Ontario Highway 17

Highway 17 marker Highway 17 marker Highway 17 marker
Highway 17
Trans-Canada Highway
Map
ON 17 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length1,964.0 km[1] (1,220.4 mi)
ExistedJuly 9, 1920[2]–present
Tourist
routes
Lake Superior Circle Tour
Lake Huron Circle Tour
Major junctions
West end PTH 1 (TCH) towards Winnipeg
Major intersections Highway 71Kenora
 Highway 61Thunder Bay
 Highway 11Nipigon
 Highway 101Wawa

To I-75 in Sault Ste. Marie
 Highway 6McKerrow
 Highway 69Sudbury
 Highway 11North Bay
 Highway 41Pembroke
 Highway 60Renfrew
East end Highway 417 near Arnprior
Location
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
Major citiesKenora, Dryden, Ignace, Thunder Bay, Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay, Mattawa, Petawawa, Pembroke, Arnprior
Highway system
Highway 16 Highway 17A

King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, 50 km (31 mi) west of Kenora, and the main section ends where Highway 417 begins just west of Arnprior. A small disconnected signed section of the highway still remains within the Ottawa Region between County Road 29 and Grants Side Road. This makes it Ontario's longest highway.[note 1]

The highway once extended even farther to the Quebec boundary in East Hawkesbury with a peak length of about 2,180 km (1,350 mi). However, a section of Highway 17 "disappeared" when the Ottawa section of it was upgraded to the freeway Highway 417 in 1971. Highway 17 was not re-routed through Ottawa, nor did it share numbering with Highway 417 to rectify the discontinuity, even though Highway 417 formed a direct link between the western and eastern sections of Highway 17. However, from East Hawkesbury to Ottawa, Highway 17 retained the Trans-Canada Highway routing and signs until it met up again and merged with Highway 417 until 1997 when Highway 17 through Ottawa was downgraded. The Trans-Canada Highway designation now extends along all of Highway 417.

Ontario Highway 17 is a very important part of the national highway system in Canada, as it is the sole highway linking the eastern and western regions of the country. Although other small roads connect the province of Ontario with the province of Manitoba, it is the only major highway that links the two, making it a crucial section of Canada's primary commercial and leisure route.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference km was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1920 report was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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