 Highway 33 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyalist Parkway | |||||||
| Route information | |||||||
| Maintained by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario | |||||||
| Length | 60.9 km[2] (37.8 mi) | ||||||
| Existed | July 9, 1930[1]–present | ||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||
| West end |  Highway 62 inBloomfield | ||||||
| East end | Collins Bay Road inKingston | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| Country | Canada | ||||||
| Province | Ontario | ||||||
| Highway system | |||||||
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King's Highway 33, commonly referred to asHighway 33 orLoyalist Parkway, is aprovincially maintained highway in theCanadian province ofOntario. The route begins atHighway 62 inBloomfield and travels east to the Collins Bay Road junction atCollins Bay in the city ofKingston, a distance of 60.9 kilometres (37.8 mi). The highway continues farther east into Kingston as Bath Road (Kingston Road 33), ending at the formerHighway 2, now Princess Street. Highway 33 is divided into two sections by theBay of Quinte. The Glenora Ferry service crosses between the two sections just east ofPicton, transporting vehicles and pedestrians for free throughout the year.
Originally, Highway 33 continued northeast throughTrenton to the town ofStirling, ending at a junction withHighway 14. This section was transferred to county governments by the beginning of 1998. In 2009, Highway 33 west of Picton became the site of the first modern roundabout on a provincial highway.
In 1984,Queen Elizabeth commemorated Highway 33 between Trenton and Kingston as theLoyalist Parkway at a ceremony inAmherstview in honour of the settlers that landed there in 1784.
Highway 33, known as the Loyalist Parkway throughout its length, begins in the west at the southern terminus of Highway 62, west of which the parkway continues as Prince Edward County Road 33 to Trenton. The route begins within the community of Bloomfield. To the east it crosses severalcreeks then intersects Prince Edward County Road 1 at the first modern provincially maintainedroundabout. East of this, the highway enters into the city of Picton.[3]
Within Picton, Highway 33 intersects the formerHighway 49, now Prince Edward County Road 49. It exits the city and follows the southeastern shoreline ofPicton Bay, passing theH.J. McFarland Conservation Area midway between the city andGlenora.[3]
| Glenora–Adolphustown Ferry service[4] | |
| mid-May – September | |
|---|---|
| 6:00 am – 10:00 am 7:30 pm – 1:15 am | 30-minute service |
| 10:15 am – 7:30 pm | 15-minute service |
| Winter | |
| 6:00 am – 1:15 am | 30-minute service |
Highway 33 has two sections, which are joined by the Glenora Ferry, an autoferry crossing the Bay of Quinte from Glenora toAdolphustown. TheMinistry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), which maintains Highway 33, also provides the ferry service free of charge.[4]The eastern section of the highway begins west of Adolphustown, where it passes by several Loyalist heritage sites. Now in the county ofLennox and Addington, the route remains close to the shores of the Bay of Quinte for the remainder of its journey towards Kingston. It divides theGreater Napanee communities ofConway,South Fredericksburg,Parma,Sandhurst Shores andSandhurst, then enters the municipality ofLoyalist oppositeAmherst Island. The highway passes throughBath, after which it follows the Bath Road, one of the oldest roads in Ontario,[5] built circa 1785.[6]AtMillhaven, a ferry service provides access to Amherst Island;[4] Highway 33 continues east and passes through Amherstview before crossing the county line intoFrontenac County and the City of Kingston.[3]
The short section of Highway 33 within Kingston travels as far east as Collins Bay Road, in the community ofCollins Bay. From this point, the road continues east as Bath Road (Kingston City Road 33), ending at Princess Street, formerly Highway 2.[3]
Highway 33 is 60.9 kilometres (37.8 mi) in length, excluding the length of the Glenora Ferry. Traffic volumes vary considerably throughout the length of the route. On an average day, over 5,000 vehicles travel the section between Bloomfield and Picton. Between Picton and the Glenora Ferry, volumes drop to under 2,000. On the opposite shore, traffic volumes grow from over 6,000 near Bath to over 11,000 outside of Kingston.[2]
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 theAmerican Revolution, theUnited Empire Loyalists began to arrive inUpper Canada, hoping to settle the frontier nearCataraqui (now Kingston). With the help of the military, the loyalists blazed a trail west from Cataraqui toBath, a distance of 25 kilometres (16 mi). This trail would become a section of Highway 33 nearly 150 years later.[5][6]
On June 5, 1799,Asa Danforth Jr. began construction eastward from Toronto on a road which was to extend theGovernor's Road throughPort Hope and to theTrent River.[7] 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 theBay of Quinte at Stone Mills (nowGlenora) and a ferry crossing established toAdolphustown.[8] The Bath extension of the Danforth Road (1802)[9] provided access to a key early colonial road, the Bath Road, which had long joined Bath toKingston.
Sporadic privately operated ferry services between Adolphustown and Stone Mills (Glenora) were initially a primitive affair. In October 1835 a Mr. Clark from Cobourg tipped out of the bark canoe ferrying him to Glenora and was buried without an inquest; a year earlier, a Rev. Mathew Miller from Cobourg had drowned after falling through the February ice.[10] The road itself was no better, barely adequate for horse and rider but unfit to runstagecoach lines.
