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Highway 48 (Ontario)
Encyclopedia
King's Highway 48, also known as Highway 48, is a provincially-maintained highway in southern Ontario
that extends from Major Mackenzie Drive in Markham
, through Whitchurch-Stouffville, to Highway 12 south-east of Beaverton, Ontario
. Prior to 1998, Highway 48 extended from Highway 401 in Toronto to Highway 35 in Coboconk with a total length of 128 km (79.5 mi). However, on January 1, 1998 the province transferred the responsibility of maintaining the southern and northern sections to the regional governments that those sections lie within.
for 14 km (8.7 mi) to . East of this junction, it veers north to the boundary between the historic townships of Brock
and Thorah, and follows it east to . The road is paved in its entirety.
The route is mostly rural, passing around Stouffville and south of Sutton
. However, the east–west section that lies to the south of Lake Simcoe
is slightly developed and features a reduced speed limit of 60 km/h (37.3 mph).
Markham Road began as the eighth concession east of Yonge Street
in the Home County of Upper Canada
, and was blazed by settlers to whom land had been granted along the right-of-way. The right-of-way extended from Lake Ontario in the south to what is today York Region Road 8A (Baseline Road) in Sutton, just south of Lake Simcoe
, in the north. Improvements to the road and the necessary funds were authorized by an act of the Upper Canada provincial parliament on February 13, 1833 for the section in Scarborough township between Danforth Road
(present day Painted Post Drive) and the Eighth Concession at the border with Markham township. These improvements were supervised by residents Peter Secor, Richard Houck and Robert Armstrong.
By 1847, the section between Scarborough and Markham had become known as the Scarborough and Markham Road. On July 28 of that year, the parliament of the Province of Canada
passed an act to establish the Scarborough and Markham Plank-road Company, which was authorized to further improve the road surface to macadmized
or planked
construction between Kingston Road
in Scarborough and Markham Village in the north, and further north and then east to Stouffville along the Markham-Stouffville township line, a line then formed by today's Stouffville Road / Main Street Stouffville. The company was allowed to erect gates and charge tolls to pay for the work.
On March 24, 1937, the 9.6 km (6 mi) gravel road
between Beaverton and Port Bolster, known as the Port Bolster Road, was assumed by the Department of Highways;
it was paved in 1947. On February 10, 1954, the highway was extended 82 km (51 mi) to the future site of Highway 401,
where a cloverleaf was constructed in anticipation of it developing into a freeway around the eastern side of Lake Simcoe; Highway 404 was constructed along Woodbine Avenue instead. In 1962, the highway was extended to Highway 46 at Bolsover via a concurrency with Highway 12 north from Beaverton. This routing would last until November 4, 1966, when the 10.3 km (6.4 mi) Beaverton Bypass opened, routing Highway 12 to the east. A new road was opened connecting Highway 48 south of Port Bolster with the bypass on the same day, and both Highway 12 and Highway 48 were rerouted. Portions of the former route of Highway 48 and Highway 12 were renumbered as Highway 48B. However, the segment between Port Bolster and what is now Brock Sideline 17 was decommissioned entirely.
On June 28, 1967, the routing of Highway 46 was shifted in the vicinity of Balsam Lake
on to a new inland bypass; the old route became known as West Bay Drive.
In 1975, Highway 46 was truncated at Bolsover; the severed section was renumbered as an extension of Highway 48, bringing it to its peak length of 129.2 km (80.3 mi).
The section between Highway 401 and the then-unopened Highway 407 interchange was turned over to the Region of York and the City of Toronto on April 1, 1995, and is known as Markham Road south of Highway 407, and Main Street thereafter to Major Mackenzie. The section within York Region is also designated as York Regional Road 68.
On January 1, 1998, the section of Highway 48 between its southern junction with Highway 12 and Coboconk was transferred to the Regional Municipality of Durham and Victoria County
(now Kawartha Lakes
), removing the concurrency with Highway 12 in the process.
The section from Highway 12 to Highway 35 is now known as Portage Road and signed as Durham Regional Highway 48 and Kawartha Lakes Road 48.
|-
!scope="col"|Division
!scope="col"|Location
!scope="col"|km
!scope="col"|Destinations
!scope="col"|Notes
|-
|colspan="2"|Toronto
|−14.1
|
|
|-
|rowspan="15"|York
|rowspan="2"|Markham
|−4.0
|
|
|-
|0.0
|
|
|-
|rowspan="4"|Whitchurch–Stouffville
|6.0
|
Main Street – Stouffville
|Former route of Highway 47, 1954 to 1992
|-
|10.1
|
|Former route of Highway 47, 1993 to 1998
|-
|14.3
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|20.5
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|rowspan="3"|East Gwillimbury
|-
|24.4
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|34.7
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|rowspan="3"|Georgina
|-
|43.4
|
|
|-
|46.0
| – Sibbald Point Provincial Park
|
|-
|Virginia
|51.2
|Douclas Point Road
|Access to Douclas Point Nature Reserve
|-
|Pefferlaw
|54.4
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|Port Bolster
|rowspan="2"|57.0
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|rowspan="3"|Durham
|-
|rowspan="2"|Brock
|65.2
|
|
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|77.9
|
|Northern end of former concurrency
prior to January 1, 1998
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Kawartha Lakes
|87.5
|
|rowspan="2"|Transferred to Durham Region and Kawartha Lakes on January 1, 1998
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|113.8
|
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....
