Ontario Highway 33 - History

History

Highway 33, also known since 1984 as the Loyalist Parkway, follows a pioneer colonial route on which the first segments were built two hundred years prior. The route connects several historical settlement sites in Prince Edward County, continuing east through Bath to what is now Kingston.

In 1784, following the American Revolution, the United Empire Loyalists began to arrive in Upper Canada, hoping to settle the frontier near Cataraqui (now Kingston). With the help of the military, the loyalists blazed a trail west from Cataraqui to Bath, a distance of 25 kilometres (16 mi). This trail would become a section of Highway 33 nearly 150 years later.

On June 5, 1799, Asa Danforth Jr. began construction eastward from Toronto on a road which was to extend the Governor's Road through Port Hope and to the Trent River. That road, completed in 1801, would be described by acting surveyor general William Chewett to be "good" for use in the dead of winter but "impassible" during the wet summers, when the path turned to a bottomless mud pit. It would be extended in 1802 to reach the Bay of Quinte at Stone Mills (now Glenora) and a ferry crossing established to Adolphustown. The Bath extension of the Danforth Road (1802) provided access to a key early colonial road, the Bath Road, which had long joined Bath to Kingston.

This road would serve as the initial mail road linking Kingston to Toronto, but was poorly-maintained and soon allowed to fall into disrepair. By 1817, the Kingston Road would replace or bypass much of Danforth's Road, following a similar path to the Trent River (with minor improvements in routing around Scarborough, Port Hope, Cobourg and Grafton) but then blazing a more northerly route through Belleville and Napanee. Like the Danforth Road before it, this 1817 York Road was initially a muddy dirt road; it would, however, suffice to establish reliable scheduled stagecoach runs by which mail and passengers could make the two-day trip from Kingston to Toronto and permit enterprises (such as the branches of the newly-established Bank of Montreal) safe and timely delivery of documents and valuables.

While the area around Bath and the Bay of Quinte would remain a major agricultural region, the pattern of redirecting Kingston-Toronto traffic further inland which started with construction of the Kingston Road (1817) would be repeated with the Grand Trunk Railroad (1856) and ultimately Highway 401 (1964).

Due to its historic role in early colonisation and its prime waterfront scenic location, the original route from Kingston westward through Bath and the Quinte Region would be commemorated in 1984 by Queen Elizabeth as the Loyalist Parkway.

Ironically, the first section of Highway 33 to be assumed as provincial highway is not part of the commemorated Loyalist Parkway. On July 9, 1930, the Department of Highways assumed the Trenton–Stirling Road as King's Highway 33, a distance of approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi). In July 1934, as part of a depression-relief effort, the Carrying Place Trail through Prince Edward County and the United Counties of Lennox and Addington was assumed as an extension of Highway 33. (The section between Trenton and Glenora was assumed on July 4, 1934, the section between Adolphustown and Kingston on July 11.)

In 1984, Queen Elizabeth toured the Kingston area as part of its two hundredth anniversary, attending several events and ceremonies through her visit. On her final day in the region, she dedicated the Loyalist Parkway in honour of the settlers that landed there in 1784. The ceremony was held in Amherstview on September 27, 1984.

In 1998, all portions of Highway 33 west of Ontario Highway 62, Bloomfield or east of Collins Bay Road, Kingston were decertified as provincial highway and downloaded as county or city roads.

In 2009, intersection of Highway 33 and Prince Edward County Road 1 (Scoharie Road) near Picton saw the introduction of a traffic roundabout, the first ever constructed on a provincial highway in the province, to replace the at-grade intersection. The MTO felt that the area had reached its operational threshold due to high tourist and recreational activity, particularly during the busy summer months, and so felt a traffic roundabout was needed.

The engineering and consulting firm Morrison Hershfield was retained to undertake the detail design for the realignment and reconfiguration of the existing intersection at Highway 33 and Country Road 1 into a single lane roundabout with a central island and truck apron. The assignment included highway engineering, drainage and hydrology engineering, electrical engineering, public consultation, and traffic engineering. The roundabout was officially opened on July 17, 2009.