 Highway 34 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario | ||||
| Length | 17.8 km[2] (11.1 mi) | |||
| Existed | November 26, 1930[1]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  Highway 417 nearVankleek Hill | |||
| East end | John Street / Main Street East inHawkesbury | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Ontario | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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King's Highway 34, commonly referred to asHighway 34, is aprovincially maintained highway in theCanadian province ofOntario. The route connectsHighway 417 south ofVankleek Hill withHawkesbury. It is 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) long, traveling through a mostly rural portion of the lowerOttawa Valley near the Ontario–Quebec border. The highway formerly continued 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Highway 417 toHighway 2 inLancaster. However, this section was decommissioned as a provincial highway and was subsequently redesignated asStormont, Dundas and Glengarry County Road 34.
Highway 34 is short highway which today serves to connect the town of Hawkesbury with Highway 417. The 16.9-kilometre (11 mi) route ends at Main Street, near theOttawa River in downtown Hawkesbury. Between these two points, with the exception of the town of Vankleek Hill, the highway traverses the rural Ottawa Valley, remaining straight in a southwest–northeast orientation except through Hawkesbury.[3] The majority of the land use surrounding the highway is composed of commercial shops in urban areas and agricultural in rural areas, though some small woodlots exist alongside the route. Two interchanges exist along the route: at the southern terminus with Highway 417 and with Prescott and Russell County Road 17 (formerHighway 17).[4]
Like other provincial routes in Ontario, Highway 17 was maintained by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario. In 1989, traffic surveys conducted by the ministry showed that onaverage, 5,050 vehicles used the highway daily along the section between Highway 417 and Vankleek Hill while 16,400 vehicles did so each day along the section between Prescott and Russell County Road 17 and Hawkesbury, the highest and lowest counts along the highway, respectively.[2]
Highway 34 has a very tame history, having been assumed in 1930 and remaining unchanged between then and thehighway downloads of the late 1990s, with the exception of an interchange with Highway 417 opened in late 1974.
On November 26, 1930, theDepartment of Highways assumed the road between Lancaster and Hawkesbury as King's Highway 34, providing a connection between Highway 2 and Highway 17 immediately west of the Ontario–Quebec border. The route was 55.7 kilometres (34.6 mi) long at the time of its assumption.[1]On November 8, 1974, Highway 417 opened between Prescott and Russell County Road 9 (Highland Road) and the existing Highway 17 near from the Quebec border, with an interchange located at Highway 34.[5]Highway 34 otherwise remained unchanged for over 60 years.
However, budget constraints brought on by a recession in the 1990s resulted in theMike Harris provincial government forming theWho Does What? committee to determine cost-cutting measures in order to balance the budget after a deficit incurred by former premierBob Rae.[6]It was determined that many Ontario highways no longer serve long-distance traffic movement and should, therefore, be maintained by local or regional levels of government. The MTO consequentlytransferred many highways to lower levels of government in 1997 and 1998, removing a significant percentage of the provincial highway network.[7]It was determined that the portion of Highway 34 south of Highway 417 had largely been supplanted by the nearbyHighway 138, and no longer served long-distance traffic movement. As such, the section of Highway 34 within the United Counties ofStormont, Dundas and Glengarry was decommissioned as a provincial highway and transferred to that jurisdiction on January 1, 1998.[8]It has since been redesignated as Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry County Road 34.[3]
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 34, as noted by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario.[2]
| Division | Location | km[2] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry | South Glengarry | −43.7 | −27.2 |  Highway 401 –Cornwall,Montreal County Road 2 County Road 34 begins | Lancaster; former Highway 34 southern terminus; Highway 401 exit 814; formerlyHighway 2 |
| North Glengarry | −21.3 | −13.2 |  County Road 43 west (Kenyon Street) | Alexandria; formerlyHighway 43 west | |
| −6.8 | −4.2 |  County Road 23A north | McCrimmon; alternate connection toHighway 417 (exit 35) | ||
| Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry –Prescott and Russell boundary | North Glengarry –Champlain boundary | 0.0 | 0.0 |  Highway 417 /TCH –Ottawa,Montreal Highway 34 begins County Road 34 ends | Highway 34 southern terminus; Highway 417 exit 27 |
| Prescott and Russell | Champlain (Vankleek Hill) | 5.3 | 3.3 | Beginning of Vankleek HillConnecting Link agreement | |
| 6.2 | 3.9 |  County Road 10 (Main Street) | |||
| 6.7 | 4.2 | End of Vankleek Hill Connecting Link agreement | |||
| Champlain –Hawkesbury boundary | 15.4 | 9.6 |  County Road 17 –Ottawa,Montreal | FormerlyHighway 17; grade-separated interchange | |
| Hawkesbury | 15.5 | 9.6 | Hawkesbury town limits; beginning of Hawkesbury Connecting Link agreement | ||
| 17.8 | 11.1 | Highway 34 ends County Road 4 (Main Street) | End of Hawkesbury Connecting Link agreement; original alignment of Highway 17 prior to construction ofCarillon Generating Station in 1964. | ||
| Ottawa River | 19.2– 19.8 | 11.9– 12.3 | Long-Sault Bridge | ||
 R-344 north –Grenville | Continuation intoQuebec | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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