Ontario Highway 509 Photographs - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Left - Facing west along Hwy 7 approaching the Hwy 509 Junction west of Sharbot Lake. At one time, the Kingston and Pembroke Railway passed below Hwy 7 at this location. During construction of Hwy 7 between Madoc and Perth in 1931-1932, an impressive concrete viaduct known as "Peter's Crossing" was constructed here under Contract #1931-79. The completed Peter's Crossing Overhead can be seen in this Historical 1932 Photo. The overhead bridge carried Hwy 7 traffic safely above the railway for several decades. After the railway was abandoned, the old Peter's Crossing Overhead was removed from service and the highway reconstructed on top of a high rock fill instead. This work took place during a highway improvement project carried out along Hwy 7 in the early 1970s, under Contract #1971-87. Interestingly, only the bridge superstructure and top portions of the piers were removed. The remainder of the bridge piers were simply left in place and backfilled. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 9, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of Hwy 7 facing east towards Sharbot Lake from the Hwy 509 Junction. The old Peter's Crossing Railway Overhead began almost immediately east of the Hwy 509 Junction. This impressive 5-span concrete girder structure was completed in 1932, with a length of 220 feet (67 metres). The overhead bridge spanned both the railway and a deep ravine. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 9, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View of the Hwy 7 & Hwy 509 Junction, facing east towards Sharbot Lake. This highway junction was reconstructed and improved under Contract #2010-4028. The rock cuts were further scaled back and a new left-turn slip-around lane was constructed for eastbound Hwy 7 traffic. Green guide signs along Hwy 7 mark Former Hwy 509 as "Road 509", as the route ceased to be a provincial highway back in 1998. As part of a realignment of public services in the 1990s, nearly all of Eastern Ontario's Secondary Highways along with several King's Highways were transferred or "downloaded" from the province to the municipal tier. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 9, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Distance guide sign on westbound Hwy 7 at the Hwy 509 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 9, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Southern terminus of Hwy 509 at the Hwy 7 Junction west of Sharbot Lake. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 9, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing north along Hwy 509 towards Snow Road Station from the Hwy 7 Junction. The province designated Secondary Highway 509 as part of a new series of provincial highways in 1956, which were intended to connect smaller villages and communities in less populated regions of the province to the King's Highway system. This was one of two Secondary Highways designated in Frontenac County. The other was Hwy 506, which connected Plevna to Hwy 41 near Cloyne. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on July 9, 2011 - © Cameron Bevers)

Above - Old brown-and-white tourism route sign on Hwy 7 approaching the Hwy 509 Junction west of Sharbot Lake. These signs used to be installed at various points along the highway system to encourage motorists to explore the less-travelled routes across the province. With the introduction of the blue-and-white Tourism-Oriented Destination Signs (TODS), these old tourism route signs became obsolete and were quickly removed. This example along Hwy 7 was still in place in 2005, but has seen been removed from the highway. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Mississippi River Bridge on Hwy 509, located about 1 km south of Snow Road Station. This single-span steel pony truss structure is believed to have been constructed in the 1930s by Ontario's Department of Northern Development. Although its mandate was primarily to deal with rural affairs in the more remote regions of the province, the Department also played a major role in administering roads and road construction projects lying north of Hwy 7 in Eastern Ontario up until 1937. The concrete bridge abutments in the background once carried a bridge for the old Kingston & Pembroke Railway (later operated by Canadian Pacific Railway) before the railway was abandoned altogether and the structure removed. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing south along Hwy 509 towards Sharbot Lake at the Mississippi River Bridge. This narrow bridge effectively operated as a single traffic lane only, as the curb-to-curb roadway width was only 18 feet (5.5 metres). Early truss bridges such as this were designed to accommodate the vehicles and traffic volumes of the day. Many designers chose to economize on bridge construction costs on low-volume rural roads by providing a deck width that could just accommodate two standard passenger cars side-by-side, but that larger vehicles may have to take turns to cross. It was assumed (logically, at the time) that the likelihood of two vehicles wishing to cross the bridge at the same time, let alone two trucks, would indeed be a rare event. However, as vehicle dimensions gradually increased and traffic volumes on highways became heavier, many narrow truss bridges on the provincial highway system started to become traffic bottlenecks and had to be replaced. Since Hwy 509 has always carried light traffic volumes, the Mississippi River Bridge managed to survive well into the 21st Century. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View of the Mississippi River Bridge on Hwy 509, facing north towards Snow Road Station. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Eastern side of the Mississippi River Bridge on Hwy 509. This structure consists of a single Warren Truss span, which was constructed in 1932. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - The vertical truss members of the Mississippi River Bridge on Hwy 509 project outwards from the span as a latticed flange, to increase the stiffness of the main pony truss. This truss design was commonly used on bridges built by the Department of Northern Development during the 1920s and 1930s. Although it is not known for certain that this was indeed a Department of Northern Development-built bridge, the structure's design certainly bears many of the hallmarks normally seen on Northern Development bridges. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing west along Hwy 509 towards Plevna at the Buckshot Creek Bridge, located about 11 km west of Ompah. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Northern side of the Buckshot Creek Bridge on Hwy 509 near Plevna. This 5-span creosoted timber trestle structure was built prior to the assumption of the Ompah and Plevna Road as a provincial highway in 1977. Although the date of construction is unknown, this bridge likely dates from the 1960s. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of the Buckshot Creek Bridge on Hwy 509, facing east towards Ompah. This structure is located on a fairly sharp horizontal curve. Accordingly, the bridge deck has been superelevated due to the curve. Note how much higher in elevation the southern side of the bridge is compared to the northern side of the bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View underneath the Buckshot Creek Bridge on Hwy 509. This bridge has a laminated timber deck, consisting of creosoted boards arranged vertically and then bonded and bolted together. This laminated timber deck is supported on a creosoted timber trestle. Many of these laminated timber deck and timber trestle bridges were built during the 1950s and 1960s in the more remote regions of the province, where it was often impractical or expensive to source and transport the large volumes of structural concrete required for cast-in-place bridge decks. Despite their wood construction. these bridges are quite strong and durable, with several constructed examples across Ontario providing successful service lives of 65 years or more. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Southern side of the Buckshot Creek Bridge on Hwy 509. The only concrete used for this bridge was for the roadside curbs. Since this was a comparatively small volume of material, this concrete was likely mixed on-site during the bridge's construction. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - An even older concrete slab and steel beam structure exists over Buckshot Creek a short distance to the north. This tiny bridge would have carried traffic on the Ompah and Plevna Road prior to the construction of the timber trestle bridge which stands today. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of the Old Buckshot Creek Bridge on an abandoned former alignment of the Ompah and Plevna Road. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Highway transfer notification sign on Hwy 509 in Plevna. These white signs were placed on many downloaded provincial highways in the late 1990s to advise motorists that they are no longer travelling on a provincially-maintained highway. Jurisdiction over Hwy 509 was turned over to the Townships of North Frontenac and Central Frontenac, effective January 1, 1998. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Centre - Junction sign assembly at the end of Hwy 509 at Buckshot Lake Road in Plevna. Hwy 509 seamlessly continues straight ahead as this junction as Hwy 506. Motorists who proceed west along Hwy 506 from Plevna will ultimately arrive at the Hwy 41 Junction which lies 33 km ahead. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Hwy 506 Ends sign at the Hwy 509 Junction in Plevna. From 1956 until 1977, Hwy 506 ended here at Buckshot Lake Road in Plevna. No provincial highways continued easterly from Plevna until the 1970s. In the Spring of 1977, the province acquired jurisdiction and control over the Ompah and Plevna Road from Buckshot Lake Road easterly to Snow Road Station as an extension of Hwy 509. The extension of Hwy 509 formed a provincial highway loop which connected Plevna to Hwy 7 near Sharbot Lake. See an Enlarged Photo Here.
(Photograph taken on May 23, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)