that extends from Major Mackenzie Drive in Markham
Markham, Ontario
Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, through Whitchurch-Stouffville, to Highway 12 south-east of Beaverton, Ontario
Beaverton, Ontario
Beaverton is a community in Brock Township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada.Originally part of Thorah Township in Ontario County, Beaverton was first settled in 1822. The settlement is located on Lake Simcoe at the mouth of the Beaver River...
. Prior to 1998, Highway 48 extended from Highway 401 in Toronto to Highway 35 in Coboconk with a total length of 128 km (79.5 mi). However, on January 1, 1998 the province transferred the responsibility of maintaining the southern and northern sections to the regional governments that those sections lie within.
Route description
Highways 48 is a straight road for most of its length, yet changes direction several times along its route. From it travels north for 34 km (21.1 mi) along the 8th concession of York Region (Yonge Street being the 1st) to just south of . From here, it makes several gentle curves to the east and north for 10 km (6.2 mi), where it veers to the east at and follows a former concession roadConcession road
In Upper and Lower Canada, concession roads were laid out by the colonial government through undeveloped land to define lots to be developed; the name comes from a Lower Canadian French term for a row of lots. Concession roads are straight, and follow an approximately square grid, usually oriented...
for 14 km (8.7 mi) to . East of this junction, it veers north to the boundary between the historic townships of Brock
Brock, Ontario
Brock is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. Brock Township is also a former municipality and geographic township prior to the amalgamation that formed the current municipality.-History:...
and Thorah, and follows it east to . The road is paved in its entirety.
The route is mostly rural, passing around Stouffville and south of Sutton
Sutton, Ontario
Sutton is a suburban community located nearly 2 km south of Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada. The community was formerly a village but is now part of the Town of Georgina after amalgamation with it and North Gwillimbury in 1971.-Geography and information:...
. However, the east–west section that lies to the south of Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe is a lake in Southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called Ouentironk by the Huron natives...
is slightly developed and features a reduced speed limit of 60 km/h (37.3 mph).
History
Highway 48 incorporates a significant portion of the former Scarborough and Markham Plank Road, now known as Markham Road, into its length. This section was not incorporated into the highway until 1954, yet predates the Highway 48 designation entirely.Markham Road began as the eighth concession east of 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...
in the Home County 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...
, and was blazed by settlers to whom land had been granted along the right-of-way. The right-of-way extended from Lake Ontario in the south to what is today York Region Road 8A (Baseline Road) in Sutton, just south of Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe is a lake in Southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called Ouentironk by the Huron natives...
, in the north. Improvements to the road and the necessary funds were authorized by an act of the Upper Canada provincial parliament on February 13, 1833 for the section in Scarborough township between Danforth Road
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...
(present day Painted Post Drive) and the Eighth Concession at the border with Markham township. These improvements were supervised by residents Peter Secor, Richard Houck and Robert Armstrong.
By 1847, the section between Scarborough and Markham had become known as the Scarborough and Markham Road. On July 28 of that year, the parliament of the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
passed an act to establish the Scarborough and Markham Plank-road Company, which was authorized to further improve the road surface to macadmized
Macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam in around 1820. The method simplified what had been considered state-of-the-art at that point...
or planked
Plank road
A plank road or puncheon is a dirt path or road covered with a series of planks, similar to the wooden sidewalks one would see in a Western movie. Plank roads were very popular in Ontario, the U.S. Northeast and U.S. Midwest in the first half of the 19th century...
construction between Kingston Road
Kingston Road (Toronto)
Kingston Road is the southernmost major road along the eastern portion of Toronto, specifically in the districts of East York and Scarborough. Until 1998, it formed a significant portion of Highway 2...
in Scarborough and Markham Village in the north, and further north and then east to Stouffville along the Markham-Stouffville township line, a line then formed by today's Stouffville Road / Main Street Stouffville. The company was allowed to erect gates and charge tolls to pay for the work.
