Ontario Highway 8

While its history as a provincial highway dates back to 1918, significant portions of the roads that would be taken over by the province and eventually designated as Highway 8 had existed for nearly a century or longer. These include the Huron Road between Berlin (renamed Kitchener in 1916) and Goderich, which was built c. 1827;[9][10] the Dundas and the Hamilton Stone Road that were established in 1819 along a trail blazed between Hamilton and Berlin in 1798;[11][12][13] and the Queenston Road (later the Queenston Stone Road or the Queenston and Grimsby Stone Road[14][15]), established along an aboriginal trail at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment in the 1780s.[12][16]

The Queenston Road, circa 1918, before being improved as a provincial highway

When settlers began arriving in the Niagara Peninsula following the American Revolution and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, natives were non-existent in the area, the local tribe having been ravaged over a century earlier. Trails crisscrossed the peninsula, with the dominant routes favouring an east–west orientation.[17] The most significant of these was the Iroquois Trail that traversed along the foot of the Niagara Escarpment. In the east, Queenston provided an ideal crossing of the Niagara River. In the west, the escarpment breaks at Dundas, where the trail continued towards the Grand River at present-day Brantford, thus providing a portage between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The Iroquois Trail was utilised by famous historical figures, including John Graves Simcoe in 1793 on his voyage to Detroit, as well as during the War of 1812.[16] It was widened to accommodate wagon traffic by 1785.[18]

Between approximately 1800 and 1820, large numbers of German and Dutch settlers from Pennsylvania travelled west across the Niagara Peninsula and onward to the Waterloo area.[19] A trail cut from Hamilton to the Grand River, at Galt, in 1798[13] or 1799,[20] was gradually widened to be fit for wagons by 1819.[20] While Niagara-on-the-Lake served as the initial focal point of settlement into southwestern Ontario, Hamilton emerged in 1816 at the head of Lake Ontario, and immediately became the new hub for settlers.[21] The route between Hamilton and Waterloo was improved to a stone road circa 1836.[22] Over the years the route was known by various names, including the Waterloo Road, the Galt Road, the Old Dutch Road,[23] the Beverly Road,[20] and most often the Dundas and Hamilton Stone Road.[11]

The Huron Road in 1858; note the stumps in the recently cleared farm field

Settlement beyond Waterloo was accomplished by the Canada Company, which acquired the Huron Tract in 1826.[24] In order to implement the grand settlement plan, a trail was surveyed by Mahlon Burwell and William Dunlop from Guelph to Lake Huron at the mouth of the Maitland River beginning in 1827.[10] After company commissioner Thomas Mercer Jones rode the muddy trail from Guelph to Goderich in June 1829, he recommended that it be widened to four rods (20 metres (66 ft)),[25] which was done by the end of that year by Colonel Anthony Van Egmond.[26] The trail was further improved to allow for the passage of wagons by 1832.[10] The Canada Company venture would ultimately fail, but not before establishing the present-day settlement patterns.[27]

Recently-paved Highway 8 between Sebringville and Stratford in 1922

Until 1918, the majority of the primary roads through southern Ontario formed part of the County Road System. The Department of Public Works and Highways paid up to 60% of the construction and maintenance costs for these roads, while the counties were responsible for the remaining 40%.[28] The Ontario government passed an act in 1917 to permit the newly formed Department of Public Highways (DPHO) to take over (or assume) responsibility and upkeep of a provincial highway system. The initial system, between Windsor and Quebec, was bookended by branches to Niagara and Ottawa.[29] The branch to Niagara would become the first provincial highway connection to the United States, and later become the easternmost portion of Highway 8.[30] The Hamilton–Queenston Highway was assumed as part of "The Provincial Highway" in August 1918.[31]

In 1919, the federal government passed the Canada Highways Act, which provided C$20,000,000 to provinces under the condition that they establish an official highway network; up to 40% of construction costs would be subsidized. The first network plan was approved on February 26, 1920, and included the Queenston Road.[32] Most of the remainder of what would become Highway 8 – from Goderich to Hamilton – was assumed by the department throughout July 1920.[33] On October 13, several roads were taken over by the province between St. David's near Queenston and the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge in Niagara Falls.[33] The new route followed the present Four Mile Creek Road, St. Paul Avenue, and Portage Road south to Thorold Stone Road, which it followed east to Stanley Avenue, thence south to Bridge Street.[34] However, none of these roads would receive a route number until the summer of 1925.[35]

Highway 8 south of Cambridge in 1921

Initially Highway 8 was almost entirely unpaved, except within towns and portions between Stratford and Shakespeare as well as between Kitchener and Hamilton. During the initial few years of the existence of the highway network, which were spent rebuilding culverts, bridges, and ditches, paving took a low priority. The first sections of Highway 8 paved by the DPHO were in 1922 between Hamilton and Stoney Creek, as well as between Sebringville and Stratford.[36] The rest of the highway between Hamilton and Niagara Falls, as well as the remaining gaps between Kitchener and Hamilton, were paved the following year. Work was completed between Shakespeare and New Hamburg, as well as on the gaps between Petersburg and Kitchener in 1924. In 1925, paving between Mitchell and Sebringville was completed.[37] At this time, Highway 8 was paved from Mitchell to New Hamburg, and from Petersburg to Niagara Falls.[38] In 1926, paving was completed for 10 kilometres (6 mi) southeast of Goderich, as well as between Dublin and Mitchell. The following year, it was completed on the remaining gap between Goderich and Clinton, as well as between Seaforth and Dublin.[39] The final unpaved section of Highway 8, between Clinton and Seaforth,[40] was completed in 1928.[41]

Construction in 2011 to widen the Highway 8 expressway to eight lanes, shown at the King Street East interchange, with the Grand River crossing in the background

Highway 8 would remain unchanged for approximately 20 years until bypasses of several cities and towns along the route were built. The first such bypass was in Kitchener, where until 1949, the highway travelled into and out of the downtown core along King Street and Queen Street before following Highland Road west towards Stratford.[42] By 1950, to divert truck traffic from the King and Queen Street intersection, it was redirected slightly along Ottawa Street and Courtland Avenue.[43][44] The New Hamburg Diversion opened in 1957, bypassing its namesake as well as the community of Baden. The original route – following Huron Street, Waterloo Street, and Snyder's Street West – met the new bypass at Gingerich Road east of Baden.[45][46][47] Farther east, two bypasses were constructed around the villages of Rockton and Sheffield beginning in 1958 that opened the following year.[47][48][49][50]

Within Hamilton, growing congestion in the 1950s led the city to hire American traffic engineer Wilbur Smith, who had made a business of consulting for cities to develop one-way street plans.[51] Smith proposed a complete reorganisation of the downtown area, including converting Main Street – which Highway 8 followed through the city[52] – to an eastbound one-way. King Street served the opposing direction in the one-way pairing. The switch from two-way to one-way traffic took place on October 28, 1956. It immediately drew condemnation from local businesses, which saw a significant reduction in customers. A special council meeting to discuss the matter was held on July 15, 1957, which drew a large public audience. At it, alderman Ramsey Evans, a member of the committee that had first suggested the one-way conversion, sought to undo it. The motion was defeated, and Main Street and King Street remain one-way streets.[51]

In the fall of 1961, the Department of Highways began construction of the Freeport Diversion, providing a new divided highway crossing of the Grand River. The diversion, connecting with King Street south of the Grand River and at Fergus Street, was completed in 1963.[53][54][55] Although the concept of a ring road around Kitchener and Waterloo originated from the Kitchener-Waterloo and Suburban Planning Board in 1948,[56][57] actual consideration was not given to it until it was recommended by a 1961 traffic study.[58] By then, the opening of Highway 401 was attracting business away from the rapidly growing twin cities. Land was gradually purchased over the intervening years and picked up considerably when plans for the expressway system were first raised in late 1962.[56] The provincial government reached a funding arrangement with Kitchener and Waterloo to cover 75% of the expected C$22 million cost, and officially announced the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway on May 21, 1964.[59] The province eventually took over authority for the entire project in August 1965.[60]

