Hwy 666 Quick Facts:
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 Actual Hwy 666 Sign (1970s) |
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There are very few people that believe me when I tell them that Ontario had a highway with the
number "666". In fact, when I tell them that I am serious about this claim, they usually just
laugh! Could the MTC (the MTO's predecessor) really be that short sighted as to number a
provincial highway with a number as notorious as "666"? Well, in 1975, the MTC really did
assign that route number to a provincial highway in Northwestern Ontario. The MTC decided in
November, 1973 to demote three below-standard King's Highways in Northern Ontario to Secondary
Highway status by the end of 1975. The three affected highways were
Hwy 116 near Sioux Lookout,
Hwy 119 near Dryden , and
Hwy 128 near Kenora. The common
practice at the
time was to number Secondary Highways in consecutive order, and the MTC simply picked the next
three route numbers available for assignment. Those three numbers were Hwy 664 (assigned to
former King's Hwy 116), Hwy 665 (assigned to former King's Hwy 119), and Hwy 666 (assigned to
former King's Hwy 128). In 1975, route markers along Hwy 128 were changed over to Hwy 666, as planned out two years earlier. At the time, little thought had been given to the significance of the highway's new route number. However, the notoriety of this route number quickly began to be noticed. Facing mounting public pressure, (compounded by the predictable problem of route marker thefts) the MTC decided to renumber the highway to Hwy 658 in 1985. Hwy 666 was mostly paved, except for a gravel section from Hwy 598 to Hwy 659. This gravel section was paved in 1981. The highway was 29 km long, and ran from Kenora to Redditt. Click here to see a route map of Hwy 666, showing historical re-routings and realignments. |
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