|
This page contains historical and present day photos of Ontario's King's Highway 53. All photographs displayed on this page
were taken by the Webmaster (Cameron Bevers), unless specifically noted otherwise. Historical photographs are arranged in approximate chronological order, while
present day photographs (Year 2000 to date) are arranged by location from west to east. 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!
|
---|
Historical King's Highway 53 Photographs
![]()
Above - Circa 1937 aerial view of Downtown Brantford, facing east from the Grand River. Immediately east of the Lorne Bridge over the Grand River, Hwy 2,
Hwy 24 & Hwy 53 all connect together at the intersection of Brant Avenue and Colborne Street. From Downtown Brantford, Brant Avenue carries traffic on Hwy 2 West
& Hwy 24 North towards Paris and Galt, the Lorne Bridge carries traffic on Hwy 24 South and Hwy 53 West towards Burford and Simcoe, while Colborne Street carries
traffic on Hwy 2 East & Hwy 53 East through Downtown Brantford. Up until the completion of the Brantford Bypass section of Hwy 403 in October 1966, most
long-distance through traffic travelling between Woodstock and London would have passed directly through Brantford's City Centre. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken circa 1937. (Photo courtesy of Canadian Airmaps Ltd.) ![]()
Above - King's Highway signs approaching the Hwy 20 & Hwy 53 Junction near Hamilton. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken circa 1955. (Photo from Cameron Bevers' Historical Photograph Collection - Original Photographer Unknown) ![]() ![]()
Left - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 near the Jerseyville Road Intersection east of Cainsville, near Brantford. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) Right - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 east of the Fairchild Creek Bridge near Cainsville. The highway briefly widens into a divided four-lane roadway on the approaches to the Fairchild Creek Bridge. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) ![]() ![]()
Left - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 near the Cornwell Road Intersection between Brantford and Ancaster. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) Right - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 near the County Road 8 Intersection west of Alberton. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) ![]() ![]()
Left - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 at the Wentworth-Brant County Boundary west of Alberton. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) Right - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 at Alberton, between Brantford and Ancaster. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) ![]() ![]()
Left - Aerial view of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 at the Hwy 52 Junction west of Ancaster. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) Right - Aerial view of Duff's Corners (Junction of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53) west of Ancaster in 1974. Here, Hwy 2 heads northeast to meet Hwy 403 near Ancaster, while Hwy 53 continues east through Hamilton where it connects to Hwy 20 at Elfrida. See an Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1974. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) ![]()
Above - Aerial view of the eastern end of the Brantford Bypass (Hwy 403) at Cainsville in 1978. Hwy 403 ended at this signalized intersection at the Hwy 2
& Hwy 53 Junction for over 30 years. Until 1997, all eastbound traffic on Hwy 403 had to turn left onto Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 in order to continue east towards
Hamilton. By the 1990s, this congested left turn movement had overwhelmed the capacity of the traffic signal, which resulted in long queues on Hwy 403 which often
extended more than a kilometre back from the intersection at peak times. The completion of Hwy 403 between Brantford and Ancaster in 1997 bypassed Hwy 2 & Hwy 53,
thus removing one of the most severe traffic bottlenecks in the province. See an
Enlarged Photo Here. Photo taken in 1978. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Ministry of Transportation - © King's Printer for Ontario, 2016) |
---|
Present Day King's Highway 53 Photographs
![]() ![]()
Left - Green guide sign on eastbound Hwy 2 marking the route to Hwy 403, approaching the Hwy 53 Junction at Eastwood. It is interesting to note that there is
no mention of the fact that Hwy 2 intersects with Hwy 53 ahead. Although this is a newer highway sign manufactured by the County of Oxford, the previous sign which
once stood here that was manufactured by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) also referred to Hwy 403 only. Hwy 53 itself was only marked using small
