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Highway 5 (Ontario)
Encyclopedia
King's Highway 5, also known as Highway 5 and historically as the Dundas Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian
province of Ontario
. The east–west highway travels a distance of 12.7 km (7.9 mi) between Highway 8
at Peter's Corners, north of Hamilton
and Highway 6 at Clappison's Corners. Prior to several sections being downloaded to the municipalities in which they reside, Highway 5 served as bypass to Highway 2
, connecting with it in both Paris
and Scarborough
, a distance of 114.3 km (71 mi).
Highway 5 followed a significant piece of the Governor's Road, one of two routes constructed under the orders of John Graves Simcoe
during his short tenure as Lieutenant Governor
of Upper Canada
, the other being Yonge Street
. The route was adopted into the provincial highway system in 1920 and numbered as Highway 5 in 1925.
, the City of Mississauga, the Regional Municipality of Halton, the City of Hamilton, the County of Brant, and Oxford County
on January 1, 1998. Prior to that, Highway 5 followed a large portion of the Governors Road between Toronto and Paris.
The current route of Highway 5 is almost entirely straight and rural. It passes immediately to the north of the Niagara Escarpment
, a World Biosphere Reserve. South of the escarpment is the town of Dundas
, once a separate settlement that has recently become a suburb of Hamilton
. Both lie on the western tip of Lake Ontario
.
It begins at the southern end of Highway 8 in Peter's Corners, next to the junction with former Highway 52. To the west, the road is known as Hamilton Regional Road 5 and proceeds towards Paris
. Proceeding east, it passes several houses before crossing a ravine. The highway divides a forest, then becomes surrounded by farm fields on either side. It crosses Spencer Creek as it approaches Brock Road. Spencer Creek plunges over the nearby escarpment at Webster's Falls
. Continuing, Highway 5 passes north of several new subdivisions and returns to a farmland setting. It passes through the rural hamlet
of Rock Chapel, and then curves to the left on its final approach to Highway 6. East of Highway 6, the road becomes Halton Regional Road 5, but is more commonly known as Dundas Street
.
. The highway's eastern terminus was the intersection of Danforth Avenue
and Kingston Road (formerly Highway 2), in the City of Toronto
. The highway ran west from that point, along Danforth Avenue and Bloor Street
in the City of Toronto and Dundas St. through Etobicoke
, Mississauga
, Oakville
and Burlington
. The western terminus is at the intersection of the former Highway 2 in Paris, Ontario
.
Highway 5 took on a very different description through most of Toronto. It has been described as Toronto's other "Main Street" (with Yonge Street
being the primary "Main Street" of Toronto). With a very urban feel, the former highway, through most of the city, is traced underground by Toronto's only complete east-west subway line (Bloor-Danforth).
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. The east–west highway travels a distance of 12.7 km (7.9 mi) between Highway 8
Ontario Highway 8
Provincial Highway 8 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its total length is 138.5 km, though it was once much longer, running farther east from Hamilton to Niagara Falls, before the Queen Elizabeth Way replaced its role.- History :Highway 8 is one of the...
at Peter's Corners, north of Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Highway 6 at Clappison's Corners. Prior to several sections being downloaded to the municipalities in which they reside, Highway 5 served as bypass to Highway 2
Ontario Highway 2
King's Highway 2, usually referred to simply as Highway 2 is a provincially maintained highway in Ontario. Once the primary east–west route across the southern end of the province, Highway 2 became mostly redundant in the 1960s following the completion of Highway 401, which more or less...
, connecting with it in both Paris
Paris, Ontario
Paris, Ontario is a community on the Grand River in Ontario, Canada. The town was established in 1850. In 1999, its town government was amalgamated into that of the County of Brant, Ontario, thus ending about 149 years as a separate incorporated municipality.-History:The town was first settled in...
and Scarborough
Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...
, a distance of 114.3 km (71 mi).
Highway 5 followed a significant piece of the Governor's Road, one of two routes constructed under the orders of John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...
during his short tenure as Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, the other being Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
. The route was adopted into the provincial highway system in 1920 and numbered as Highway 5 in 1925.
Route description
Highway 5 serves as a short connector between Highway 8 in the west and Highway 6 in the east, essentially a continuation of Highway 8. This configuration comes as a result of the truncation of both highways. The removed sections were transferred to the jurisdiction of the City of TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, the City of Mississauga, the Regional Municipality of Halton, the City of Hamilton, the County of Brant, and Oxford County
Oxford County, Ontario
Oxford County is a regional municipality and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Southern portion of the province. The regional seat is in Woodstock...
on January 1, 1998. Prior to that, Highway 5 followed a large portion of the Governors Road between Toronto and Paris.
