 Highway 811 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | |||||||
| Maintained byMinistry of Transportation of Ontario | |||||||
| Length | 59.0 km[1] (36.7 mi) | ||||||
| Existed | 1976–present | ||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||
| West end |  Highway 527 | ||||||
| East end | Weaver River Bridge, nearKashishibog Lake | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| Country | Canada | ||||||
| Province | Ontario | ||||||
| Counties | Thunder Bay District | ||||||
| Highway system | |||||||
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Tertiary Highway 811, commonly referred to asHighway 811, is the longest ofOntario'stertiary highways, and the highest posted route number in the province. The route encounters no named roads along its route, aside from its eastern terminus atSecondary Highway 527. It extends 59 kilometres (37 mi) westward into the wilderness, ending at a bridge over the Weaver River. The route was designated in 1976 with the intention of extending it further west, but this extension has yet to be constructed.
Branching off fromSecondary Highway 527, roughly halfway betweenThunder Bay andArmstrong, Highway 811 is Ontario's highest numbered route, but also one of its most remote. Aside from its beginning, the highway connects with no named roads along its length.[2] The route begins approximately midway along Highway 527, 114 kilometres (71 mi) north ofOntario Highway 17 and 122.2 kilometres (75.9 mi) south of Armstrong,[1]It zig-zags northwestward for 59 kilometres (37 mi) towardsSavant Lake, although as of 2011 the road reaches less than halfway there. It crosses several small rivers as it travels through theBoreal Forest before ending at a bridge over the Weaver River, south ofObonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park.[3]The road is gravel for its entire length.[2] There are no communities along Highway 811; it is almost exclusively used for wilderness travel or forest operations.
As part of the 1974 Ontario Highway Capital Construction Program, theMinistry of Transportation and Communications studied the potential benefit of a road connecting Highway 527 southwest ofLake Nipigon with Highway 599 near Savant Lake. Aforest road that branched off from Highway 527 was assumed as Highway 811 in 1976.[citation needed] However, the planned connection to Highway 599 has yet to occur, and an 83 kilometres (52 mi) gap separates Savant Lake from the Weaver River.[4]Despite no connection materializing over the past 35 years, and no plans to construct that connection presently, Highway 811 remains a signed and maintained provincial highway.[2]
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 811, as noted by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario.[1] The entire route is located inThunder Bay District.[3] Distances along the remote highway are referenced using bridges and culverts.[5]
| Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unorganized Thunder Bay | 0.0 | 0.0 | Highway 527 –Thunder Bay,Armstrong | ||
| 16.8 | 10.4 | Gull River culvert | |||
| 30.9 | 19.2 | Mooseland River Bridge | |||
| 43.6 | 27.1 | Grew River culvert | |||
| 59.0 | 36.7 | Weaver River Bridge | Listed as a "temporary bridge", as it has been since at least 1989.[1][5] | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
