Highway 3 (Ontario)

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Location of Highway 3 in southern Ontario. Green indicates portion downloaded in 1998

Ontario Provincial Highway #3 is a provincially maintained highway in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It has three segments, and it currently runs from the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor to Highway 77 in Leamington, from Talbotville Royal (near St. Thomas) to the western city limits of Port Colborne and from Highway 140 in Port Colborne to Edgewood Park (west of Fort Erie).

The total length of Highway 3 is 261km; 50.8km from Windsor to Leamington, 168.1km from Talbotville Royal to Port Colborne and 42.1km from Port Colborne to Edgewood Park.

Highway 3 is part of the Talbot Trail. Highway 3 is a two-lane freeway from Wellington Road to Centennial Road in St. Thomas.

Highway 3 travels through Windsor, Oliver, Oldcastle, Maidstone, Essex, and Leamington (Windsor-Leamington segment); Talbotville Royal,Blenheim, Morpeth, St. Thomas, Yarmouth Centre, New Sarum, Orwell, Aylmer, Summers Corners, Seville, Springer's Hill, North Hall, Tillsonburg, Courtland, Delhi, Gilbertville, Atherton, Simcoe, Renton, Jarvis, Erie, Balmoral, Nelles Corners, Decewsville, Cayuga, Canfield, Canborough, Dunnville, Mount Carmel, Forks Road, Winger, Chambers Corners, Wainfleet, Ostryhon Corners, and Port Colborne (Talbotville Royal-Port Colborne Section); Port Colborne, Gasline, Sherkston, and Edgewood Park (Port Colborne-Edgewood Park section).

Highway 3 travels through the following municipalities: Windsor, Tecumseh, Lakeshore, Essex, Kingsville, and Leamington (Windsor-Leamington); Southwold Township,Harwich Township, Howard Township, St. Thomas, Central Elgin, Aylmer, Bayham, Tillsonburg, Norfolk County, Haldimand, and Wainfleet (Talbotville Royal-Port Colborne); Port Colborne, and Fort Erie (Port Colborne-Edgewood Park).

Highway 3 travels through the following counties: Essex (Windsor-Leamington); Kent (Chatham-Kent); Elgin, Oxford, Norfolk, Haldimand, and Niagara RM (Talbotville Royal-Port Colborne); Niagara RM (Port Colborne-Edgewood Park).

[edit] Connections With the United States

When the Michigan Department of Transportation discontinued US 25 in 1973, much of US 25 was redesignated as M-3, whose southern terminus came at Clark Street in Detroit, at the junction of I-75 by the Ambassador Bridge. This provided a connection between Michigan's M-3 and Ontario's Highway 3 until 2001, when jurisdictional changes within downtown Detroit created a discontinuous segment of M-3, and this international Route 3 connection was lost when the portion of M-3 along Fort Street was redesignated M-85.

Before being downloaded to municipal and county/regional governments in 1998, this highway proved a quick link from Chicago, Toledo, and Detroit to Buffalo and Upstate New York. Highway 3 was a far shorter, quicker and more direct route than any American route (including Interstate 90), due to Lake Erie dipping south along Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

It was also the only provincial highway to start and end at bridges, and the only provincial highway to have both termini at international crossings.

[edit] Essex By-Pass

The Essex By-Pass (Current Highway 3) was built in stages, from 1977 to 1981. The first stage was to just south of Essex, where it was routed along Malden Road to its former alignment (Now Essex County Road 34). It was extended to Ruthven in 1981, and then routed around Leamington in 1997.