Historical Highway 2 Photographs (1947 to 1999)
Above - Dual highway west of Brockville (1947)Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
This historic 1947 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 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 1947 because they posed a collision hazard to highway traffic.
Above - View of Hwy 2, three miles east of London (1948)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Left - Asphalt paving operations on Hwy 2 east of Newtonville in 1949
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Centre - Overlaying concrete pavement with asphalt on Hwy 2, 5 miles east of Windsor (1950)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Right - New asphalt pavement on Hwy 2 in 1950, east of Windsor
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Left - New Hwy 2 Bridge at Napanee in 1950. Note old one-lane bridge at left
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Centre - Another view of new concrete Hwy 2 bridge at Napanee (1950)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Right - New pavement and zone painting on Hwy 2, 1 mile west of Princeton (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Left - Salt spreader at work on Kingston Road near Rouge River (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Centre - New Hwy 2 diversion in 1951, 3 miles east of Colborne
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Right - Zone painting on Hwy 2, 8 miles west of Port Hope (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Left - View of Hwy 2, four miles west of Trenton (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Right - Dundas Street (Hwy 2) in Downtown London approaching Hwy 4 & Hwy 22 Junction (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Above - Hwy 2 heading west out of Chatham (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
This interesting photo shows an example of a three lane Ontario highway. Three lane highways such as this had become relatively common by the 1950s. 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, drivers 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. Beginning in the 1950s, passing lanes such as this were marked with signs conveying messages to drivers to "Pass only when centre lane is clear" or "Yield centre lane to opposing traffic".
Above - Facing east along Hwy 2 at the western entrance to Chatham (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Above - Facing west along Ouellette Avenue towards Downtown Windsor (1951)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Note the signpost at right, which bears no fewer than four King's Highway shields. Although the route numbers are difficult to discern in this photo, the four marked routes are Hwy 2, Hwy 3B, Hwy 39 and Hwy 98. For a number of years, all four of these King's Highways were signed concurrently along Ouellette Avenue into Downtown Windsor. However, due to the construction of the E.C. Row Expressway and the decommissioning of Hwy 39 and Hwy 98, three of these highway routes were eventually removed from Ouellette Avenue. Only the Hwy 3B route designation survived until the 1990s.
Above - View of Hwy 2 west of Odessa (1954)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Above - Postcard showing an aerial view of the construction of the Gardiner Expressway (Hwy 2) in Toronto at Jameson Avenue (ca. 1959)
Above - Replacement of the Port Credit Bridge on Hwy 2 in 1959. The original concrete bowstring arch bridge at right was constructed by the Toronto and Hamilton Highway Commission in 1918, years before the Lakeshore Road was designated as King's Highway 2. During the bridge reconstruction project, Hwy 2 traffic was diverted over the Credit River across temporary Bailey Bridges.
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Above - New entrance to Fort Henry on Hwy 2 east of Kingston (1961)
Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation
