 King's Highway 43 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by theMinistry of Transportation | ||||
| Length | 154.2 km[1] (95.8 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1938–January 1, 1998[2] | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  Highway 7 –Perth | |||
| Major intersections |  Highway 15 –Smiths Falls Highway 416 –Kemptville Highway 31 –Winchester | |||
| East end |  Highway 34 –Alexandria | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Ontario | |||
| Major cities | Perth,Smiths Falls | |||
| Towns | Merrickville,Kemptville,Winchester,Chesterville,Finch,Alexandria | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
King's Highway 43, also known asHighway 43, was aprovincially maintained highway in theCanadian province ofOntario. On January 1, 1998, the entire route was transferred to the county that each section resided in, resulting in the current designations ofLanark County Road 43,Leeds and Grenville Road 43 andStormont, Dundas and Glengarry Road 43. Highway 43 ran somewhat parallel to and betweenHighway 401 andHighway 417 fromHighway 7 inPerth toHighway 34 inAlexandria, passing through several small towns along the way. At 154.2 km (95.8 mi),[1]it is the longest highway in Ontario to be decommissioned entirely during themass transfer of Highways in 1997 and 1998.
Highway 43 began in the west at Highway 7 on the edge of Perth. It travelled eastward north of theTay Canal andLower Rideau Lake intoSmiths Falls. After a brief concurrency withHighway 15 southwards, the route continued east nearby theRideau Canal throughMerrickville andKemptville, meeting what was then a soon-to-open interchange withHighway 416 east of the latter.[3][4]The highway continued east, bypassing the communities ofWinchester andChesterville, jogging southwards several times. After bisectingFinch and skirting south ofAvonmore, the route encounteredOntario Highway 138 before enteringMonkland. After passing north ofLoch Garry, Highway 43 entered Alexandria, ending at an intersection with Highway 34 (Main Street) in the centre of the town.[3]
Highway 43 was established in 1934, travelling between Highway 31 near Winchester to Highway 34 in Alexandria. In 1961, theDepartment of Highways extended Highway 43 westward 39 mi (63 km) to Highway 7 in Perth. East of Smiths Falls, the new highway was created using existing county roads.[5]To the west, it assumed the previous route of Highway 15 to Perth. The route remained unchanged for the next 36 years until it was decommissioned entirely on January 1, 1998 as part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premierMike Harris under hisCommon Sense Revolution platform. It was the longest King's Highway to be removed entirely from the system during these cuts, known as downloading (although Highway 2 lost significantly more of its length). Jurisdiction over the roadway was transferred to the counties and city that Highway 43 crossed:Lanark County, Smiths Falls, theUnited Counties of Leeds and Grenville and theUnited Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.[2] The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville is awaiting federal funding approval to begin an expansion of the roadway to four-lanes in Kemptville. Acampaign was launched in November 2019 by the Municipality of North Grenville.
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 43, as noted by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario.[1]
| Division | Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanark | Perth | 0.0 | 0.0 |  Highway 7 /TCH | |
| Port Elmsley | 12.9 | 8.0 |  County Road 18 (Port Elmsley) | ||
| Smiths Falls | 21.6 | 13.4 | Highway 15 north | ||
| 22.0 | 13.7 | Highway 15 south | |||
| Lanark | Montague | 30.4 | 18.9 |  County Road 23 (Rosedale Road) | |
| Leeds and Grenville | Merrickville-Wolford | 40.4 | 25.1 |  County Road 15 (St. Lawrence Street) | |
| 42.4 | 26.3 | County Road 23 | Western junction with County Road 23 | ||
| North Grenville | 48.2 | 30.0 | County Road 23 | Eastern junction with County Road 23 | |
| 53.6 | 33.3 |  County Road 25 | |||
| Kemptville | 59.7 | 37.1 |  County Road 44 (Prescott Highway) | ||
| North Grenville | 61.4 | 38.2 |  County Road 19 (Rideau River Road) | ||
| 62.3 | 38.7 | Highway 416 (Veterans Memorial Highway) –Ottawa,Brockville | Exit 34 | ||
| 62.9 | 39.1 |  County Road 24 | |||
| 65.3 | 40.6 |  County Road 22 (South Gower Drive) | |||
| Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry | North Dundas | 72.0 | 44.7 |  County Road 1 north (Reids Mills Road) | |
| 74.3 | 46.2 | County Road 1 south (Mountain Road) | |||
| 81.6 | 50.7 |  County Road 3 (Inkerman Road) | |||
| 85.4 | 53.1 |  County Road 31 north –Ottawa | FormerlyHighway 31; beginning of concurrency with County Road 31 | ||
| 89.0 | 55.3 |  County Road 38 (St. Lawrence Street) | |||
| 89.5 | 55.6 | County Road 31 south | End of concurrency with County Road 31 | ||
| 96.6 | 60.0 |  County Road 9 (Loucks Road) | |||
| Chesterville | 98.4 | 61.1 |  County Road 37 (Queen Street) | ||
| 100.4 | 62.4 |  County Road 7 | |||
| North Dundas – North Stormont boundary | 104.6 | 65.0 |  County Road 11 (Boundary Road) | ||
| Finch | 112.5 | 69.9 |  County Road 12 north (Crysler Road) –Crysler | ||
| 112.6 | 70.0 | County Road 12 south (Victoria Street) | |||
| North Stormont | 119.9 | 74.5 |  County Road 14 (Finch – Roxborough Boundary Road) | ||
| Avonmore | 122.9 | 76.4 | County Road 15 | ||
| Monkland | 130.2 | 80.9 |  Highway 138 –Cornwall | ||
| North Glengarry | 137.6 | 85.5 |  County Road 20 north (Highland Road) –Maxville | ||
| 139.4 | 86.6 | County Road 20 south (Apple Hill Road) –Apple Hill | |||
| 144.2 | 89.6 |  County Road 30 (Greenfield Road) | |||
| 151.7 | 94.3 |  County Road 45 (Kenyon Dam Road) | |||
| Alexandria | 154.2 | 95.8 |  County Road 34 | FormerHighway 34 | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
Highway 43 was extended from Winchester to Smiths Falls, a distance of 39 miles, by assumption of the county road
