Ontario Highway 90

Highway 90 ended at the entrance to CFB Borden, for which it serves as the primary connection to Highway 400

Today, the former routing of Highway 90 is known as Dunlop Street within Barrie and Simcoe County Road 90 outside of the city.[4] The route begins at a split between Cambrai Road, which provides access to Camp Borden, and Simcoe County Road 10, which continues south to Alliston and Tottenham.[5] The four lane Simcoe County Road 90 progresses north through the centre of Angus. North of the Barrie Collingwood Railway overhead, it acts as the principal commercial strip for the town.[6] North of Angus, the highway makes a broad 90-degree turn to the east and skims the southern edge of the Minesing Wetlands, an internationally significant bog.[7]

East of the swamp, the road enters Essa, where it intersects the Sunnidale Road (Simcoe County Road 40). From there to Barrie, the highway passes through a largely rural area. It intersects former Highway 131, now Simcoe County Road 27, then enters Barrie at Miller Drive, curving northeast. East of Ferndale Drive, the route crosses Highway 400 at Exit 96.[5] Shortly thereafter, as it approaches the waterfront of Kempenfelt Bay, the route ends at High Street in downtown Barrie.[1]

Simcoe County Road 90 is two lanes wide between McKinnon Road, north of Angus, and Ferndale Drive in Barrie, although a passing lane is provided for eastbound traffic between Angus and Essa. The road also widens to four lanes briefly at the junction with former Highway 131 west of Barrie, as well as within the city and within Angus. The land use surrounding the route is mixed, with pastures and forests composing the majority of the setting. Residences and small businesses are also scattered throughout the length of the route.[6]

Highway 90 was originally assumed by the Department of Highways (DHO), the predecessor to today's Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), during the late 1930s. The primary purpose for the highway was to connect the CFB Borden military base at Angus with the main north–south routes of central Ontario. At that time, these were Highway 27 and Highway 11. On October 6, 1937, the DHO designated the Barrie to Angus Road as King's Highway 90.[2] The initially unimproved road was paved shortly after the outbreak of World War II; a contract was awarded to Brennan Paving of Hamilton during the autumn of 1939,[8] and work completed by the end of the year.[9]

Initially, Highway 90 followed Tiffin Street through Barrie, ending just short of the waterfront of Kempenfelt Bay at the intersection of Essa Street (Highway 27) and Bradford Street (Highway 11/27).[10] However, during the early 1960s the route was modified so as to provide an interchange with Highway 400. A new interchange was constructed during the late 1950s at what was then known as Elizabeth Street in order to provide better access to downtown Barrie from the freeway. By 1960, Highway 90 had been rerouted northwest along Ferndale Drive and northeast along Elizabeth Street. Though it still ended at Bradford Street, it intersected it 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the north.[11] By 1961, Elizabeth Street was renamed as Dunlop Street West.[12] By 1964, Dunlop Street was extended southwest of Ferndale Drive to merge with Tiffin Street at Miller Drive (the present city limits).[13]

Highway 90 approaching Barrie from the west

The highway remained unchanged for over three decades, with the exception of a Connecting Link agreement established between the MTO and the City of Barrie.[1] However, during the late 1990s, the MTO transferred many highways to lower levels of government as a cost-cutting measure. Highway 90 was transferred to Simcoe County on January 1, 1998.[3] The Connecting Link through Barrie was also discontinued. Simcoe County has since renamed its portion of the route as Simcoe County Road 90.[6]

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 90, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1] 

Division	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Simcoe	Angus	0.0	0.0	County Road 10 south	Roadway continues south as Camp Borden Road
		1.8	1.1	County Road 10 north (Brentwood Road) – Wasaga Beach
	Essa–Springwater	7.4	4.6	County Road 56 south
		12.1	7.5	County Road 28 north (George Johnston Road)
		13.9	8.6	Former  Highway 131 south	Now Simcoe County Road 27
	Essa–Barrie	14.9	9.3		Barrie city limits; beginning of Connecting Link agreement
Barrie
		17.4	10.8	Highway 400 – Toronto	Exit 96
		19.0	11.8	Highway 11 / Highway 27 (Bradford Street)	End of Connecting Link agreement
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

The current construction to widen the highway to 5 lanes could last until 2020.

Footnotes