Ontario Highway 4

Highway 4
Location of Highway 4 in Southern Ontario      Current route      Former route
Route information
Length:	100.8 km[1] (62.6 mi)
Existed:	February 26, 1920[2] – present
Major junctions
South end:	Highway 3 – St. Thomas
	Highway 401  Highway 402  Highway 7
North end:	Highway 8 – Clinton
Location
Major cities:	St. Thomas, London
Towns:	Exeter, Clinton
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways List 400-series Former ←  Highway 3   Highway 5  →

King's Highway 4, also known as Highway 4, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Originally much longer than its present 100.8 km (62.6 mi) length, more than half of Highway 4 was transferred to the responsibility of local governments in 1998. In its present form, it travels between Highway 3 in Talbotville Royal, north-west of St. Thomas, and Highway 8 in Clinton.

Highway 4 was first designated in 1920, when a 27 km (17 mi) route between Talbotville Royal and Elginfield was assumed by the Department of Highways. Over the next half century it was extended north and east to Highway 24 near Singhampton, and south to Port Stanley.

Route description

Highway 4 looking north towards Lambeth from the Highway 4 / Highway 402 interchange in London.

In its present form, Highway 4 travels through Talbotville Royal, Tempo, Scottsville, Lambeth, London, Northcrest, Uplands, Arva, Birr, Elginfield, Lucan, Clandeboye, Mooresville, Centralia, Exeter, Hay, Hensall, Kippen, Brucefield, Vanastra, and Clinton.

Highway 4 travels through the following municipalities: Southwold Township, London, Middlesex Centre Township, Lucan Biddulph Township, North Middlesex, South Huron, Bluewater, and Central Huron.

As of April 2008, Highway 4 officially does not exist within the City of London except south of Glanworth Drive, but instead is now signed with green "TO 4" trailblazer crown signs. The City was considering alternate routes for Highway 4 through the city in the early 2000s but this never materialized. Further north in Clinton, Highway 4 ends at the southern limits, though it remains signed.

History

The Highway 4 / Talbot Street junction in St. Thomas.

The King's Highway 4 was originally designated in 1920 when the provincial government assumed the road running from Talbotville Royal to Elginfield through London. In 1927, the highway was further extended with the assumption of the road from Elginfield to Clinton. In the 1930s, the highway was again extended as far north as the intersection of Highway 10 in Flesherton, and south to Edith Cavell Boulevard in Port Stanley. In the 1970s, Highway 4 reached its maximum length when it was extended from Flesherton to Singhampton. However, in 1998, the Mike Harris government, seeking to balance the provincial budget, off-loaded responsibility for the Clinton–Singhampton and Talbotville-Port Stanley sections of Highway 4—almost 65% of its total length—back onto municipal governments.^[3]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 4, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.^[1] 

Division	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Elgin	Talbotville Royal	0.0	0.0	Highway 3 – St. Thomas
		6.0	3.7	Highway 401 – Windsor, Toronto	Exit 177[1]
Middlesex	London	10.5	6.5	Highway 402 – Sarnia
		12.5	7.8	Longwoods Road / Colonel Talbot Road	Formerly Highway 2 west
		23.1	14.4	York Street / Clarence Street	Formerly Highway 2 east
		29.0	18.0	Fanshawe Park Road	Formerly Highway 22
	Arva	31.6	19.6	County Road 28 (Medway Road)
		37.2	23.1	County Road 16 (Ilderton Road)
	Elginfield	45.4	28.2	Highway 7 east – St. Marys, Stratford County Road 7 west (Elginfield Road)	Access to  Highway 23 via Highway 7 east
	Clandeboye	54.3	33.7	County Road 28 (Denfield Road)
	Mooresville	58.1	36.1	Mooresville Drive
Huron	Centralia	64.2	39.9	County Road 21
	Exeter	72.4	45.0	County Road 83 (Thames Road)	Formerly Highway 83
	Hensall	80.3	49.9	County Road 84 (King Street)	Formerly Highway 84
	Kippen	84.3	52.4	County Road 12 (Kippen Road)
	Brucefield	90.4	56.2	County Road 3 (Mill Road)
	Clinton	100.8	62.6	Highway 8
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2008). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Retrieved February 13, 2012.
2. Shragge 1984, p. 74.
3. "The King's Highway 4". The King's Highways of Ontario. Retrieved 9 August 2013.