Ontario Highway 17 Photographs - Page 8 - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Above - Crane hoisting a steel girder into place for the new Cameron Bay Bridge on Hwy 17 between Kenora and Keewatin in 1970. The old timber through truss bridge at left was constructed under Contract #1937-125 and was completed in 1938. The old wooden structure was demolished in 1971, shortly after the new bridge was completed across the narrows in the Fall of 1970. The replacement of the Cameron Bay Bridge was carried out under Contract #1969-191. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1970.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1970)

Above - Reconstructed section of Hwy 17 at Montreal River Hill near Lake Superior Provincial Park, Contract #1969-53. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1970.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1970)

Above - Heavy equipment preparing for rock excavation along Hwy 17 west of Sudbury. A 5-mile section of Hwy 17 was expanded to a four-lane divided highway under Contract #1969-207, through the construction of a new eastbound carriageway between Copper Cliff and the Hwy 536 Junction near Lively. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1970.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1970)

Left - Intersection improvements at Hwy 11 & Hwy 17 and Ouimet Canyon Road between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Contract #1971-123. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1972.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1972)

Right - Pier construction for the new Nipigon River Bridge on Hwy 11 & Hwy 17 near Nipigon, Contract #1972-205. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1973.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1973)

Above - Circa 1973 postcard view of the Arctic Watershed Sign on Hwy 17 at Raith, located about 55 miles northwest of Thunder Bay. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of R.E. Ettinger)

Left - Deck construction on the new Nipigon River Bridge on Hwy 11 & Hwy 17 near Nipigon, Contract #1972-205. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1974)

Right - Heavy grading for a new section of the Thunder Bay Expressway (Hwy 11 & Hwy 17) near Oliver Road, Contract #1972-202. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1974)

Left - New passing lane on Hwy 11 & Hwy 17, about 22 1/2 miles west of Thunder Bay, Contract #1975-26. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1976.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1976)

Right - New vertical grade revision and rock cut on Hwy 11 & Hwy 17 east of Shabaqua Corners, Contract #1976-17. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1977.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1977)

Above - Widening of the Thunder Bay Expressway (Hwy 11 & Hwy 17) approaching John Street, Contract #1977-41. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1977.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1977)

Above - Rock cut on Hwy 17 at Cavers Hill along Lake Superior's North Shore, facing east towards Pays Plat Bay. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1978.
(Photo Courtesy of Walter Muma - © 1978)

Above - Transportation Minister James Snow cuts a ribbon, officially opening Hwy 17 New to traffic between Sudbury and Whitefish on December 4, 1980. This new 20 km section of four-lane Hwy 17 took four full construction seasons to complete, at a total cost of $25.5 million in 1980 Dollars, roughly the equivalent of $100 million in 2025 Dollars - a reflection of just how expensive freeway facilities cost to build in Northern Ontario. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on December 4, 1980.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1980)

Above - Rock drilling underway on the Pembroke Bypass (Hwy 17 New) at the Hwy 62 Junction, Contract #1980-12. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1981.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1981)

Left - Construction crew doing bridge rehabilitation work on the Deux Rivieres Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Overhead on Hwy 17 east of Mattawa, Contract #1981-309. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1981.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1981)

NEW

Right - Rehabilitation of the Aumond Creek Bridge on Hwy 17 between North Bay and Mattawa, Contract #1981-309. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1981.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1981)

Left - Placing steel girders for the replacement Little Sturgeon River Bridge on Hwy 17 east of Sturgeon Falls, Contract #1982-216. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1982.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1982)

NEW

Right - Placing formwork for the concrete deck on the Little Sturgeon River Bridge on Hwy 17 near Sturgeon Falls, Contract #1982-216. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1982.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1982)

Above - Facing west along the Ottawa Queensway (Hwy 17) at the Blair Road Interchange in Ottawa. Note the interesting overhead sign advising drivers to "Reduce Speed on Wet Pavement" with an 80 km/h advisory speed. Similar bridge-mounted advisory signs existed along highways in the Toronto area as well. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on May 26, 1983.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2026)

Left - Hot-mix asphalt paving operations along Hwy 17 east of North Bay, Contract #1983-210. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1983.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1983)

NEW

Right - Facing east along Hwy 17 from the Hwy 94 Junction during highway resurfacing, Contract #1983-210. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1983.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1983)

Above - Completed rehabilitation of Old Hwy 17, facing east from Lively towards Sudbury in 1988. The entire bypassed section of Hwy 17 from Whitefish to Lively was rehabilitated under Contract #1987-226, in preparation for the transfer of the old highway to the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. Note the junction sign assembly in the foreground, which marks the Southwest Sudbury Bypass as "TO/VERS 69". Up until the completion of the Southeast Sudbury Bypass in the 1990s, Hwy 17 passed directly through Sudbury's City Centre. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1988.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1988)