:Ontario Highway 16
{{good article}}
{{short description|Ontario provincial highway}}
{{Infobox road
|province = ON
|type = Hwy
|route = 16
|established =
|map = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=260|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Ontario Highway 16}}}}
|map_custom = yes
|map_notes = Highway 16 highlighted in red
|length_km = 3.6
|direction_a = South
|terminus_a = {{jcon|LG|2|town=Johnstown}}
|direction_b = North
|terminus_b = {{jcon|Hwy|416|town=Edwardsburgh/Cardinal}}
|junction = {{jcon|Hwy|401|town=Edwardsburgh/Cardinal}}
|counties = Leeds and Grenville
|previous_type = ON
|previous_route = 15
|next_type = ON
|next_route = 17
}}
King's Highway 16, commonly referred to as Highway 16 and historically as the Prescott Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway once travelled from near Prescott to Ottawa, traversing the distance between the St. Lawrence River and the Ottawa River. However, its length was truncated significantly when most of the route was twinned with a second roadway, and renumbered as Highway 416. A short stub remains through Johnstown, providing access to the Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge across the St. Lawrence River to Ogdensburg, New York, where New York State Route 812 continues south.
The Ottawa–Prescott Road, designated in 1918, was one of the first three highways designated in Ontario. By the time the route was numbered as Provincial Highway{{nbsp}}16 in August 1925, it was mostly paved, except for portions south of Kemptville, which were paved by 1930. It immediately became the primary route between Toronto and Ottawa, via Highway 2, and as such saw many improvements and realignments carried out over the next three decades. In the 1960s, plans arose for a controlled-access highway to connect Highway 401 with Ottawa, which resulted in the construction of a complete realignment of Highway{{nbsp}}16 north of Johnstown. This two-lane highway, known as Highway{{nbsp}}16 New, was built between 1969 and 1983; enough land was purchased to build a second two-lane roadway to twin the highway. The twinned roadway was completed between 1989 and 1999, after which the route was renumbered with a 400-series designation.
Former portions of Highway{{nbsp}}16 can be followed north from Johnstown, through Spencerville and Kemptville to the Rideau River along Leeds and Grenville County Road 44. Beyond the River it followed Ottawa Road{{nbsp}}5 to North Gower, and thereafter Ottawa Road{{nbsp}}73 (Prince of Wales Drive) into downtown Ottawa.
History
= Initial designation =
File:Ottawa-Prescott Highway prior to 1919.png
Early impetus for a route connecting Ottawa to the St. Lawrence River began with lobbying by automobile clubs in the early 1910s.{{cite news
| title = For Auto Road
| work = The Ottawa Evening Citizen
| date = June 12, 1912
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81650502/for-auto-road/
| access-date = July 17, 2021
| via = Newspapers.com}}{{cite news
| title = Ottawa–Prescott Highway
| work = The Ottawa Evening Citizen
| date = December 14, 1914
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81665888/ottawa-prescott-highway/
| access-date = July 17, 2021
| via = Newspapers.com}}
The Prescott Highway was established as a provincial highway in 1918, shortly after The Provincial Highway (which would become Highway{{nbsp}}2). The {{convert|92.7|km|abbr=on}} Ottawa–Prescott Highway was assumed by the Department of Public Highways (DPHO) on August{{nbsp}}15.{{cite report
| title = Annual Report, 1918
| author = Department of Public Highways
| publisher = The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
| date = April 11, 1919
| page = 51
| section = Appendix F – Provincial Highways
| url = https://archive.org/details/n04ontariosessional51ontauoft/page/n207/mode/2up
| access-date = June 23, 2021
| via = Internet Archive}}
The new route was initially in an unfit condition for traffic. For example, the 1918 DPHO Annual Report noted that in North Gower Township, the road "was in places very narrow and the sides grown up with brush and small trees. The road surface was in very bad shape."{{cite report
| title = Annual Report, 1918
| author = Department of Public Highways
| publisher = The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
| date = April 11, 1919
| pages = 67–69
| section = II.—Provincial Highway from Prescott to Ottawa
| url = https://archive.org/details/n04ontariosessional51ontauoft/page/n223/mode/2up
| access-date = July 13, 2021
| via = Internet Archive}}
Work began immediately to clear, widen, grade, and gravel the route, which was in many cases only {{convert|10|m|abbr=on}} wide between the overgrown fence lines.{{cite report
| title = Annual Report, 1919
| author = Department of Public Highways
| publisher = The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
| date = April 11, 1919
| pages = 15–16
| section = Improvement in Ontario – Ottawa–Prescott Highway
| url = https://archive.org/details/p4ontariosession52ontauoft/page/n155/mode/2up
| access-date = July 13, 2021
| via = Internet Archive}}
Paving began in 1922, starting at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, and progressing in a southerly direction for approximately {{convert|6.5|km|abbr=on}}.{{cite report
| title = Annual Report, 1922
| author = Department of Public Highways
| publisher = The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
| date = May 28, 1923
| page = 11
| section = Improvement in Ontario – Provincial Highways
| url = https://archive.org/details/n04ontariosession55ontauoft/page/n171/mode/2up
