Ontario Highway 523

Secondary Highway 523, commonly referred to as Highway 523, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway is a 20.0-kilometre (12.4 mi) north–south route in Nipissing District which follows the historic Madawaska Colonization Road. The highway begins at the Nipissing–Hastings boundary, where it continues south to Highway 127. It ends at Highway 60 in the village of Madawaska. The route was assumed as a provincial highway in 1956.

Highway 523
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length20.0 km[1] (12.4 mi)
Major junctions
South endNipissing–Hastings boundary
North end Highway 60 in Madawaska
Location
DistrictsNipissing
Highway system
← Highway 522B→ Highway 524

Route description

Highway 523 begins at the boundary between the Hastings County and Nipissing District, east of Algonquin Provincial Park. From here the road continues south as the Madawaska Road to Maynooth, where it meets the Peterson Road and Hastings Road, all former Colonization Roads which served to open the northern frontier to settlement in the 1850s. North of the boundary, the Highway begins and is known as Cross Lake Road. It passes through a sparsely populated region dotted with lakes and muskeg, generally remaining straight, though curving sporadically to avoid the many obstacles presented by the Canadian Shield.[2]

After passing thorough the village of Cross Lake, situated on the eastern shore of a lake with the same name, the highway abruptly curves to the east for 1 kilometre (0.62 mi). It turns back to the north and later approaches the northwestern tip of Bark Lake, on the opposite shore as Bell Bay Provincial Park. Here the highway curves to the west and follows the delta of the Madawaska River, curving north just short of entering the village of Madawaska.[2]

History

Highway 523 was first designated along with many of the secondary highways in Ontario in 1956.[3] The route was paved at the time of assumption,[4] and has remained the same since.[2]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 523, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1] The entirety of the highway is located within Nipissing District.[2] 

DivisionLocationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
Hastings–Nipissing boundaryHastings Highlands – South Algonquin boundary0.00.0Division boundary line; road continues south as Madawaska Colonization Road
NipissingSouth Algonquin20.012.4 Highway 60 – Whitney, Barry's Bay
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2016). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  2. Ontario Back Road Atlas (Map). Cartography by MapArt. Peter Heiler. 2010. p. 61, 80. § P44–Q45. ISBN 978-1-55198-226-7.
  3. "Ontario Secondary Roads Now Designated 500, 600". 112 (33, 119). The Globe and Mail. February 4, 1956. p. 4. Two new Ontario road numbers appear on the province's 1956 official road map which will be ready for distribution next week. The new numbers are the 500 and 600 series and designate hundreds of miles of secondary roads which are wholly maintained by the Highways Department. More than 100 secondary roads will have their own numbers and signs this year. All of these secondary roads were taken into the province's main highways system because they form important connecting links with the King's Highways
  4. Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1956. § O32.
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