On March 24, 1937, the 9.6 km (6 mi) gravel road
Gravel road
A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the United States. In New Zealand, they are known as 'metal roads'...
between Beaverton and Port Bolster, known as the Port Bolster Road, was assumed by the Department of Highways;
it was paved in 1947. On February 10, 1954, the highway was extended 82 km (51 mi) to the future site of Highway 401,
where a cloverleaf was constructed in anticipation of it developing into a freeway around the eastern side of Lake Simcoe; Highway 404 was constructed along Woodbine Avenue instead. In 1962, the highway was extended to Highway 46 at Bolsover via a concurrency with Highway 12 north from Beaverton. This routing would last until November 4, 1966, when the 10.3 km (6.4 mi) Beaverton Bypass opened, routing Highway 12 to the east. A new road was opened connecting Highway 48 south of Port Bolster with the bypass on the same day, and both Highway 12 and Highway 48 were rerouted. Portions of the former route of Highway 48 and Highway 12 were renumbered as Highway 48B. However, the segment between Port Bolster and what is now Brock Sideline 17 was decommissioned entirely.
On June 28, 1967, the routing of Highway 46 was shifted in the vicinity of Balsam Lake
Balsam Lake (Ontario)
Balsam Lake is a lake located in the Kawartha lakes region of south central Ontario, Canada. It is 16 km long and averages 3 km wide, though its actual width varies due to the many large bays the carve its shoreline...
on to a new inland bypass; the old route became known as West Bay Drive.
In 1975, Highway 46 was truncated at Bolsover; the severed section was renumbered as an extension of Highway 48, bringing it to its peak length of 129.2 km (80.3 mi).
The section between Highway 401 and the then-unopened Highway 407 interchange was turned over to the Region of York and the City of Toronto on April 1, 1995, and is known as Markham Road south of Highway 407, and Main Street thereafter to Major Mackenzie. The section within York Region is also designated as York Regional Road 68.
On January 1, 1998, the section of Highway 48 between its southern junction with Highway 12 and Coboconk was transferred to the Regional Municipality of Durham and Victoria County
Victoria County
Victoria County is the name of several locations:In Australia:*Victoria County, Western AustraliaIn Canada:* Victoria County, New Brunswick* Victoria County, Nova Scotia...
(now Kawartha Lakes
Kawartha Lakes
The city of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Although called a city, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontarian county and is mostly rural....
), removing the concurrency with Highway 12 in the process.
The section from Highway 12 to Highway 35 is now known as Portage Road and signed as Durham Regional Highway 48 and Kawartha Lakes Road 48.
Major intersections
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"|-
!scope="col"|Division
!scope="col"|Location
!scope="col"|km
!scope="col"|Destinations
!scope="col"|Notes
|-
|colspan="2"|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...
|−14.1
|
|
|-
|rowspan="15"|York
|rowspan="2"|Markham
Markham
-Biology:* Markham's storm-petrel , a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia* Markham's grass mouse , a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the nearby Southern Patagonian Ice Field in southern Chile* Ulmus americana 'Markham', an American elm cultivar-Companies:* Markham & Co., an...
|−4.0
|
|
|-
|0.0
|
|
|-
|rowspan="4"|Whitchurch–Stouffville
|6.0
|
Main Street – Stouffville
|Former route of Highway 47, 1954 to 1992
|-
|10.1
|
|Former route of Highway 47, 1993 to 1998
|-
|14.3
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|20.5
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|rowspan="3"|East Gwillimbury
|-
|24.4
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|34.7
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|rowspan="3"|Georgina
Georgina, Ontario
Georgina is a town in south-central Ontario, and the northernmost municipality in the Regional Municipality of York. It forms part of the northern boundary of the Greater Toronto Area and is situated on the southern shores of Lake Simcoe...
|-
|43.4
|
|
|-
|46.0
| – Sibbald Point Provincial Park
Sibbald Point Provincial Park
Sibbald Point Provincial Park is a provincial park located in Sutton West, Ontario, Canada on the southern shores of Lake Simcoe, 70 km north of Toronto...
|
|-
|Virginia
Virginia, Ontario
Virginia is a community in the town of Georgina, Ontario, Canada. The community is centered at Highway 48 and Hadden Road.- External links :...
|51.2
|Douclas Point Road
|Access to Douclas Point Nature Reserve
|-
|Pefferlaw
Pefferlaw, Ontario
Pefferlaw is a community within the Town of Georgina, located 3 kilometres south of the southeastern shores of Lake Simcoe and in the eastern end of the town. A river, known officially as the Pefferlaw River, runs just south of the community's commercial district...
|54.4
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|Port Bolster
|rowspan="2"|57.0
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|rowspan="3"|Durham
|-
|rowspan="2"|Brock
Brock, Ontario
Brock is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. Brock Township is also a former municipality and geographic township prior to the amalgamation that formed the current municipality.-History:...
|65.2
|
|
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|77.9
|
|Northern end of former concurrency
Concurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
prior to January 1, 1998
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Kawartha Lakes
Kawartha Lakes
The city of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Although called a city, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontarian county and is mostly rural....
|87.5
|
|rowspan="2"|Transferred to Durham Region and Kawartha Lakes on January 1, 1998
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|113.8
|