Highway 60 was designated in 1937 between Huntsville and Lake Dore, near where it met Highway 41. During the 1940s, the route shared a common termini with Highway 41 at Golden Lake. When Highway 41 was extended north to Pembroke in 1957, Highway 60 was routed along it between Golden Lake and Eganville. It was extended east to Highway 17 in downtown Renfrew circa 1961. It was extended further east when Highway 17 was rerouted around Renfrew in 1977, establishing the current route.
Route description
Highway 60 and Algonquin Park are renowned for their autumn displays.
Highway 60 begins at an interchange with Highway 11 in Huntsville. It crosses through central Ontario in a generally east–west orientation. The triangle-shaped area bounded by Highways 11, 17 and 60 is largely uninhabited wilderness dotted with lakes and muskeg.[3]
East of Huntsville, Highway 60 meanders east then south through the northeastern corner of Muskoka District, meeting Highway 35 at Dwight. It travels northeast from there, briefly passing through Haliburton County before crossing into Nipissing District and entering Algonquin Park.[3]
An Ontario Parks visitor's permit is not required to drive through Algonquin Park. However, one is required for the use of any trails, campgrounds, the Visitor Centre, or similar facilities within the park boundary. Moose and deer are very common through Algonquin, especially at night and in the morning, and present a major driving hazard.[4]
The 56-kilometre (35 mi) journey through Algonquin Park offers some of the most famous scenery in Canada, including vistas of numerous lakes and geological formations that have been captured in the arts of Group of Seven painter Tom Thomson among others. The park is considered the most important place in Canada for biological and environmental research.[5][6]
Continuing around Golden Lake and through the village of the same name, Highway 60 travels southeast into the Ottawa Valley towards Eganville, where it has a 3.9 kilometres (2.4 mi) concurrency with Highway 41. For the remainder of the route, the highway travels near the Bonnechere River. It continues east then south to Douglas, where drivers must turn northeast to continue along the highway. Highway 60 slowly curves southeast before entering the town of Renfrew, where it is known as Stewart Street, Bridge Street, Raglan Street South, Veterans Memorial Boulevard and O'Brien Road. It encounters the eastern terminus of Highway 132 before curving east to end at Highway 17 on the outskirts of the town.[3]
History
Highway 60 through Algonquin Park circa 1950
Highway 60 was established in 1937, when the Department of Northern Development was amalgamated by the Department of Highways (DHO). The section of the route through Nipissing District (through Algonquin Park) was assumed by the DHO on September22, followed by the section through Renfrew County on September29, and finally the section through Muskoka District on October6.[2] At that time, the highway ended in Lake Dore, north of Eganville and was 218.2 km (135.6 mi) long. Highway 41 travelled along the portion of what is now Highway 60 between Eganville and Golden Lake.[7]
The route was shortened by 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) to create a shared terminus with Highway 41 between 1942 and 1949.[8][9]
On April 11, 1957, the Eganville–Pembroke Road was assumed as an extension of Highway 41, with the former portion of the route between Eganville and Golden Lake being renumbered as part of Highway 60.[10]
Highway 60 was extended to Highway 17 near Rosebank, north of Renfrew, circa 1961.[11][12]
With the construction of the Renfrew Bypass, which began in June 1974,[13]
and was completed in 1977,[14]
the section of Highway 17 between O'Brien Road east of Renfrew and Haley Road north of Haley Station was renumbered as an extension of Highway 60, establishing the current route of the highway.[15]
^ ab"Appendix No. 3 - Schedule of Assumptions and Reversions of Sections of the King's Highway System for the Year Ending March 31, 1938". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1938. pp. 80–81. Retrieved February 3, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by D. Barclay. Ontario Department of Highways. 1938–39. § M4–Q5.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by D. Barclay. Ontario Department of Highways. 1942. § Mileage Tables.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C. P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1949. § Mileage Tables.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C. P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1958. § O38–P40.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C. P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1961. § O38–P40.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C. P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1962. § O38–P40.
^"Motorists May Have Long Wait For Proposed Renfrew Bypass". The Mercury. Vol. 102, no. 45. Renfrew, Ontario. June 5, 1974. p. 1.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1977. § C28–D29.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1978–79. § C28–D29.
^Shaw, S. Bernard. "The Flying Superintendent's Fairchild". The Country Connection. No. 32 - Winter/Spring 1999. Pinecone Publishing. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
