Ontario Highway 87 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

King's Highway 87 was a major collector highway which connected Highway 86 at Bluevale with Highway 9 & Highway 89 at Harriston. The highway was 32 km in length and it existed up until the late 1990s, when it was downloaded in its entirety to Huron County and Wellington County. The history of Highway 87 dates back to 1937, when the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) indicated their intention to assume the Bluevale-Harriston Road as a new King's Highway. A Preliminary Route Plan was prepared in June 1937, indicating the route of the planned highway through Huron County and Wellington County. The existing Bluevale-Harriston Road was first assumed by the DHO as King's Highway 87 on August 25, 1937 (See Map). The highway was initially gravel-surfaced for its entire length. Highway 87 was paved from Bluevale to Wroxeter in 1948, and from Wroxeter to Harriston in 1953. In 1963, Highway 89 was extended westerly from Shelburne to Palmerston. As a result of the Highway 89 Extension, a 1.6 km section of Highway 87 was designated concurrently with Highway 89.

On March 31, 1997, the section of Highway 87 from Bluevale to the Highway 89 Junction near Harriston was downloaded to Huron and Wellington Counties. The road is now officially known as Huron County Road 87 within Huron County and Wellington County Road 87 within Wellington County. Technically, the route of former Highway 87 wasn't downloaded in its entirety, since the section from the Highway 89 Junction to Harriston still remained under the jurisdiction of the province. However, it was decided to remove the concurrent Highway 87 designation from the route of Highway 89 in 1997, since Highway 87 no longer continued to the west. Accordingly, the 1.6 km concurrent designation between Highway 87 and Highway 89 was discontinued immediately west of Harriston. Despite being decommissioned, the route is still commonly referred to as "Highway 87" by motorists. Services are rather infrequent on this highway, since Wroxeter is the only sizeable community along Highway 87 between Bluevale and Harriston. Unless posted otherwise, the speed limit on Highway 87 is 80 km/h (50 mph) within Wellington County and 90 km/h (55 mph) in Huron County. Please visit the Highway 87 Mileage Chart page for a list of mileage reference points along Highway 87.