| access-date = July 13, 2021
| via = Internet Archive}}
By mid-1923, the route was paved through Spencerville and North Gower, and work was underway to pave it within Manotick.{{cite news
| title = Decide Prescott Highway is Best Route from Frontier to Capital
| work = The Ottawa Evening Citizen
| date = July 21, 1923
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25536328/1923-07-prescott-highway/
| access-date = July 18, 2021}}
Until the summer of 1925, Ontario highways were named rather than numbered. When route numbering was introduced, the Prescott Highway became Provincial Highway{{nbsp}}16.{{cite journal
| title = Provincial Highways Now Being Numbered
| publisher = Monetary Times Print
| journal = The Canadian Engineer
| date = August 25, 1925
| volume = 49
| issue = 8
| page = 246
| quote = Numbering of the various provincial highways in Ontario has been commenced by the Department of Public Highways. Resident engineers are now receiving metal numbers to be placed on poles along the provincial highways. These numbers will also be placed on poles throughout cities, towns and villages, and motorists should then have no trouble in finding their way in and out of urban municipalities. Road designations from "2" to "17" have already been allotted...}}
That year also saw paving completed through Kemptville to the Rideau River, as well as beyond North Gower in to Ottawa. This left unpaved segments south of Kemptville (except through Spencerville), and from the Rideau River to the village of North Gower.{{cite report
| title = Annual Report, 1923, 1924 and 1925
| author = Department of Public Highways
| publisher = The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
| date = April 26, 1926
| page = 68
| section = Report on Provincial Highways
| url = https://archive.org/details/n05ontariosession58ontauoft/page/68/mode/2up
| access-date = July 13, 2021
| via = Internet Archive}}
On October{{nbsp}}22, 1928, the pavement between Johnstown and Spencerville was completed and opened to traffic.{{cite news
| title = Ottawa-Prescott Highway to Be Completed Next Year, and With No Detour, Says Premier
| work = The Ottawa Evening Citizen
| date = October 23, 1928
| page = 15
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81649956/ottawa-prescott-highway-to-be-completed/
| access-date = July 17, 2021
| via = Newspapers.com}}
Premier Howard Ferguson officially opened the completed highway on October 7, 1929, at a rail overpass south of Kemptville. After cutting a ribbon spanning the bridge, he dubbed the route the Prince of Wales Highway.{{cite news
| title = Building Program is Complete For Ottawa-Prescott Highway
| work = The Ottawa Evening Citizen
| date = October 7, 1929
| page = 3
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84875136/building-program-is-complete-for/
| access-date = September 6, 2021
| via = Newspapers.com}}
{{clear}}
= Highway 16 New =
{{main|Ontario Highway 416}}
In 1966 the Eastern Ontario Highway Planning Study was published by the Department of Highways (DHO), the predecessor to today's Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), identifying the need for a controlled-access highway between Ottawa and Highway 401.{{cite web
|title = History of Highway 416
|author = Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
|publisher = Government of Ontario
|date = June 17, 2010
|url = http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/416/history.shtml
|access-date = September 30, 2011
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110830204653/http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/416/history.shtml
|archive-date = August 30, 2011
}}
Highway{{nbsp}}16, which crosses the geologically subdued St. Lawrence Lowlands, was selected over Highway{{nbsp}}15, which crosses the undulating Canadian Shield to the west, as the ideal route for the new link.{{cite report
|title = EA-86-01
|author = Environmental Assessment Board
|publisher = Environmental Review Tribunal
|date = July 31, 1987
|page = 9
|url = http://www.ert.gov.on.ca/files/DEC/ea8601d1.pdf
|access-date = September 30, 2011
|archive-date = September 29, 2018
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180929203733/http://www.ert.gov.on.ca/files/DEC/ea8601d1.pdf
|url-status = dead
}}
To overcome the issue of abutting properties established along the Highway{{nbsp}}16 corridor, the DHO began purchasing a new right-of-way between Highway{{nbsp}}401 and Century Road by late 1967 and constructed a two lane bypass of the original alignment, avoiding all the built up areas that the original Highway{{nbsp}}16 encountered. This route, dubbed "Highway 16 New", was designed to easily accommodate the eventual upgrade to a freeway when traffic volumes necessitated.{{cite news
| title = New 45-Mile Highway to Link Ottawa with 401
| work = The Globe and Mail
| location = Toronto
| date = November 14, 1967
| page = 4
| volume = 124
| issue = 36,795}}
Construction of the super two bypass took place between 1969 and 1983. The Spencerville Bypass opened by 1971, connecting with the old highway in the south near Crowder Road and in the north near Ventnor Road.{{cite map
| title = Ontario Road Map
| cartography = Photogrammetry Office
| publisher = Ontario Department of Transportation and Communications
| year = 1971
| section = G–H30}}
By the end of 1973 the new highway was completed from immediately north of Highway{{nbsp}}401 through Leeds and Grenville United Counties and into Ottawa–Carleton. This included a bypass around Kemptville and a new structure over the Rideau River.
