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This page contains historical photos of Ontario's King's Highway 2 dating from 1935 to 1949. All photographs displayed on
this page were taken by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, unless specifically noted otherwise. Historical photographs are arranged in approximate chronological
order. Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image!
Please note that all photographs displayed on this
website are protected by copyright. These photographs must not be reproduced, published,
electronically stored or copied, distributed, or posted onto other websites without
my written permission. If you want to use photos from this website, please
email me first for permission. Thank-you!
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Page 2: Historical King's Highway 2 Photographs (1935 to 1949)
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Above - Widened four-lane pavement on Hwy 2 (Plains Road) west of Aldershot, facing east. The existing pavement between the Hamilton Entrance Bridge and
Campbell's Corners near Burlington was widened in 1934 through the construction of an asphaltic concrete strip on either side of the existing highway. This
expansion work was undertaken under Contract #1934-53. Photo taken in 1935. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1935) ![]() ![]()
Left - Facing west towards Port Credit at the widened Etobicoke Creek Bridge on Hwy 2, constructed under Contract #1935-03. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1935. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1935) Right - Facing east towards Toronto approaching the widened four-lane Etobicoke Creek Bridge on Hwy 2. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1935. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1935) ![]() ![]()
Left - New dual highway and sidewalk construction on Hwy 2 about 3/4 miles east of Woodstock, Contract #1936-47. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1936. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1936) Right - View of Hwy 2 in 1936, showing construction of a dual highway about 2 miles east of Woodstock. A number of sections of Hwy 2 were widened from two to four lanes between 1936 and 1938, including the 3-mile section of Hwy 2 from the Hwy 53 Junction at Eastwood to the eastern entrance to Woodstock. The dual highway east of Woodstock was constructed under Contract #1936-47. After experimenting with the construction of dual highways in the late 1930s, the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) began planning for a more comprehensive system of superhighways across the province. This laid the framework for important future highways such as Hwy 400 and Hwy 401, which would go on to greatly influence the economic success of Ontario in later decades. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1936. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1936) ![]() ![]()
Left - New dual highway and sidewalk construction on Hwy 2 about 1 mile east of Woodstock, Contract #1936-47. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1936. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1936) Right - Facing west along Hwy 2 in Scarborough Township, showing grading for the dual highway, 2.1 miles east of the Hwy 5 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on August 11, 1936. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1936) ![]() ![]()
Left - Facing east along Hwy 2 towards a rock cut west of the Scarborough Overhead, taken about 4.3 miles east of the Hwy 5 Junction. In May 1936, the DHO
advertised a construction contract to widen Hwy 2 from a two-lane highway to a new four-lane dual highway. Under Contract #1936-29, about 3.6 miles of Hwy 2 was
widened through Scarborough Township from just east of the Hwy 5 Junction at Danforth Avenue to the Scarborough Canadian National Railway (CNR) Overhead. Included in
this work was the construction of a four-lane divided concrete highway pavement and correction of the highway's vertical profile, which required several earth and
rock cuts in order to achieve. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on August 11, 1936. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1936) Right - Newly-completed section of dual highway about 1 mile west of Brockville in 1937, facing east towards Downtown Brockville. About 4 miles of Hwy 2 was widened from two to four lanes on the western approach to Brockville under Contract #1936-76, making this one of the earliest divided highways ever built in Ontario. This photo shows the completed concrete pavement surface, which was constructed during the Summer of 1937 under Contract #1937-107. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1937. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1937) ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Canadian Airmaps Ltd.) ![]() ![]() (Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown) ![]() ![]()
Left - Circa 1937 photo of the distance sign at the exit from the old Honeymoon Bridge in Niagara Falls. This sign directed traffic to Hwy 8 and Hwy 20, which
were the two main highway routes leaving Niagara Falls at that time. The completion of the Queen Elizabeth Way to Niagara Falls in 1940 greatly improved highway
access to the rest of Ontario from the Niagara Peninsula. The distance sign seen here was removed after the ill-fated Honeymoon Bridge collapsed in 1938, when a
winter ice jam on the Niagara River undermined the structure. The replacement Rainbow Bridge was completed a short distance downstream in 1941. Note the
newly-completed Oakes Garden Theatre in the background, which still stands today at the corner of River Road and Clifton Hill. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. (Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown) ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1937) ![]() ![]()
Left - New dual highway bridge on Hwy 2 over Highland Creek in Scarborough Township in 1939. The Highland Creek Bridge was "twinned" under Contract #1938-02
as part of a series of construction contracts awarded in the late 1930s to widen Hwy 2 from two to four lanes between Toronto and West Hill. The original Highland
Creek Bridge at right was completed in 1922 and once carried both directions of traffic on Hwy 2. Upon completion of the new twin Highland Creek Bridge in 1939,
westbound traffic on Hwy 2 crossed Highland Creek over the new twin bridge while the existing bridge was converted to carry eastbound Hwy 2 traffic only. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on July 1, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1939) Right - New grade separation at the junction of Hwy 2 & Hwy 5 east of Toronto in 1939. The Cenotaph Interchange was constructed under Contract #1937-116 and completed in 1938. It was the first grade-separated interchange built along the King's Highways east of Toronto and was also the first to have directional ramps, as opposed to a more traditional cloverleaf ramp layout. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on November 7, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1939) ![]() ![]()
Left - Day view of the Cenotaph Interchange at the junction of Hwy 2 & Hwy 5 east of Toronto. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on September 20, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1939) Right - Night view of the Cenotaph Interchange at the junction of Hwy 2 & Hwy 5, showing the newly-installed highway lighting system. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on December 5, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1939) ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1939) ![]()
Above - Dual highway 2 miles west of Brockville. This historic 1939 photo shows the divided section of Hwy 2 that was constructed between Butternut Bay and
Brockville in 1936-1937. This was one of Ontario's earliest experiments in the construction of divided four-lane highways. This section of Hwy 2 near Brockville looks
quite similar even today, although the highway's median is now just a grass strip. The trees in the median were removed after this photo was taken in 1939, because
they posed a collision hazard to highway traffic as the trees grew bigger. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on November 15, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1939) ![]()
Above - Facing north along the Queen Elizabeth Way towards the Hwy 2 Junction (today's North Shore Boulevard) from Burlington Beach in 1940. Prior to the
construction of the Burlington Skyway in the 1950s, the Queen Elizabeth Way narrowed from a four-lane divided highway to a two-lane undivided pavement approaching the
Burlington Canal Lift Bridge on Beach Boulevard. Although a new high-level fixed canal crossing had been envisioned here in the late 1930s, the outbreak of World War
II deferred its construction for many years. By the early 1950s, the old lift bridge on Beach Boulevard had become a serious traffic bottleneck. Each time a ship had
to pass through the canal, traffic became snarled at each end of the lift bridge. This problem was ultimately resolved with the completion of the Burlington Skyway in
October 1958. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on August 16, 1940. (Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-14-162-2-27, Box B983, Photo #3043S) ![]()
Above - Panoramic view of the completed Kingston Traffic Circle at the Hwy 2 & Hwy 33 Junction in 1942. This interesting traffic circle was one of the only
intersections of this type ever built along the King's Highways in Eastern Ontario. The Kingston Traffic Circle was built under Contract #1941-30. It replaced a
skewed intersection between Hwy 2 (Princess Street) and Hwy 33 (Bath Road). This traffic circle remained in service up until the 1970s, when it was replaced with a
realigned intersection controlled by traffic signals. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in
1942. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1942) ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1943) ![]()
Above - Postcard view of King Street through Iroquois (ca. 1945). This portion of Hwy 2 was flooded in July 1958 to make way for the St. Lawrence Seaway
project. While the buildings were all demolished, the roadway still exists. A present day view of this flooded stretch of Hwy 2 can be seen
in this photo. (Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown) ![]() ![]()
Left - Circa 1945 postcard view of Hwy 2 approaching the Gananoque West Entrance Gate. This 1940s view of the welcome arch shows the sign "Canadian Gateway to
the Thousand Islands" suspended below the arch as a separate sign panel. In an effort to increase the vertical clearance below the arch for trucks, the separate panel
sign was removed and mounted a bit higher onto the arch itself after this photo was taken. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken circa 1945. (Photo courtesy of W.L. Prosser) ![]() (Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown) ![]() ![]()
Left - Spring flooding along Hwy 2 near the Duffins Creek Bridge in Pickering. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on March 7, 1946. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1946) ![]() (Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-56-11, Photo #I-0027263) ![]() ![]()
Left - View of a resurfaced section of Hwy 2 in 1947, about 3 miles east of London. Broken sections of pavement between London and Thamesford were either
patched or resurfaced with hot-mix asphalt under Contract #1946-404. In addition, just over 1 mile of Hwy 2 was widened to three lanes along the eastern approach to
London during construction in 1946. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on June 29, 1947. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1947) ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1947) ![]() ![]() ![]() (Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-56-11, Photo #I-0011920) ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1948) ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1948) ![]() ![]()
Above - Construction of a rock breakwater to control shoreline erosion on Hwy 2 east of Burlington. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1948. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1948) Right - Asphalt paving operations on Hwy 2 by Storms Construction Company under Contract #1949-397, about 3 miles east of Newtonville. This was one of several major resurfacing contracts called by the DHO during 1949 in an effort to restore Hwy 2 after years of punishing Wartime truck traffic. A 34-mile section of Hwy 2 was resurfaced between Oshawa and Cobourg during the Summer of 1949 under two separate hot-mix asphalt paving contracts. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on June 23, 1949. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]() ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]() ![]() ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]() (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]()
Above - View of Hwy 2 about 1 mile west of Chatham in 1949, showing a section of three-lane highway widening constructed under Contract #1947-46. This
interesting photo shows an example of a three-lane Ontario highway with lane markings (zone striping). Three-lane highways such as this made their debut in the 1930s
and had become relatively common after World War II. The intention of this highway design was to allow passing in the centre lane by vehicles travelling in either
direction. Both sides of the centre passing lane were marked with dashed white lines. For many years, motorists seldom had to consider who actually had the
right-of-way to use the centre lane, since traffic volumes on these highways were quite light. However, as Ontario's highways became busier, it was necessary to
legally assign the right-of-way to one direction of traffic only approaching these passing lanes. Beginning in the 1950s, passing lanes such as this were marked with
signs conveying messages to motorists to "Pass only when centre lane is clear" or "Yield centre lane to opposing traffic". See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on September 23, 1949. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949) ![]()
Above - Widened highway cross section along Hwy 2, facing east at the western entrance to Chatham. This section of Hwy 2 was widened by 15 feet during 1947, in
order to allow for three traffic lanes to be striped. This widened highway section provided motorists with additional passing opportunities along the western approach
to Chatham. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on September 23, 1949. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1949)
Continue on to King's Highway 2 Historical Photos from 1950 to 1959
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Links to Adjacent King's Highway Photograph Pages:
Back to Hwy 2 - Historical Photos (1920-1934)
Hwy 2 Photo Index
On to Hwy 2 - Historical Photos (1950-1959)
Back to Tertiary Highway 812 Photos /
King's Highway 2 History /
On to King's Highway 3 Photos
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