This road would serve as the initialmail road linking Kingston to Toronto, but was poorly maintained and soon allowed to fall into disrepair. By 1817, theKingston Road replaced or bypassed much ofDanforth's Road, following a similar path to the Trent River (with minor improvements in routing aroundScarborough,Port Hope,Cobourg andGrafton) but then blazing amore northerly route throughBelleville andNapanee. Like the Danforth Road before it, this 1817York Road was initially a muddy dirt road; it would, however, suffice to establish reliable scheduledstagecoach 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 establishedBank of Montreal) safe and timely delivery of documents and valuables. By 1839, the Napanee-Kingston route was being improved for use as a gravel toll road.
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 theKingston Road (1817) would be repeated with theGrand Trunk Railway (1856) and ultimatelyHighway 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 byQueen 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, theDepartment of Highways assumed the Trenton–Stirling Road as King's Highway 33, a distance of approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi).[1]In July 1934, as part of adepression-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.)[11] The provincially operated ferries, as the first to operate without a toll on the route, entered service after 1936.[12]
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.[13]
In 1998, all portions of Highway 33 west ofOntario Highway 62, Bloomfield or east of Collins Bay Road, Kingston were decertified as provincial highway and downloaded as county or city roads.
In 2009, the intersection of Highway 33 andPrince Edward County Road 1 (Scoharie Road) near Picton saw the introduction of a trafficroundabout, the first ever constructed on a provincial highway in the province, to replace the at-grade intersection.[14] 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.[15]
The engineering and consulting firmMorrison 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 includedhighway engineering, drainage and hydrology engineering,electrical engineering,public consultation, andtraffic engineering.[15] The roundabout was officially opened on July 17, 2009.[14]
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 33, as noted by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario.[2]
| Division | Location | km[2] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | Stirling-Rawdon | −69.9 | −43.4 |  County Road 8 east (Mill Street) County Road 14 (Front Street / North Street) | Former Highway 33 northern terminus; formerlyHighway 14; former Highway 33 follows County Road 8 west |
| −69.0 | −42.9 | County Road 8 west (Front Street) Hastings County Road 33 begins | Former Highway 33 follows County Road 33 south | ||
| Quinte West | −68.2 | −42.4 | Hastings County Road 33 ends Quinte West Municipal Road 33 begins | Quinte West city limits | |
| −48.7 | −30.3 |  Highway 401 –Kingston,Toronto | Highway 401 exit 525 | ||
| −44.6 | −27.7 |  Municipal Road 2 east (Dundas Street) – Belleview | FormerlyHighway 2 east; former northern end of Highway 2 concurrency | ||
| −44.2 | −27.5 | Municipal Road 2 west (Dundas Street) –Brighton | FormerlyHighway 2 west; former southern end of Highway 2 concurrency | ||
| Prince Edward | Carrying Place | −37.2 | −23.1 |  Municipal Road 64 west / Old Portage Road Quinte West Municipal Road 33 ends Prince Edward County Road 33 begins | Quinte West city limits; Quinte West Municipal Road 33 southern terminus; Prince Edward County Road 33 |
| −15.7 | −9.8 |  County Road 20 west | Orientation changes from north-south to east-west | ||
| Bloomfield | 0.0 | 0.0 | Highway 62 north –Belleville Highway 33 begins Prince Edward County Road 33 ends | Highway 33 western terminus; beginning of BloomfieldConnecting Link agreement[16] | |
| 0.4 | 0.25 |  County Road 12 south (Stanley Street) | |||
| 1.0 | 0.62 |  County Road 30 north (Corey Street) | |||
| 2.1 | 1.3 | End of Bloomfield Connecting Link agreement[16] | |||
| 2.7 | 1.7 |  County Road 32 south | |||
| Warings Corner | 4.8 | 3.0 |  County Road 1 (Scoharie Road / Sandy Hook Road) | Roundabout | |
| Picton | 6.8 | 4.2 | Mill Street | Beginning of Connecting Link agreement | |
| 7.5 | 4.7 |  County Road 4 west (Talbot Street) County Road 10 south (Lake Street) | |||
| 8.6 | 5.3 |  County Road 49 north (Main Street) | FormerlyHighway 49 north | ||
| 8.9 | 5.5 | County Road 8 east (Union Street) | |||
| 9.2 | 5.7 |  County Road 22 south (Church Street) | |||
| 9.5 | 5.9 | End of Connecting Link agreement | |||
| Glenora | 16.5 | 10.3 |  County Road 7 east | ||
| Bay of Quinte | 17.0 | 10.6 |  Glenora Ferry | ||
| Lennox and Addington | Greater Napanee | 21.8 | 13.5 | County Road 8 east | |
| 36.6 | 22.7 |  County Road 21 north | Adolphustown | ||
| Loyalist | 43.6 | 27.1 | Beginning ofBath Connecting Link agreement | ||
| 44.4 | 27.6 | County Road 7 north (Church Street) | |||
| 46.4 | 28.8 | End of Bath Connecting Link agreement | |||
| 48.1 | 29.9 | County Road 4 north | Millhaven; formerlyHighway 133 north | ||
| 50.7 | 31.5 |  County Road 26 north (Jim Snow Drive) | |||
| 55.0 | 34.2 |  County Road 6 north –Odessa | Amherstview | ||
| Lennox and Addington–Kingston boundary | Loyalist–Kingston boundary | 58.4 | 36.3 |  County Road 24 (Coronation Boulevard) Highway 33 ends Kingston Road 33 begins | Highway 33 eastern terminus |
| Kingston | 60.9 | 37.8 | Collins Bay Road | Beginning of former Kingston Connecting Link agreement | |
| 68.9 | 42.8 | Road 2 (Princess Street) | FormerlyHighway 2; former Highway 33 eastern terminus | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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