Ontario provincial highway 11 is one of the longest of Ontario's King's Highways, with a current length (as of 2004) of 1636 km. Highway 11 begins at Highway 400 in Barrie, and stretches across northern Ontario, around Lake Superior, to the Ontario/Minnesota border at Rainy River. At that point it connects to Minnesota State Highway 72 . West of North Bay, Highway 11 is part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Highway 11 was originally constructed as a trunk road to connect the communities of northern Ontario, and was initially planned to run from North Bay to Cochrane. Construction began in 1925, and it was officially opened on July 2, 1927. When it was opened, it was named the Ferguson Highway, in honour of Premier George Howard Ferguson.
Over the years, Highway 11 grew to stretch from downtown Toronto all the way to the Minnesota border. Highway 11 became synonymous with Yonge Street, the name of the street in Toronto which formed its southernmost segment. It is from this that Yonge Street gained notoriety as the "longest street in the world". In 1997, the portion of the highway south of Barrie, including Yonge Street, was downloaded by the provincial government to various regional governments as part of a mass downloading by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. Along with the name Yonge Street, the section in York Region is now York Regional Road 1, the section in Simcoe County is now mostly Simcoe County 4. Toronto does not have a regional road system; it is now only known as Yonge Street there.
Major reconstruction of Highway 11 has taken place in recent years, which has slowly been in the process of upgrading from a two-lane rural highway, to a four-lane mixed expressway, to a 400-Series standard freeway (which has been completed in several sections). By the mid-2010s, it is expected that most, if not all, of the highway between Barrie and North Bay, will be a full freeway.
Highway 11 between Barrie and Gravenhurst is currently a rather unusual right-in, right-out (RIRO) expressway (local access permitted, turnarounds via special interchanges), except for a section around Orillia which is a full freeway. It is expected that the RIRO configuration will be eliminated within 5-10 years as the highway reaches capacity and requires widening to six lanes, which will be a full freeway on or near the current alignment.
North of Gravenhurst to North Bay, freeway sections exist from south of Bethune Drive (Exit 175) to Muskoka Road 117 (Exit 193), from Muskoka Road 3/Aspdin Road (Exit 219) to Novar Road (Exit 235), from Lindsay's Hill Road to south of Proudfoot Road and from Highway 654 (Exit 329) to Highway 17 (Exit 344). Most other sections are of expressway grade with proposals to be upgraded to freeways, although some 2-lane highway still exists between South River and Emsdale ; that section is expected to be widened by 2010.
(Note the exit numbers start around 104 - currently the first posted exit number is 129 in Orillia - presumably for continuation from Highway 400)
Interchanges from South to North
| Municipality
| Exit Number
| Intersecting Roads
|
| Springwater
| 104*
| Highway 400
|
| Springwater - Oro-Medonte Boundary
| 105*
| Penetanguishene Road (Simcoe County Road 93)
|
| Oro-Medonte
| 109**
| Oro-Medonte Line 3 (Simcoe County Road 57)/"Gasoline Alley"
|
| Oro-Medonte
| 115**
| Oro-Medonte Line 7 (Simcoe County Road 127)
|
| Oro-Medonte
| 121**
| Oro-Medonte Line 11 (Simcoe County Road 20)
|
| Oro-Medonte - Orillia Boundary
| 129
| Memorial Avenue (Simcoe County Road 49) (currently northbound only)
|
| Orillia
| 131