Interchange between Conestoga Parkway and Freeport Diversion after its 2004 reconstruction, facing south and showing both legs of Highway 8

Construction of the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway began in February 1966 with the awarding of a C$3 million contract to rebuild 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) of King Street into a four lane divided highway from Fairway Road (renamed from Block Line Road) to Doon Road,[61] including the half cloverleaf interchange that would serve the western and northern legs of the expressway system.[62] In the mid-to-late 1960s, Highway 8 was redirected along Fairway Road, Mill Street (now Vanier Drive) and a new road named Henry Sturm Boulevard that travelled east from Ottawa Street and Highland Road to Mill Street.[63] The expressway was renamed the Conestoga Parkway in January 1967, after being chosen by a joint committee from a shortlist of 12 publicly-submitted names.[64] The reconstruction of King Street was completed and opened in November 1967.[65] Construction began several months later in October on a C$3.6 million contract to build a 2.9-kilometre (1.8 mi) segment of the parkway from King Street to west of Homer Watson Boulevard.[66] This section, which was built along the alignment of Henry Strum Boulevard, was opened to traffic between Courtland Avenue and King Street on November 25, 1968,[67][68] at which point the Highway 8 designation was redirected along King Street and the Conestoga Parkway to Homer Watson Boulevard, via Henry Strum Boulevard, and onto Highland Road.[67][69]

Interchange between Conestoga Parkway and Freeport Diversion in 1970, shortly after opening

During the 1960s, the Department of Highways undertook several regional transportation studies to determine traffic patterns, which had changed significantly since the highway network was established in the 1920s. Among these was the Niagara Peninsula Planning Study, released in 1964. It indicated that several highways were no longer provincially significant, and responsibility for them should be transferred to local government. Having largely been supplanted by the Queen Elizabeth Way, opened in the 1940s, the winding route of Highway 8 east of Winona was transferred to the new Regional Municipality of Niagara on September 1, 1970.[70][71] The region designated the former highway as Regional Road 81.[72]

Meanwhile, work continued on the Conestoga Parkway in the early 1970s, with a section between Courtland Avenue and Fischer-Hallman Drive opening on September 1, 1971.[67][73] Around this time, construction was underway on a new two lane alignment of Highway 7/8, first announced in 1963, to connect the New Hamburg Diversion with the Conestoga Parkway. It opened on August 13, 1973, bypassing Baden; the former alignment east of New Hamburg is now known as Gingerich Road.[3][74][75]

During the mid-1970s, proposals for a Highway 8 bypass of Cambridge were floated, but never gained traction.[76] Although the proposal was shelved in 1988,[77] the bypass idea was briefly revived as a result of recommendations in the Cambridge Area Transportation Study, released in June 1992. It recommended construction of a C$54.5 million bypass of Highway 8 around the west side of Cambridge, from Highway 401 to south of the city. The proposal faced public backlash due to the cost as well as environmental concerns of crossing the Grand River and five environmentally sensitive areas.[78]

Interchange between Highway 8 (Freeport Diversion) and King Street East facing southeast towards Highway 401 in the distance

Following the completion of an environmental assessment in 1984,[79] construction began by 1985 on a new 3.3-kilometre (2.1 mi) freeway link between the Freeport Diversion and Highway 401, which was known as Highway 8 New during construction.[80] Highway 8 New was completed by 1988, and received the non-public designation Highway 7187, since the Highway 8 designation continued along King Street East and Shantz Hill Road towards Cambridge. However, in 2008, Highway 8 was rerouted along the 3.3-kilometre (2.1 mi) freeway segment, while King Street East and Shantz Hill Road were re-designated as Waterloo Regional Road 8.[81][82] The province continues to maintain approximately 670 metres (2,198.2 ft) of Waterloo Regional Road 8 at the Highway 401 interchange as an unsigned portion of Highway. 8.[83]

