Highway 28 was assigned in 1928, incorporating Highway 12A, one of the original provincial highways. It was extended in the following decade, first to Apsley and then to a new Department of Roads and Northern Development centre in Bancroft. In the early 1980s, Highway 500 was added as an extension, reaching Denbigh. Portions of the highway were decommissioned or transferred in the 1990s, and in 2003 Highway 134 was added, extending the southern terminus to Highway 7.
Route description
Highway 28 north of its southern terminus at Highway 7
Highway 28 begins at an intersection with Highway 7 approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of Peterborough. The road that carries Highway 28 continues south as Peterborough County Road 34 (Heritage Line). Proceeding north, Highway 28 crosses the Peterborough Drumlin Field, an area dominated by undulating terrain oriented in a southwest–northeast direction. Despite this, the highway progresses due north without regard for the terrain; numerous cuts and fills have since flattened the route for easier travel. Passing east of Lakefield, the straight path of the route is interrupted by the Otonabee River; it curves northeast and intersects Peterborough County Road 29 (Queen Street) and Road 6 while travelling south of the river. At Young's Point, the southern tip of Stony Lake, the highway crosses the river and serves cottages along the western shore of the lake. Approximately 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of Burleigh Falls, the route descends a hill and enters the Canadian Shield; south of this point, the terrain is underlain by limestone and covered by deciduous forests, whereas north of it the terrain is dominated by exposed granite bedrock and coniferous forests.[2]
The north-eastern end of Highway 28 in Denbigh
Within Burleigh Falls, Highway 28 encounters the eastern terminus of the former Highway 36. From there it continues northeast through the rugged shield to Highway 118, at which point it has curved fully to the east. The highway passes through Bancroft, where it encounters Highway 62. East of Bancroft, there is relatively little human inhabitation, with the exception of a select group of communities located on or nearby the highway. At the community of Denbigh, Highway 28 ends at a junction with Highway 41.[2]
History
Highway 28 was assigned in 1928, when the entirety of Highway 12A was renumbered. Highway 12A was one of the original provincial highways assumed in 1919 and 1920.[3] The Port Hope – Peterborough Road was assumed by the Department of Highways on August 11, 1920, extending from Highway 2 (Walton Street) in Port Hope to Highway 7 (George Street North) in downtown Peterborough.[4]
The route received the 12A numbering during the summer of 1925.[5]
During the mid-1930s, Highway 28 was extended as far north as Apsley. This was accomplished by assuming existing Peterborough County roads along the Otonabee River as far as Burleigh Falls, via Lakefield. North of there, the department assumed the Burleigh Falls Road. Highway 28 was extended from Peterborough to Burleigh Falls on April 4, 1934.[6]
The Burleigh Falls Road was assumed to Apsley on August 11, 1937.[7]
During the 1936 fiscal year, preparations were made for the upcoming merger of the Department of Northern Development and Department of Highway, which occurred on April 1, 1937.[8] The town of Bancroft was chosen as the location of the first operations centre for the new Central District of the department. Consequently, it was decided to extend Highway 28 to the town along the remainder of the Burleigh Falls Road.[9]
Plans to connect Ottawa with Bancroft arose in the mid-1950s. When the province designated Highway 132 in January 1956, they also announced plans for a new highway which would travel south from Renfrew to Calabogie, then turn west towards Denbigh and Bancroft. Ultimately this road was never constructed, but new road links were established in the following years regardless.[10]
In early 1956, Highway 500 was established between Kinmount and Hermon following the Monck Road.[11][12]
In 1963, a new road was constructed between McArthur Mills and Denbigh through the Madawaska Highlands, and opened as an extension of Highway 500 on July 1.[13]
During the early 1980s, Highway 500 was renumbered as an extension of Highway 28. This took place between 1980 and 1982.[14][15]
During the 1997 and 1998 mass downloading of highways, the southern 63 kilometres (39 mi) of Highway 28 were transferred to the counties of Peterborough and Northumberland, the town of Port Hope and Lakefield and the city of Peterborough. The section from Highway 115 north to Lakefield was decommissioned on April 1, 1997.[16]
On January 1, 1998, the southernmost section, between Highway 2 and Highway 115, was transferred.[17]
During the spring of 2003, the entirety of Highway 134 was redesignated as part of Highway 28, extending the southern terminus to Highway 7 east of Peterborough.[2][18]
^"Provincial Highways Assumed in 1920". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. January 30, 1921. pp. 40, 43.
^"Provincial Highways Now Being Numbered". The Canadian Engineer. Monetary Times Print. 49 (8): 246. August 25, 1925. Numbering of the various provincial highways in Ontario has been commenced by the Department of Public Highways. Resident engineers are now receiving metal numbers to be placed on poles along the provincial highways. These numbers will also be placed on poles throughout cities, towns and villages, and motorists should then have no trouble in finding their way in and out of urban municipalities. Road designations from "2" to "17" have already been allotted...
^"Appendix 4 - Schedule of assumptions of reversions of sections". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1935. p. 119.
^"Appendix 3 - Schedule of assumptions of reversions of sections". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1938. p. 81.
^Campbell, Norman (January 6, 1956). "Renfrew in Picture for Superhighway". The Ottawa Citizen. Vol. 113, no. 159. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1956. § P35–Q37.
^"Ontario Secondary Roads Now Designated 500, 600". Vol. 112, no. 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
^A.A.D.T. Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 And Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1970. p. 118.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Photogrammetrey Office. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1980–81. § D26–E27.
^Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Photogrammetrey Office. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1982–83. § D26–E27.
^Highway Transfers List (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. April 1, 1997. p. 5.
^Highway Transfers List - "Who Does What" (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. June 20, 2001. pp. 10, 12.
^"Signs of the Times". Milestones. Ontario Good Roads Association. 2 (1). February 2002. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
Sources
Books
Shragge, John; Bagnato, Sharon (1984). From Footpaths to Freeways. Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Historical Committee. ISBN0-7743-9388-2.
Highway 7 near Peterborough
Highway 41 at Denbigh