| Highway 12 South/Old Barrie Road (Simcoe County Road 11)
|
| Orillia
| 133
| Highway 12 North/Coldwater Road
|
| Orillia - Severn Boundary
| 135
| Burnside Line/West Street (Simcoe County Road 18)
|
| Orillia - Severn Boundary
| 137*
| Laclie Street
|
| Severn
| 146**
| South Sparrow Lake Road (Simcoe County Road 38)/Goldstein Road
|
| Severn
| 151**
| Simcoe County Road 169
|
| Severn - Gravenhurst Boundary
| 153**
| Coopers Falls Road (Muskoka Road 6 and Simcoe County Road 52)
|
| Gravenhurst
| 154**
| Southwood Road (Muskoka Road 13)
|
| Gravenhurst
| 161**
| Kilworthy Road/Kahshe Lake Road
|
| Gravenhurst
| 169
| Muskoka Road 169
|
| Gravenhurst
| 175
| Bethune Drive (Muskoka Road 41)/Doe Lake Road (Muskoka Road 6)
|
| Bracebridge
| 182
| Highway 118 /Muskoka Road 118 West
|
| Bracebridge
| 184
| Cedar Lane (Muskoka Road 37)
|
| Bracebridge
| 189
| Taylor Road (Muskoka Road 42)
|
| Bracebridge
| 191*
| Kirk Line (substandard)
|
| Bracebridge
| 193
| Muskoka Road 117
|
| Huntsville
| 205*
| South Mary Lake Road (Muskoka Road 44)/Stephenson Road 4 (at-grade intersection, interchange construction to begin soon)
|
| Huntsville
| 207
| Highway 141 /Port Sydney Road (Muskoka Road 10)
|
| Huntsville
| 212*
| Allensville Road/Rowanwood Road (currently an at-grade intersection)
|
| Huntsville
| 216*
| Gryffin Lodge Road/Madill Church Road (currently an at-grade intersection)
|
| Huntsville
| 219
| Muskoka Road 3
|
| Huntsville
| 221
| Muskoka Road 2
|
| Huntsville
| 223
| Highway 60
|
| Huntsville
| 226
| Muskoka Road 3/Old North Road
|
| Huntsville
| 231
| North Waseosa Lake Road/Rockhaven Road
|
| Huntsville - Perry Boundary
| 235
| Novar Road/Highway 592
|
| Perry
| 244*
| Fern Glen Road/Scotia Road (at-grade intersection, interchange under construction)
|
| Perry
| 248*
| Highway 518 /Deer Lake Road (at-grade intersection, interchange under construction)
|
| Armour
| 252*
| Doe Lake Road/Three Mile Lake Road (at-grade intersection, interchange construction to begin soon)
|
| Armour
| 257*
| Highway 520 /Ferguson Road (at-grade intersection, future interchange - projected 2009)
|
| Armour
| 261*
| Ontario Street (at-grade intersection, future interchange - projected 2009)
|
| Armour - Strong Boundary
| 266*
| Pevensey Road (at-grade intersection, future interchange - projected 2010)
|
| Strong
| 271*
| Black Creek Road/Robins Road (at-grade intersection, future interchange - projected 2010)
|
| Strong
| 276*
| Highway 124 (at-grade intersection, future interchange - projected 2008)
|
| Strong - Machar Boundary
| 284*
| Machar-Strong Boundary Road/Tower Road (new interchange - projected 2008)
|
| Machar
| 286*
| Ottawa Avenue (new interchange - projected 2008)
|
| Machar
| 291*
| Existing Highway 11/business route split (new interchange - projected 2008)
|
| Parry Sound District (unincorporated)
| 294
| Goreville Road/Summit Road
|
| Powassan
| 301
| Highway 522 /McFadden Line
|
| Powassan
| 306
| Highway 522B /Hemlock Road
|
| Powassan
| 311*
| Proudfoot Road (currently an at-grade intersection)
|
| Powassan
| 314*
| Chiswick Line/Purdon Line/Main Street (currently an at-grade intersection)
|
| Powassan
| 316
| Highway 534 /Clark Street
|
| Powassan
| 319*
| Main Street/McCharne Line/Lindquist Line (currently an at-grade intersection)
|
| Callander
| 324*
| Hills Siding Road (currently an at-grade intersection)
|
| Callander
| 329
| Highway 654 /Lake Nosbonsing Road
|
| North Bay
| 338
| Lakeshore Drive
|
| North Bay
| 344
| Highway 17
|
- *Exit number not signed, based on kilometre post
- **Current RIRO expressway section, possible interchange on new freeway
See also
Last updated: 10-18-2005 16:43:56