The new highway ended at Dilworth Road (Regional Road{{nbsp}}13).{{cite map
| title = Ontario Road Map
| cartography = Photogrammetry Office
| publisher = Ministry of Transportation and Communications
| year = 1973
| section = F–H30}}
For nearly a decade, no new construction took place. Then, during the summer of 1982, the MTO awarded a contract to begin constructing the route north from Dilworth Road towards Manotick, bypassing North Gower. Following the completion of this first contract, which extended the route as far north as Roger Stevens Drive (Regional Road{{nbsp}}6) and included a structure over Stevens Creek, a second contract was awarded for the remaining distance north to Century Road (Regional Road{{nbsp}}8).{{cite report
| title = Provincial Highways Construction Projects 1982–83
| author = Ministry of Transportation and Communications
| publisher = Transportation Capital Branch, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
| date = April 1982
| page = XXVII}}
The project was completed in 1983, merging into the original route of Highway{{nbsp}}16 northeast of the present Prince of Wales Drive overpass.{{Google maps
| title = Site of merger between Highway 16 and old Highway 16 before the construction of Highway 416
| url = https://www.google.ca/maps?q=45.197976,-75.722262&sll=45.142828,-75.679708&sspn=0.01456,0.038323&num=1&t=h&z=15
| access-date = September 30, 2011}}
= Upgrade and renaming to Highway 416 =
{{main|Ontario Highway 416}}
With the completion of Highway{{nbsp}}16 New, there was sufficient right-of-way to construct interchanges and the southbound lanes in order to create a full freeway corridor. The upgrade to Highway{{nbsp}}416 took place between 1989 and 1999 and was created by the twinning of {{convert|57|km|abbr=on}} of Highway{{nbsp}}16 New, known as Highway 416 "South" during construction. Instead of using Highway{{nbsp}}16's existing Parclo interchange with Highway{{nbsp}}401 where some ramps had at-grade intersections, this was bypassed by a separate right-of-way so that Highway{{nbsp}}416 would meet Highway 401 at a new freeway-to-freeway interchange serving traffic to/from Kingston. Shortly before Highway{{nbsp}}416 reaches its southern terminus, an Y interchange was constructed for Highway{{nbsp}}16 to branch off where it continues as a short stub through Johnstown.
A short section through downtown Ottawa was not incorporated into Highway{{nbsp}}416, instead being downloaded to local authorities where it was redesignated as Ottawa Regional Road 73 (Prince of Wales Drive). North of Prince of Wales Drive, a new freeway alignment (known as Highway 416 "North" during construction) which is {{convert|21|km|adj=on}} was built alongside Borisokane Road and Cedarview Drive to connect with Highway 417 (The Queensway).
