Ontario Highway 118

The route of Highway 118, including portions that are no longer part of the highway, takes its roots from the early colonization roads that were built by the government of Upper Canada and later Ontario throughout the mid-1800s. The highway traces the route of the Lake Joseph Road, the Peterson Road, the North West Road, and the Monck Road. The Lake Joseph Road was completed between the Musquosh Road at Glen Orchard and the Muskoka Road at Bracebridge in 1874.[6] The Peterson Road, meanwhile, was built east of Bracebridge through Carnarvon and beyond between 1858 and 1863. Although much of it fell into disuse within a decade, Highway 118 roughly traces its route between Bracebridge and West Guilford.[7] The North West Road was built during the same period, connecting Haliburton Village with the Peterson Road at West Guilford.[8] The Monck Road was built soon after the other roads, with the route being surveyed between Orillia and Bancroft in 1864–65 and construction taking place between 1866 and 1873. Highway 118 follows or roughly traces the eastern portion of the Monck Road, between Tory Hill and Paudash.[9][10]

The present route of Highway 118 was pieced together over several decades, and includes none of the original highway designated in 1955. The original routing of Highway 118 began at Highway 69 in Glen Orchard and travelled 86.0 km (53.4 mi) to Highway 35 at Dorset, with a 4.0 km (2.5 mi) concurrency along Highway 11 north of Bracebridge.[3][11] The Department of Highways, predecessor to the modern Ministry of Transportation, assumed the road between Bracebridge and Dorset on November 16, 1955, while the road between Glen Orchard and Bracebridge was assumed one week later on November 23.[2] This routing of Highway 118 remained in place until 1974, when the portion between Highway 11 and Dorset was redesignated as Highway 117, reducing the length of Highway 118 to 34.8 km (21.6 mi).[12][13] By 1978 a short 4.5 km (2.8 mi) extension south of Bracebridge to Highway 11 along Ecclestone Drive was added to the highway, bringing its length to 39.3 km (24.4 mi).[14] ^map

Prior to the early 1970s, there were no roads linking Highway 11 with Highway 35 between Orillia–Norland and Bracebridge–Dorset.[15] The newly formed District Municipality of Muskoka decided to extend the Peterson Road, which fell into disuse east of Vankoughnet in the 1870s, to Carnarvon, despite nearly half of the route lying in neighbouring Haliburton County. Muskoka District Road 4, as it was then-known, was opened between Highway 11 near Muskoka Airport and Highway 35 at Carnarvon in the fall of 1972.[16]

The road east of Carnarvon to Haliburton incorporates portions of the Peterson Road to West Guilford, and the North West Road thereafter. These two colonization roads were assumed by the DHO in 1956 as Highway 530 and a portion of Highway 519.[17][11] That year also saw the creation of Highway 121 between Fenelon Falls and Tory Hill via Minden and Haliburton.[11] To the east, the discovery of uranium deposits near Cardiff in 1952 resulted in a large mining boom for the Bancroft area. As a result, the DHO began constructing a new highway in 1956 which would connect the mines with Highway 28.[18] This new road would open as Highway 109 in 1958, connecting Highway 500 northeast of Tory Hill with Highway 28 at Paudash; the road was paved in 1961.[19] On March 1, 1964, several highways were renumbered in the Bancroft area. Highway 121 was extended from Tory Hill to Paudash via Highway 500 and Highway 109 as a result of this renumbering.[20]

The renamed MTO assumed control of Muskoka Road 4 between Highway 11 and Highway 35 on November 27, 1981, and designated it as an extension of Highway 118. On the same day, the entirety of Highway 530 and the southernmost section of Highway 519 were renumbered as part of Highway 118, bringing the highway to a length of 116 km (72 mi) with the eastern terminus at a junction with Highway 121 (Highland Street) in Haliburton Village.[21] ^map

Between 1981 and 1998, Highway 118 remained unchanged. However, 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.[22] 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.[23] As the portion of Highway 118 west of Gravenhurst generally only served local traffic heading towards cottage country, and not province-wide movement, the route was transferred to the District Municipality of Muskoka. On January 1, 1998 26.6 kilometres (16.5 mi) of Highway 118, between Highway 169 and Highway 11 was redesignated as Muskoka Regional Road 118 West. A majority of that route was co-signed as the Frank Miller Memorial Scenic Route effective May 14, 2001.[5][24] Between 1998 and 2003, Highway 118's eastern terminus was in Haliburton at Highland Street, the western terminus of Highway 121, which continued east to Paudash. On May 1, 2003, Highway 121 was renumbered east of Haliburton as Highway 118,[25][26] establishing the current route of the highway.[3]