Ontario Highway 17 Photographs - Page 17 - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Left - View of Lawton Avenue (Hwy 557 South), facing north from the Hwy 17 Junction at Causley Street. The route of Hwy 557 briefly splits into a one-way street system through Blind River's Town Centre, with southbound traffic following Lawton Avenue and northbound traffic following adjacent Woodward Avenue. North of Blind River, Hwy 557 provides access to a number of small lakeside communities and resorts. The highway comes to an end about 23 km ahead at Matinenda Lake. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Southern terminus of Hwy 557 at the intersection of Lawton Avenue and Causley Street (Hwy 17) in Blind River. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing west along Hwy 17 (Causley Street) from Lawton Avenue (Hwy 557 South). Hwy 17 meets Hwy 557 North (Woodward Avenue) one block to the west. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of Woodward Avenue (Hwy 557 North), facing south towards Causley Street (Hwy 17) in Blind River. Woodward Avenue is a one-way street which carries northbound traffic only. Southbound traffic on Hwy 557 uses adjacent Lawton Avenue, located one block to the east. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing west along Hwy 17 at the Blind River Bridge, located just west of the Hwy 557 North Junction at Woodward Avenue. This newer four-lane structure was built in the late 1950s. It replaced a very old single-lane steel pony truss structure which existed here previously. The narrow bridge deck and limited load-bearing capabilities ultimately doomed the old bridge across the Blind River, which had also become a significant traffic bottleneck along Hwy 17 by the late 1950s. A bridge replacement contract was awarded by the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) in May 1958. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 15, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Southern side of the Blind River Bridge (Site #38S-258) on Hwy 17 (Causley Street). This single-span steel beam structure was built under Contract #1958-35. The new widened bridge over the Blind River was completed and opened to traffic on November 20, 1958. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 15, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Scenic view of the Blind River from Hwy 17 near the western entrance to Blind River. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Municipal boundary sign for Blind River on eastbound Hwy 17. With a population of 3,600, Blind River is the largest town along Hwy 17 between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. This town is also located roughly at the mid-point along Hwy 17 between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. Blind River was also once home to DHO's District #18 (Blind River) Office. District #18 was relocated from Blind River to Sault Ste. Marie in 1957, so that staff could be much closer to the proposed route of Hwy 17 around the eastern and northern shores of Lake Superior. Much of District #18's work by the late 1950s was focused on the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway from Sault Ste. Marie northerly to the White River area. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View of Hwy 17 about 1 km west of Blind River, facing west towards Iron Bridge. The highway follows the Blind River for a considerable distance out of town. A concrete pavement was constructed along Hwy 17 from a point just west of Blind River westerly for a total distance of 4 miles under Contract #1937-77. A three-mile section of new concrete pavement was completed during 1937, with an additional mile of concrete pavement completed in 1938. This construction work also included the grading of a diversion through the Mississauga First Nation in order to improve the highway's alignment. The previous Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie Trunk Road had a very awkward alignment west of Blind River, with a number of sharp curves in this area. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Reverse curve on Hwy 17 approaching the Mississauga First Nation, facing east towards Blind River. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - The route of Hwy 17 closely follows the Mississagi River for much of the distance between Blind River and Iron Bridge. This scenic view of Hwy 17 can be found about 6 km west of Blind River. The highway follows a series of long, sweeping curves along the riverbank. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Motorists driving Hwy 17 in the early days would have reached the end of the concrete pavement near this point, located about 7 km west of Blind River. The balance of Hwy 17 from this point westerly to Iron Bridge was gravel-surfaced and remained that way until after World War II. In June 1949, a contract was awarded to complete grading activities and pave Hwy 17 with hot-mix asphalt from Iron Bridge easterly for a distance of 12 miles under Contract #1949-51. Once this project was completed in the Summer of 1950, Blind River and Iron Bridge were finally linked together by a hard-surfaced highway route. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing east along Hwy 17 about 8 km west of Blind River. The route of Hwy 17 winds its way along the scenic Mississagi River. During the late 1930s, road administration in Northern Ontario changed rather suddenly. Up until 1936, all major roads in Northern Ontario were administered by the Department of Northern Development. During that year, a decision was made by the Ontario Government to amalgamate the Department of Northern Development with the DHO, in order to have a single provincial department administer Ontario's growing highway infrastructure needs. As a result of this amalgamation, about 200 miles (325 km) of the old Sudbury-Soo Northern Development Trunk Road was assumed by the DHO as an extension of King's Highway 17. The DHO took over responsibility for this section of Hwy 17, effective June 30, 1937. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of Hwy 17 along the Mississagi River about 17 km west of Blind River, facing west towards Iron Bridge. A historical municipal road bridge crosses the Mississagi River just upstream from this location. Known as the Dean Lake Bridge, this historic structure was built in 1908 and links the small rural community of Dean Lake with Hwy 17 southeast of Iron Bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View of the Mississagi River Roadside Park, located about 13 km east of Iron Bridge. This large roadside park sits in a grove of mature trees on the southern side of Hwy 17 along the banks of the Mississagi River. It offers several amenities for motorists using Hwy 17, including numerous picnic tables, parking and toilets See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - The Mississagi River Roadside Park's access road actually follows the original 1937 alignment of Hwy 17. The highway was relocated further inland away from the riverbank during a highway improvement project carried out in the 1940s. Today, a portion of the old highway's route still serves as an access road through the park. Many of Ontario's roadside parks were created at locations where the highway was realigned. The small remnant land parcels between the old and new highway routes were often landlocked and thus impractical to redevelop into anything else. Today, roadside parks like this one provide a much-needed stopping point for motorists to take a break from the drive on long-distance highways. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - An older municipal boundary sign for Iron Bridge on westbound Hwy 17. At one time, the Village of Iron Bridge was an incorporated municipality, but it was amalgamated into the much larger Municipality of Huron Shores during a municipal restructuring exercise in 1999. The sign seen here has the words "Village of" and its French equivalent covered up with blue tape. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Distance guide sign facing eastbound traffic on Hwy 17 near the eastern entrance to Iron Bridge. This long curve is actually a diversion of the original 1937 route of Hwy 17. Previously, Hwy 17 followed James Street approaching Iron Bridge from the east. The highway was relocated onto its current alignment in the late 1940s under Contract #1948-69. This new diversion opened to traffic in 1949. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing west along Hwy 17 (Front Street) towards the Hwy 546 Junction in Iron Bridge. As originally assumed in 1937, the route of Hwy 17 turned right and continued one block north along Main Street to a historical single-lane bridge over the Mississagi River, which was built in the 1880s. Although this historical bridge carried traffic on Hwy 17 throughout World War II, it was simply not able to keep up with modern traffic demands. As a result, the DHO constructed a new two-lane bridge on a diversion of Hwy 17 on the western approach to the village during the 1940s. The route of Hwy 17 was extended west from this intersection across the Mississagi River, which eliminated several sharp turns in the old highway's route. Previously, Old Hwy 17 followed Main Street, Bridge Street and Old Trunk Road - a road name which in this part of Ontario is usually a telltale sign of a former alignment of Hwy 17. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 28, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of the Hwy 17 & Hwy 546 Junction in Iron Bridge, facing east. Hwy 546 was established in 1956 as part of an extensive system of Secondary Highways designated across the province that year. From Iron Bridge, Hwy 546 extends northeasterly for almost 80 km to Mount Lake, located north of Elliot Lake. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Junction sign assembly at the southern terminus of Hwy 546 at the Hwy 17 Junction in Iron Bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Approaching the Hwy 17 Junction on Hwy 546 in Iron Bridge, facing south. Between 1937 and 1949, Hwy 17 followed this street through Iron Bridge, before turning left onto Front Street and continuing east towards Blind River. Once the new Mississagi River Bridge was completed in 1949, Hwy 17 formed a continuous direct route through the Village of Iron Bridge via Front Street. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing north along Hwy 546 (Main Street) from the Hwy 17 Junction in Iron Bridge. Prior to the completion of the new bridge in 1949, Hwy 17 turned left at the next intersection (Bridge Street) and passed across a single-lane steel through truss bridge. Motorists who continue straight ahead will head north out of town along Hwy 546 - a Secondary Highway which ultimately loops back towards the Elliot Lake area. However, motorists can also use Hwy 546 and Hwy 554 to short-cut over to Hwy 129. It is actually more than 30 km shorter to use Hwy 546 and Hwy 554 to access Hwy 129 to Chapleau from Hwy 17 at Iron Bridge, rather than continuing west along Hwy 17 to Thessalon and then using Hwy 129 to reach Chapleau. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of the Mississagi River Bridge on Hwy 17 in Iron Bridge, from the site of the historical bridge built in the 1880s. Today, a pedestrian bridge stands at the end of Bridge Street (Old Hwy 17), on the site of the original Mississagi River Bridge. After being bypassed in 1949, the old bridge stood for a number of years on Old Hwy 17 up until the early 1970s. The old bridge was reportedly demolished in the Spring of 1972. The replacement Hwy 17 structure built in 1948-1949 consists of a five-span continuous haunched steel girder superstructure supported on concrete piers. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Mississagi River Bridge on Hwy 17 in Iron Bridge in 2007 prior to the bridge's most recent rehabilitation in 2012-2013. This bridge was originally constructed under Contract #1948-19 and was completed and opened to traffic in 1949. The bridge underwent a rehabilitation in the 1990s under Contract #1998-201, when the original 1940s-era steel and concrete handrail panels were removed from the bridge and replaced by a steel box-beam barrier system. A new sidewalk was also cantilevered off of the northern side of the structure. Although construction contracts were tendered for this bridge in April 1948, planning for its construction actually began back in 1940. During that year, DHO surveyors laid out the highway's alignment through the Village of Iron Bridge, with Front Street (Hwy 17) proposed to be extended westerly across the Mississagi River. However, as World War II gripped the globe, highway construction projects in Ontario that were not deemed essential for national defence were quickly suspended. Much of the DHO's construction resources after mid-1941 were focused on the completion of the Hearst-Geraldton Highway (Hwy 11), which would complete an all-Canadian highway route across Ontario. With peacetime arriving in 1945, Post-War construction projects were prioritized and were tendered as soon as critical supplies like structural steel started to become commercially available once again. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 15, 2007 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing east along Hwy 17 across the Mississagi River Bridge in Iron Bridge. As part of another rehabilitation of the bridge in 2012-2013, the roadside barrier separating the sidewalk from the highway was removed, so that all road users were accommodated within the same envelope. While on the surface they may seem like a good idea, barrier-separated sidewalks can create a lot of problems for snow removal, maintenance and can in and of themselves become a hazard to road users if the barrier ever becomes dislodged in a collision. The superstructure of the bridge was replaced as part of the rehabilitation. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Southern side of the rehabilitated Mississagi River Bridge on Hwy 17 in Iron Bridge, facing west from the east bank of the river. As part of the bridge rehabilitation, a series of unique curved decorative flanges were installed on the outside of the bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Structure identification number (Site #38S-202) on the Mississagi River Bridge on Hwy 17 in Iron Bridge. This bridge was most recently rehabilitated under Contract #2012-5111. The 2013 date stamp refers to the year of the last major rehabilitation, rather than the original construction year. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Scenic view of the rehabilitated Mississagi River Bridge on Hwy 17 in Iron Bridge, facing east from the west bank. The new superstructure bears many similarities to the original bridge deck, although a fifth longitudinal girder was installed across the bridge during rehabilitation. This bridge originally only had an array of four longitudinal girders. The curved decorative flanges on the outside of the bridge add a unique modern feature to this historical bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of Hwy 17 facing west, about 7 km west of Iron Bridge. Lake Huron's north shore has a surprising number of active farming areas, including this one. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Harris Creek Culvert (Site #38S-201/C) on Hwy 17 at Day Mills, located about 11 km west of Iron Bridge. This twin-cell concrete culvert was completed in 1938, as part of grading operations carried out along Hwy 17 between Iron Bridge and Thessalon in the late 1930s. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 29, 2004 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Northern side of the Harris Creek (Day Mills Creek) Culvert on Hwy 17 between Iron Bridge and Thessalon. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 29, 2004 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View of Hwy 17 facing west towards Thessalon from the western entrance to Sowerby. This small rural community is location about 14 km west of Iron Bridge. This section of Hwy 17 is actually a diversion of the original highway, constructed within a 100-foot right-of-way in the late 1930s. Under Contract #1937-218, new highway grading was completed for several miles between Sowerby and Thessalon. The Sowerby Diversion seen here was part of that project. This new diversion for Hwy 17 traffic was completed in 1938. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Livingstone Creek Diversion on Hwy 17, facing east towards Iron Bridge. This was the second of two large diversions built along Hwy 17 east of Thessalon in the late 1930s. The original 1937 route of Hwy 17 followed Cordukes Drive, which can be seen intersecting Hwy 17 a short distance ahead. A pair of concurrent passing lanes exist here, to take advantage of a long grade. Although Hwy 17 is two lanes for the majority of its route between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, a series of passing lanes along the highway allows for fairly frequent assured passing opportunities. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 17, 2022 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing west across the Thessalon Railway Overhead, located about 1 km east of the Hwy 17B & Hwy 129 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 11, 2023 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Southern side of the Thessalon Railway Overhead (Site #38S-219). This structure was originally built in the 1950s to span the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Today, the railway line is operated by the Huron Central Railway (HCR). This three-span bridge consists of a concrete rigid frame centre span, flanked by cantilevered concrete approach spans. This bridge was constructed under Contract #1957-139 and was completed and opened to traffic in August 1958. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 11, 2023 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Northern side of the Thessalon Railway Overhead on Hwy 17, located just east of Thessalon. This new railway grade separation carried highway traffic safely above the railway line below. Prior to this structure's completion in 1958, Hwy 17 crossed the railway via a very poor at-grade crossing on a winding alignment. The railway overhead was built on a diversion of Hwy 17 with a significantly improved alignment. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 11, 2023 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of the Thessalon Railway Overhead on Hwy 17, facing east towards Iron Bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on August 11, 2023 - © Cameron Bevers)