Route description
File:Johnstown ON.JPG via the Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge]]
Highway{{nbsp}}16 is now a very brief route, though it was much longer before the construction of Highway{{nbsp}}416 truncated it. The highway begins near the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Johnstown at the former Highway 2, now Leeds and Grenville County Road{{nbsp}}2.{{cite map
| title = Ontario Back Road Atlas
| cartography = MapArt
| publisher = Mapart Publishing
| year = 2022
| isbn = 1-55198-226-9
| page = 51}}
From there it travels northwest adjacent to the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, which lies to the southwest. A customs plaza lies at the end of the bridge, north of which the road to the bridge meets the highway; to the northeast is single-detached housing. The highway continues, exiting Johnstown and curving slightly towards the north.{{Google maps
| title = Highway 16 length and route
| url = https://www.google.ca/maps?saddr=ON-16+N&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=44.758528,-75.487275&sspn=0.014871,0.038581&geocode=Fdq-qgId4HuA-w;FXIMqwIdTwGA-w&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&t=h&z=14
| access-date = September 7, 2014}}
Immediately after crossing over a Canadian National track, the route encounters an interchange with Highway{{nbsp}}401 at Exit{{nbsp}}721B. This interchange features full access to Highway{{nbsp}}401, including movements not possible at the Highway{{nbsp}}416 interchange to the west. North of the interchange, the road curves gently to the northwest, intersecting Cedar Grove Road. After this, the opposing directions of travel diverge and become ramps to northbound and from southbound Highway{{nbsp}}416.
Major intersections
{{ONinttop|maint=MTO|length_ref={{cite web
| title = Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts
| author = Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
| author-link = Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
| year = 2016
| url = https://www.library.mto.gov.on.ca/SydneyPLUS/TechPubs/Portal/tp/tvSplash.aspx
| access-date = January 1, 2021}}}}
{{ONint
| division = Leeds and Grenville
| dspan = 6
| location_special = Edwardsburgh/Cardinal
| lspan = 5
| km = 0.0
| road = {{jcon|LG|2|town=Prescott|town2=Cardinal}}
| notes = Johnstown; formerly {{jcon|Hwy|2|nosh=y}}
}}
{{ONint
| type = toll
| km = 0.6
| road = {{jct|state=NY|NY|812|NY|37|dir1=south|to2=yes|location1=Bridge to U.S.A.}}
| notes = Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge is tolled
}}
{{ONint
| km = 1.5
| road = {{jcon|Hwy|401|city=Kingston|city2=Cornwall}}, Montreal
| notes = Highway 401 exit 721
}}
{{ONint
| km = 2.1
| road = {{jcon|LG|44|dir=north}}
Cedar Grove Road
| notes = Original Highway 16 alignment
}}
{{ONint
| type = incomplete
| km = 3.6
| road = {{jcon|Hwy|416|dir=north|city=Ottawa}}
| notes = Northbound access and southbound exit; Highway 416 exit 1; former Highway 16 follows current Highway 416 alignment
}}
{{ONint|former
| location_special = North Grenville
| lspan =
| km = 36.1
| road = {{jcon|LG|43|town=Merrickville|town2=Winchester}}
| notes = Kemptville; formerly {{jcon|Hwy|43|nosh=y}}; Highway 416 exit 34
}}
{{ONint|former
| municipality = Ottawa
| lspan = 6
| km = 57.3
| road = {{jcon|Ottawa|73|Prince of Wales Drive}}
| notes = Former Highway 16 follows {{jcon|Ottawa|73|dir=north|ot=y}}; no direct access from Highway 416
}}
{{ONint|former
| km = 78.4
| road = {{jctname|province=ON|Ottawa|16|noshield=y|name1=Baseline Road / Heron Road}}
| notes = Former Highway 16 follows Heron Road
}}
{{ONint|former
| km = 80.2
| road = {{jcon|Airport}}{{jctname|province=ON|Ottawa|79|noshield=y|name1=Bronson Avenue / Airport Parkway}}
| notes = Former Highway 16 follows Bronson Avenue; formerly {{jcon|Hwy|31|dir=south|nosh=y}}; former southern end of Highway 31 concurrency; to Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport
}}
{{ONint|former
| km = 83.1
| road = {{jctname|province=ON|Ottawa|38|dir1=west|noshield=y|name1=Carling Avenue}}
| notes = Formerly {{jcon|Hwy|17B|dir=west|nosh=y}}; former southern end of Highway 17B concurrency
}}
{{ONint|former
| km = 83.5
| km2 = 83.7
| uspan = 2
| road = {{jcon|Hwy|417|Queensway|tch=y}}
| notes = Former Highway 16 northern terminus; Highway 417 exit 121A; formerly {{jcon|Hwy|17|nosh=y}}
}}
{{ONint|former
| km = none
| road = {{jctname|province=ON|Ottawa|62|dir1=east|noshield=y|name1=Isabella Street}}
{{jctname|province=ON|Ottawa|60|dir1=west|noshield=y|name1=Catherine Street}}
| notes = One-way pair, Highway 417 is located between the streets; formerly {{jcon|Hwy|17B|dir=east|nosh=y}}
}}
{{jctbtm|keys=closed,incomplete,toll}}