Cootes Drive | |
|---|---|
| Dundas Diversion, Highway 102 | |
 A map of Cootes Drive, in red | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by City of Hamilton | |
| Length | 3.2 km (2.0 mi) |
| Existed | September 11 or 12, 1937[1]–present |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | York Street / York Road in Dundas |
| East end | Main Street (formerly Highway 2) |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Major cities | Hamilton |
| Highway system | |
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Cootes Drive, formerly known as the Dundas Diversion, is a city street in Hamilton, Ontario. The route connects York Road and King Street in Dundas with Main Street (formerly Highway 2 and Highway 8) to the southeast, and is considered one of the first divided highways in Canada. Originally constructed as the Dundas Diversion, the route served to bypass several sharp turns along the nearby Highway 8, as well as to demonstrate the new dual highway concept that would soon thereafter evolve into the 400-series highway network. Construction began in 1936, and the route opened on the weekend of September 11, 1937.
Cootes Drive continued to be referred to as the Dundas Diversion by the Department of Highways (DHO), predecessor to the modern Ministry of Transportation of Ontario until 1947, though it occasionally appeared in internal documents as Highway 8D and Highway 6D in the early 1940s. By 1948, the route was publicly designated as Highway 102, which it remained as until 1964 before being transferred to the townships of Ancaster and West Flamborough in 1964. It has since been known as Cootes Drive.