extension were gravel-surfaced at first. The only paved section was between Port Perry and Manchester, which had been paved prior to the designation of Highway 7A. Part of this extended route ran concurrently with Highway 28 between Fraserville and Peterborough. The post-1938 length of Highway 7A was 68 km. In 1939, Highway 7A was paved between Port Perry and Caesarea.

In October 1954, a new arterial highway known as Highway 115 opened to traffic between Peterborough and Newcastle. This new highway ran northeasterly from Enterprise Hill on Highway 35 to Highway 28 at Springville, crossing Highway 7A just east of Cavan. As a result, Highway 115 bypassed a short section of Highway 7A between Cavan and Fraserville. In order to simplify highway numbering, Highway 7A was rerouted so that it ran concurrently with Highway 115 between Cavan and Highway 28. The old section of Highway 7A between the Highway 115 Junction and Fraserville was decommissioned as a King's Highway in 1954. This old section of Highway 7A is known today as Moore Drive. In 1960, Highway 7 was rerouted through Peterborough. The new route of Highway 7 absorbed most of Highway 7A immediately west of Peterborough. As a result, the Department of Highways decided to truncate Highway 7A at its junction with Highway 115 near Cavan. The length of Highway 7A after the 1960 rerouting was 51 km. In 1960, Highway 7A was paved from Highway 35 to Bethany and from Cavan to Highway 115. In 1962, paving was finally completed between Caesarea and Highway 35. The following year, the final gravel section on Highway 7A from Bethany to Cavan was paved.

In 1982, another route renumbering took place in the Peterborough area. Highway 28 was rerouted onto a newly-opened section of Highway 115 between Springville and Peterborough. However, this created a route numbering headache for the Ministry of Transportation that took until 2003 to completely resolve. When the Highway 28 designation was removed from the highway through Springville, it left this short but important section of highway without a route number. The MTO decided to number this former section of Highway 28 as Highway 7A. However, in order to do this, Highway 7A had to be posted concurrently with Highway 115 for 4.5 km between Cavan and Springville. The length of Highway 7A was increased to 56.9 km.

The extension of Highway 7A to Springville in 1982 finally reunited Highway 7A with Highway 7 at the route's eastern terminus after a 22-year hiatus. However, it created a very confusing series of concurrent route co-designations along Highway 115. The highway downloading in 1998 sparked another series of route renumberings which took place on May 1, 2003. That day, Highway 7A was truncated at the Highway 115 Junction near Cavan, essentially reversing the 1982 route renumbering. The former section of Highway 7A through Springville was absorbed into the route of Highway 7, and the concurrent routing of Highway 7A and Highway 115 was discontinued. Since 2003, Highway 7A has been 48.7 km in length. Highway 7A is one of only two signed alternate routes left in the province. The only other "A" suffixed route is the Kenora Bypass (Highway 17A).

Highway 7A is primarily a rural two-lane highway, with some multi-lane sections through Port Perry. Services are generally available in most major communities along Highway 7A. The speed limit on Highway 7A is 80 km/h (50 mph), unless posted otherwise. Highway 7A is signed concurrently with Highway 35 for a distance of 1.5 km west of Bethany. Please visit the Highway 7A Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 7A.