Ontario Highway 169 Photographs - Page 4 - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Left - An older MTO green guide sign on northbound Hwy 169 marking the upcoming junction of Muskoka Road 38 in Bala. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Approaching the eastern terminus of Muskoka Road 38 (Former Hwy 660) at the Hwy 169 Junction in Bala. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing west along Muskoka Road 38 (Former Hwy 660) from the Hwy 169 Junction in Bala. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing south along Hwy 169 from the Muskoka Road 38 Junction towards the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Subway. This two-lane subway was completed in 1965 along the new highway diversion through Bala. The Bala CPR Subway lies immediately to the south of the Hwy 169 and Muskoka Road 38 (Former Hwy 660) Junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Junction of Muskoka Road 38 (Former Hwy 660) and Hwy 169 in Bala, facing north. Compare this 2013 photo above to this Historical 1965 Photo, which was taken shortly after the Bala Diversion and Moon River Bridge was completed through Bala. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing south along Hwy 169 towards Gravenhurst approaching the Muskoka Road 38 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing north along Hwy 169 from the Muskoka Road 38 Junction towards the Moon River Bridge in Bala. This section of Hwy 169 was actually a diversion which was built in the mid-1960s. Previously, through traffic followed Bala Falls Road through Bala. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Fingerboard guide signs at the eastern terminus of Muskoka Road 38 (Former Hwy 660) in Bala. The control cities of Gravenhurst and Parry Sound are vestiges from the past, when Hwy 169 was still a King's Highway under MTO jurisdiction. Today, the local community of Port Carling is shown as the northbound control city at this highway junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 29, 2013 - © Cameron Bevers)

Above - Old Bala Falls Bridge on Bala Falls Road (Old Hwy 169, previously known as Hwy 69) in Downtown Bala. This steel beam and timber deck structure was built by the Ontario Department of Highways in 1951, replacing a timber Howe through truss structure that was built on the original Gravenhurst-Parry Sound Road. The entire Muskoka Lakes Watershed drains westerly towards Georgian Bay, through a single outlet at Bala. The Moon River, Go Home River and Musquash River all drain the Muskoka Lakes watershed downstream of the outlet at Bala Falls. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Old Bala Falls Bridge on Bala Falls Road (formerly Hwy 69) in Downtown Bala. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on June 4, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing south along Bala Falls Road (formerly Hwy 69) at the Bala Falls Bridge.
(Photograph taken on June 4, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Old Bala Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Subway on Bala Falls Road. Up until 1965, Hwy 169 (then known as Hwy 69) passed through this narrow one-lane subway in Downtown Bala. With a vertical clearance of less than 10 feet, this tiny railway subway prevented trucks from using Hwy 69 between Gravenhurst and the Hwy 118 Junction at Glen Orchard for decades. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on June 4, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing north along Bala Falls Road (Old Hwy 69) at the Bala Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Subway. When the Bala Subway was constructed around 1915, the vertical clearance of the subway was deemed to be sufficient for the types of vehicles using the Gravenhurst-Parry Sound Road at that time. However, as highway transportation became more prevalent in the following decades, vehicle heights steadily increased. By the late 1930s, the Bala Subway posed a significant barrier for trucks along the Hwy 69 corridor between Gravenhurst and Parry Sound. Overheight trucks had to follow a long detour through Bracebridge and Port Carling (via today's Hwy 118) in order to bypass the Bala Subway. In the mid-1960s, the Department of Highways built a new route for Hwy 69 (later Hwy 169) through Bala, including a new railway subway with an improved vertical clearance.
(Photograph taken on June 4, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - New Bala Falls Bridge on Hwy 169 (previously Hwy 69) in Bala, facing south towards Gravenhurst. This bridge carried a short but very important diversion of Hwy 69 through Bala. Completed in 1965, this diversion bypassed a narrow, low clearance railway subway on Bala's main street, finally opening up Hwy 69 to truck traffic. Previously, overheight trucks had to detour via Hwy 11 and Hwy 118 through Bracebridge and Port Carling in order to bypass the Bala Subway. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - New Bala Falls Bridge on Hwy 169 (previously Hwy 69) in Bala. This single-span steel girder structure was completed in 1965.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Structure identification number and date stamp (1965) on the New Bala Falls Bridge on Hwy 169 (previously Hwy 69) in Bala.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing north along Hwy 169 (previously Hwy 69) at the New Bala Falls Bridge in Bala.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Western side of the New Bala Falls Bridge on Hwy 169 (previously Hwy 69) in Bala.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Moon River (North Falls) Bridge on Hwy 169 in Bala. Structure completed in 1955.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing north along Hwy 169 at the Moon River (North Falls) Bridge in Bala.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Eastern side of the Moon River (North Falls) Bridge on Hwy 169 in Bala. Up until 1955, Hwy 69 crossed a narrow one-lane steel truss bridge over the Moon River. The one-lane truss bridge at Bala was replaced by a two-lane welded steel plate girder structure in 1955.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Above - Facing south along Hwy 169 at the Moon River (North Falls) Bridge in Bala. Until 1965, Hwy 69 (which later became Hwy 169) turned sharply to the left where the truck is situated in the background of this photo. The completion of the diversion through Bala in 1965 substantially improved the alignment of the highway through town.
(Photograph taken on September 12, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)