The two lane segment of Highway 7/8 from Fischer-Hallman Road west to Baden was originally slated to be twinned to four lanes in the 1980s, but the project was put off for a decade. Early works tree clearing got underway in 1991 before the project was put on hold for archeological excavations.[84][85][86] Construction began to widen the route as far west as Waterloo Regional Road 12 (Queen Street), south of Petersburg, on July 6, 1992, with a planned completion by August 1993.[87]

Budget constraints brought on by a recession in the 1990s resulted in the Mike Harris provincial government forming the Who Does What? committee to determine cost-cutting measures in order to balance the budget after a deficit incurred by former premier Bob Rae.[88] It was determined that many Ontario highways no longer served long-distance traffic movement and should therefore be maintained by local or regional levels of government. The MTO consequently transferred many highways to lower levels of government in 1997 and 1998, which resulted in the removal of a significant percentage of the provincial highway network.[89][90] As a result of this, the portion of Highway 8 east of Highway 5 at Peters Corners, through Dundas, Hamilton and Stoney Creek, was transferred to the Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth on April 1, 1997. A 2.3-kilometre (1.4 mi) section of King Street in Kitchener, from north of the Highway 401 interchange to the Freeport Diversion, was also transferred on that day to the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.[91][92]

Facing east overlooking the two interchanges between Highway 8 and Highway 401. The nearer King Street interchange serves traffic to and from the west on Highway 401, while the farther Freeport Diversion interchange serves traffic to and from the east exclusively.

In the early 1990s, the provincial government announced plans to widen the Conestoga Parkway and Freeport Diversion, as well as to improve the interchange between the two.[93] The project was broken into several phases, and included rebuilding the Ottawa Street and Franklin Street overpasses.[94] Construction began in August or September 1998 to widen the Conestoga Parkway from four to six lanes between Courtland Avenue and King Street.[95] It was completed, along with widening of the parkway between King Street and Frederick Street, in July 2000.[96] The expansion of Highway 8 from four lanes to eight lanes between the Conestoga Parkway and Fergus Avenue was originally scheduled to begin in 2001, but was delayed as businesses along Weber Street fought expropriation.[97] Construction instead began in April 2002, which involved shifting one of the retaining walls further north and a new Franklin Street bridge to accommodate the eight lane cross-section freeway. Included with this project was a reconstruction of the bottle-necked interchange of the Conestoga Parkway and Highway 8, including a new flyover ramp from westbound Conestoga Parkway to eastbound Highway 8 to replace one of the two loop ramps, and realignment of the northbound to eastbound ramp.[98] Both were completed and opened on June 11, 2004.[99]

Work began on the next phase, widening Highway 8 from four to eight lanes from Fergus Avenue to northwest of the Grand River, in April 2006. This work included rebuilding the Fairway Road interchange.[100] Construction to twin Highway 8 over the Grand River and widen it northwest of the Sportsworld Drive interchange began in the summer of 2009, following the relocation of approximately 50 Wavy-rayed lampmussel, considered a species at risk in Canada.[101][102] Both projects were completed and opened, except for one westbound lane over the Grand River, in November 2011; the fourth westbound lane was opened the following year.[103]

An operational and safety review of the three intersections at Peters Corners near Hamilton was undertaken in February 2001. Studies, including an environmental assessment were conducted between 2004 and 2009, and settled upon a roundabout as the ideal replacement, with traffic signals at the two intersections with Westover Road.[104] Construction began in the spring of 2012,[104] and the C$6.3 million roundabout was opened on September 25, 2012.[105]

• Breithaupt, William Henry (1919). Seventh Annual Report (PDF) (Report). Waterloo Historical Society. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
• Burghardt, Andrew F. (1969). "The Origin and Development of the Road Network of the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, 1770-1851. , 59(3), 417–440". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 59 (3): 417–440. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1969.tb00683.x. JSTOR 2561724. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
• Lee, Robert C. (2004). The Canada Company and the Huron Tract, 1826-1853 : personalities, profits and politics. Natural Heritage / Natural History. ISBN 1-896219-94-2. Retrieved February 14, 2022 – via Open Library.