The current route of Highway 5 is almost entirely straight and rural. It passes immediately to the north of the Niagara Escarpment
Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
, a World Biosphere Reserve. South of the escarpment is the town of Dundas
Dundas, Ontario
Dundas is a formerly independent town and now constituent community in the city of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. It's nickname is the Valley Town. The population has been stable for decades at about twenty thousand, largely because it has not annexed rural land from the protected Dundas Valley...
, once a separate settlement that has recently become a suburb of Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
. Both lie on the western tip of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
.
It begins at the southern end of Highway 8 in Peter's Corners, next to the junction with former Highway 52. To the west, the road is known as Hamilton Regional Road 5 and proceeds towards Paris
Paris, Ontario
Paris, Ontario is a community on the Grand River in Ontario, Canada. The town was established in 1850. In 1999, its town government was amalgamated into that of the County of Brant, Ontario, thus ending about 149 years as a separate incorporated municipality.-History:The town was first settled in...
. Proceeding east, it passes several houses before crossing a ravine. The highway divides a forest, then becomes surrounded by farm fields on either side. It crosses Spencer Creek as it approaches Brock Road. Spencer Creek plunges over the nearby escarpment at Webster's Falls
Webster's Falls
Webster's Falls, noted for its panoramas, is a 22 metre high classical curtain/ plunge waterfall found in the Spencer Gorge/Webster's Falls Conservation Area in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The water flows down Spencer Creek. In the past the falls have been known by various names such as Dr...
. Continuing, Highway 5 passes north of several new subdivisions and returns to a farmland setting. It passes through the rural hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
of Rock Chapel, and then curves to the left on its final approach to Highway 6. East of Highway 6, the road becomes Halton Regional Road 5, but is more commonly known as Dundas Street
Dundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
.
Original construction
Highway 5 was constructed as northerly alternative to Highway 2Highway 2 (Ontario)
King's Highway 2, usually referred to simply as Highway 2 is a provincially maintained highway in Ontario. Once the primary east–west route across the southern end of the province, Highway 2 became mostly redundant in the 1960s following the completion of Highway 401, which more or less...
. The highway's eastern terminus was the intersection of Danforth Avenue
Danforth Avenue
Danforth Avenue is an east-west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its western end begins in Old Toronto from the Prince Edward Viaduct as a continuation of Bloor Street and continues through East York until intersecting with Kingston Road in Scarborough...
and Kingston Road (formerly Highway 2), in the City of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. The highway ran west from that point, along Danforth Avenue and Bloor Street
Bloor Street
Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...
in the City of Toronto and Dundas St. through Etobicoke
Etobicoke, Ontario
Etobicoke is a dissolved municipality located within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the western section of the current city, it had an official population of 338,117 as measured by the 2001 Census and 334,491 people as of the 2006 Census. While it only contains 13% of...
, Mississauga
Mississauga, Ontario
Mississauga is a city in Southern Ontario located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and in the western part of the Greater Toronto Area. With an estimated population of 734,000, it is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality, and has almost doubled in population in each of the last two decades...
, Oakville
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
and Burlington
Burlington, Ontario
Burlington , is a city located in Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario. Burlington is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and is also included in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Physically, Burlington lies between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment...
. The western terminus is at the intersection of the former Highway 2 in Paris, Ontario
Paris, Ontario
Paris, Ontario is a community on the Grand River in Ontario, Canada. The town was established in 1850. In 1999, its town government was amalgamated into that of the County of Brant, Ontario, thus ending about 149 years as a separate incorporated municipality.-History:The town was first settled in...
.
Original route
From the western terminus in Paris, Ontario, through to the western boundary of Mississauga, the highway was largely a multi-lane rural road. Through Mississauga, Highway 5 is named Dundas Street, and is one of the busiest east-west routes in the city of nearly 700,000.Highway 5 took on a very different description through most of Toronto. It has been described as Toronto's other "Main Street" (with Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
being the primary "Main Street" of Toronto). With a very urban feel, the former highway, through most of the city, is traced underground by Toronto's only complete east-west subway line (Bloor-Danforth).
Shift of responsibility
In 1997, responsibility for portions of the highway were transferred from the province to the corresponding municipalities resulting in its current route. The former sections of the highway are now managed by the individual cities, towns, and counties they run through.Major intersections
| Location | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter's Corners | 0.0 | ||
| Middletown Road | |||
| Brock Gardens | |||
| Rock Chapel | 9.6 | ||
| Rock Chapel Road | |||
| Clappison's Corners | 12.7 |