route markers at the highway junction. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - Facing east along Hwy 2 approaching the channelized right-turn lane to eastbound Hwy 53. The pavement markings at this junction were altered a number of years ago by Oxford County. Originally, the right-hand lane was an "either-or" lane, which could be used by traffic wishing to go straight along Hwy 2 or exit to Hwy 53. Under the current lane configuration, all traffic in the right-hand lane must exit to Hwy 53. Traffic wishing to remain on eastbound Hwy 2 must use the left lane only. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]() ![]()
Left - Facing west along Hwy 2 towards Woodstock from the Hwy 53 Junction at Eastwood. Two of the four lanes on Hwy 2 at this point have been hatched out using
pavement markings, presumably to improve traffic operations at this rather awkward highway junction. The second westbound lane now develops a short distance west of
the Hwy 53 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - Facing east along Hwy 2 at the Hwy 53 Junction at Eastwood. By hatching out the innermost through lane, a dedicated westbound left-turn lane to Hwy 53 was provided. Previously, this was a shared left-through lane, which is a lane arrangement which tends to experience a high number of rear-end collisions. Motorists do not expect to encounter a stopped vehicle in a through lane waiting to turn left. Having a separate left-turn lane generally results in better (and safer) traffic operations. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]() ![]()
Left - The outermost eastbound through lane on Hwy 2 was also recently hatched out using pavement markings, presumably to allow motorists waiting to turn off
of Hwy 53 better visibility of traffic approaching on eastbound Hwy 2. Before the intersection was modified, the second eastbound lane ended just east of the Hwy 53
Junction. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - Junction of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 at Eastwood. Until the completion of the Hwy 401 & Hwy 403 Interchange in Woodstock in 1988, nearly all east-west traffic travelling between Brantford and Woodstock passed through this tiny highway junction. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]() ![]()
Left - Facing east along Hwy 53 towards Brantford from the Hwy 2 Junction at Eastwood. Hwy 53 was one of many King's Highways in Southwestern Ontario that was
transferred from provincial to municipal ownership in 1997-1998. Oxford County now maintains this section of Hwy 53. Officially, Hwy 53 is known as Oxford County Road
55 in the Eastwood area, although motorists still commonly refer to this route by its former highway route number - Hwy 53. See an
Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - Approaching the Hwy 2 Junction on Hwy 53 at Eastwood, facing west. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]() ![]()
Left - A flashing overhead intersection warning beacon was installed over Hwy 53 to indicate that the highway is about to come to an end. Due to the bad skew
of the intersection, it isn't very apparent to motorists that Hwy 53 ends here. At left, the long right-turn channelization from eastbound Hwy 2 can be seen joining
eastbound Hwy 53. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - A series of delineators and a second STOP sign was installed at the junction of Hwy 2 & Hwy 53 in order to make the intersection more conspicuous to motorists. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]() ![]()
Left - Facing west along Hwy 2 towards the Hwy 53 Junction at Eastwood. Heading westbound, there is a green guide sign on Hwy 2 marking Oxford County Road 55
(Formerly Hwy 53). There are no Hwy 403 trailblazer route markers at the Hwy 53 Junction heading westbound on Hwy 2, as Hwy 403 ends at Hwy 401 in Woodstock.
Motorists who would have otherwise intended to use westbound Hwy 403 to access Hwy 401 will find it is shorter and far simpler to just get on Hwy 401 directly at the
Hwy 2 Interchange in Woodstock, rather than access Hwy 403 from Hwy 53 near Eastwood. See an
Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - Distance guide sign on eastbound Hwy 2 departing from Eastwood, facing east from the Hwy 53 Junction. See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on May 11, 2012 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]() ![]()
Left - Facing east along Hwy 53 towards the Hwy 20 Junction at Elfrida. See an
Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on September 15, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers) Right - Culvert inscription on Hwy 53 at Elfrida - "THE KING'S HIGHWAY ONTARIO 1933". See an Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on September 15, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers) ![]()
Above - Close-up of the date stamp on culvert on Hwy 53 at Elfrida. See an
Enlarged Photo here. (Photograph taken on September 15, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)
More King's Highway 53 Photographs Coming Soon!
|
---|
Links to Adjacent King's Highway Photograph Pages:
Back to King's Highway 52B Photos /
King's Highway 53 History /
Back to King's Highway 54 Photos
Ontario Highway History - Main Menu / Back to List of Highways Website contents, photos & text © 2002-2025, Cameron
Bevers (Webmaster) - All Rights Reserved / Contact Me |
---|