Ontario Highway 402 Photographs - Page 1 - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Left - Circa 1940 view of the Bluewater Bridge, as seen from the St. Clair River. This international bridge links Sarnia and Point Edward, Ontario with Port Huron, Michigan. The bridge is situated at the western terminus of Hwy 402.
(Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown)

Right - Circa 1955 postcard view of the Bluewater Bridge Entrance at the western end of Hwy 402. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph courtesy of Sigal Brothers Publishing)

Above - Facing east along Hwy 402 towards the Hwy 7 & Hwy 40 Junction from the Bluewater Bridge Entrance in Point Edward. Even when this photo was taken in the 1950s, it would have been unusual to see three King's Highway shields mounted below a single "JUNCTION" tab such as this. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken circa 1955.
(Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown)

Above - Close-up view of the "JUNCTION" Hwy 402, Hwy 7 & Hwy 40 signs. Small-sized 400-Series Highway markers such as this example for Hwy 402 were actually rarely seen in the 1950s. Even at that time, the 400-Series Highways were typically signed with the oversized highway markers, which were designed for use on high-speed highways. Although it isn't very clear in this photo due to the limited resolution, note the example of an early Ontario diagrammatical junction sign in the background. These simple diagrammatical junction signs used thick black lines with arrowheads to show the layout of highway routes departing from a junction. The King's Highway route numbers were shown beside the various arrowheads so motorists knew in advance which fork to take at the approaching junction. These diagrammatical signs began to appear at Ontario's highway junctions in the late 1930s and were used up until the mid-1950s when new types of guide signs were introduced. Interestingly, this sign directs Hwy 7 traffic to follow Hwy 402, rather than use the actual route of Hwy 7 through Downtown Sarnia. Photo taken circa 1955.
(Photo from Cameron Bevers' historical photograph collection - Original photographer unknown)

Above - Resurfaced section of Hwy 402 approaching Modeland Road east of Sarnia in 1959. At the time this photo was taken, Modeland Road met Hwy 402 at an at-grade intersection. When the Bluewater Bridge Approach (Hwy 402) was first built through Sarnia in the 1940s, it was designed as a four-lane divided highway with limited access. A grade-separated interchange was built at Christina Street, but all other intersections along the initial route of Hwy 402 through Sarnia were left at-grade. It took many years to fully convert Hwy 402 into a controlled-access freeway through Sarnia. An interchange was built at Modeland Road (Hwy 40) on a slightly realigned route of Hwy 402 in 1975-1976. Photo taken in 1959.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1959)

Above - Circa 1960 postcard view of the western terminus of Hwy 402 at the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia. This aerial photo shows the western terminus of Hwy 402 before it was rebuilt as a fully controlled-access freeway through Sarnia and Point Edward. The concrete highway approaching from the left is Hwy 7 & Hwy 40 from Downtown Sarnia. These two routes joined into Hwy 402 at an at-grade intersection just before the Bluewater Bridge Customs Building in the background. This road configuration remained virtually unchanged for three decades following the completion of the Bluewater Bridge Approach (Hwy 402) through Sarnia in the late 1940s. In 1981, a new interchange was completed at Front Street and the at-grade intersection shown here was subsequently closed off. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken circa 1960.
(Photograph courtesy of Bert Knechtel)

Left - Junction of Hwy 402 and Modeland Road (Lucasville Road) east of Sarnia in 1962. This aerial photo of Hwy 402 shows the junction of Modeland Road and the adjacent Hwy 7 junction, just east of Sarnia (facing east). Modeland Road was later incorporated into the Sarnia Bypass and was designated as Hwy 40 in the mid-1960s. The at-grade intersection at Hwy 402 was eventually eliminated through the construction of a proper interchange at Hwy 40. In the 1970s, Hwy 402 was extended easterly from Sarnia towards London and was realigned through the area in the bottom left corner of the photo. The Hwy 402 connection to Hwy 7 seen here was subsequently removed and is now the site of a shopping plaza. Sarnia's present day "Golden Mile" can be seen along Hwy 7 in the top left corner of this photo. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken on November 28, 1962.
(Photo © Archives of Ontario - Series RG-14-151-7-16, Photo #3851)

Right - Construction of the Indian Road Overpass on Hwy 402 in Sarnia (1964)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1964)

Left - Temporary roadside diversion for the construction of a new Hwy 402 overpass on a county road east of Sarnia (1974)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1974)

Right - Grading for a new section of Hwy 402 east of Sarnia (1975)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1975)

Left - Grading for a new section of Hwy 402 east of Sarnia (1976)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1976)

Right - Construction progress on the Modeland Road (Hwy 40) Interchange on Hwy 402 in Sarnia (1976)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1976)

Left - Asphalt pavement construction on a new section of Hwy 402 east of Sarnia in 1977. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1977)

Right - Construction of the Hwy 81 Overpass on Hwy 402 in Strathroy in 1977. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1977)

Left - Completed grading on a new section of Hwy 402 east of the Hwy 7 Overpass near Warwick in 1978. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1978)

Right - Culvert construction on a new section of Hwy 402 at the Hwy 4 Interchange near Lambeth (1978)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1978)

Left - Construction of the new Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Overhead on Hwy 402 east of Strathroy (1981)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1981)

Right - Laying concrete base for a new section of Hwy 402 south of London (1981)
(Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 1981)