Highway 16 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Length: | 3.8 km (2.4 mi) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: | NY 812 – Ogdensburg, NY | |||
North end: | Highway 416 – Prescott | |||
Location | ||||
Counties: | Simcoe County, Muskoka Region, Parry Sound District, Timiskaming District, Cochrane District, Rainy River District | |||
Highway system | ||||
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King's Highway 16, commonly referred to as Highway 16 and historically as the Prescott Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway once travelled from near Prescott to Ottawa. However, its length was truncated significantly when most of the route was "twinned" with a second roadway, and renumbered as Highway 416. However, a short stub remains through Johnstown, crossing the St. Lawrence River on the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge to Ogdensburg, New York, where it becomes New York State Route 812.
The Ottawa–Prescott Road was one of the first highways designated in Ontario; it was one of four designated in 1918. The highway was numbered in August 1925.
The Prescott Highway was established as a provincial highway in 1918, shortly after the Provincial Highway (Highway 2). It remained named until the summer of 1925, when route numbering was introduced and it became Provincial Highway 16. A new route was constructed throughout the 1970s to provide a controlled-access right-of-way for the highway. During the 1990s, this new route was "twinned", whereby a new road was constructed parallel to the existing one, and redesignated as Highway 416. A short section through downtown Ottawa was not incorporated into Highway 416, instead being redesigned as Ottawa Regional Road 73 (Prince of Wales Drive). This left a short stub through Johnstown, which remains designated as Highway 16.