Ontario Highway 18

The original alignment of Highway 18 followed a completely different routing for the first 18 months of its existence than it would for the following 50 years. As it was first designated in 1930, Highway 18 provided a shortcut between Windsor and Tilbury. In anticipation of the opening of the Ambassador Bridge, as well as the nearby Detroit–Windsor tunnel, Windsor and the surrounding townships sought road improvements between Windsor and Maidstone to alleviate traffic along Talbot Road and bypass or separate several level crossings of the Michigan Central Railway (MCR) beginning in early 1929.[13][14][15] The province chose to designate a new right-of-way adjacent to and north of the MCR in July of that year,[16] and spent the next several months constructing the cut-off (now known as Provincial Road) from Howard Avenue to north of Maidstone.[17] By 1930, Highway 2 had been rerouted to begin at the ferry docks in downtown Windsor, following Ouellette Avenue to Tecumseh Road, then east to and south along Howard Avenue; the short segment near Maidstone became Highway 2A.[18]

Meanwhile, the province set out to build a third highway into Windsor. Essex County had designated County Road 19 along Cabana Road (now Division Road) and Baseline Road to Tilbury on April 19, 1928,[19] and soon thereafter the DPHO promised to take it over as a new provincial highway.[20] Highway 18 was officially designated on June 11, 1930 along the route.[2] Several changes were made to the provincial highway system in Essex County in February 1932. Since the route of Highway 18 was shorter than the route of Highway 2 between Windsor and Tilbury, the newly renamed Department of Highways (DHO) renumbered Highway 18 as Highway 2, while the old route of Highway 2 became Highway 2A. At the same time, the Highway 18 designation was applied along a new provincial highway between Windsor and Leamington.[21][22]

1931 Ontario Road Map, showing the original route of Highway 18 between Windsor and Tilbury

On November 17, 1931, Minister of Highways Leopold Macaulay announced that the province would take over the Front Road and Essex County Road 2 between Windsor and Leamington following calls by towns in southern Essex County.[23][24] This took place one month later on December 16.[2] Within Windsor, the new highway began at the intersection of Ouellette Avenue and Riverside Drive. From there it travelled west along Riverside Drive, Sandwich Street, and what is now the Ojibway Parkway.[25] Several sections of the new highway were paved when the province took them over. The Front Road was paved between Windsor and Amherstburg by 1924,[26] King Street in Harrow was paved between 1910 and 1912,[27] and Seacliff Drive between Kingsville and Leamington was paved in 1925.[28] The remainder of the route between Amherstburg and Kingsville, outside of Harrow, was unimproved.[25]

Along with the new Highway 18 designation, which was applied in February 1932, the DHO undertook reconstruction of the unimproved portions of the route as a depression-relief project.[29] As part of this work, several jogs were straightened and a new bridge constructed over Big Creek, bypassing the old route between Amherstburg and Malden Centre along what is now Meloche Road and Creek Road. Two sweeping curves were also built between Malden Centre and Harrow, and all unpaved sections were graded and gravel surfaced.[30][31][32] Reconstruction of Highway 18 was completed and the route fully opened to traffic by September 30, 1932.[33] Paving of the gravel sections of Highway 18 began in 1934. By the end of the year, the route had been paved between Amherstburg and Malden Centre, as well as between Harrow and Kingsville.[34] The final gap of gravel between Malden Centre and Harrow was paved in 1936, and a new 76 m (250 ft) wooden bridge built over the River Canard along the right-of-way of the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Electric Railway.[31][35]

The route of Highway 18 through Amherstburg originally followed Sandwich Street, Richmond Street and Dalhousie Street. Narrow streets and sharp turns resulted in frequent accidents, especially at the S-curve south of Park Street.[36] Although this problem was recognised shortly after the highway was established,[37] work to remedy it did not begin until 1958, when construction began on the Amherstburg diversion.[38] On July 25, 1958, the DHO assumed the route of the future diversion,[39] which was completed and opened to traffic on July 28, 1959;[40] the former route via Richmond Street and Dalhousie Street was subsequently renumbered as Highway 18B.[41]

When Highway 18 was established, the entire route was two lanes wide. Twinning of what is today known as the Ojibway Parkway took place in the late 1930s and was one of the earliest examples of a divided highway in Ontario. The divided portion began at Sandwich Street and ended at an intersection on the north side of the Turkey Creek bridge. This section of Highway 18 was known as Main Street or the Seven Mile Road until it was renamed as the Ojibway Parkway at the beginning of 1973.[42] The remainder of the route between Amherstburg and the Turkey Creek bridge was gradually widened over the course of 25 years. Beginning in June 1965, following several years of deferrals, the two lane Turkey Creek bridge was widened as part of work to expand Front Road to four lanes as far south as Gary Avenue.[43][44] The new four lane bridge was opened officially on September 17, 1966.[45] That year, the Southwestern Ontario Highway Planning Study was released, which recommended numerous changes to the highway network in Essex County. Among them was four-laning Highway 18 between Amherstburg and Windsor.[46]

Former Highway 18 facing south at the River Canard bridge in 2015

On September 15 1970, the River Canard bridge experienced a structural failure and was taken out of service.[47] It was replaced by a temporary bailey bridge that opened in January 1971. Planning for a replacement bridge to accommodate the widening of Highway 18 to four lanes had been underway since the early 1960s.[48] Amherstburg council requested the new bridge have a 4.6 m (15 ft) clearance, compared with the 1 m (3 ft) clearance of the old bridge. The DHO refused, insisting a 3 m (10 ft) clearance would be adequate. In August 1972, after two years of discussions, the higher clearance was approved. Work on the new bridge and 1.9 km (1.2 mi) of approaches began in May 1973.[49] It was opened to traffic in February 1974, and the bailey bridge subsequently disassembled.[50] As part of the work, Highway 18 was widened to four lanes from 0.7 km (0.43 mi) south of the bridge to 1.1 km (0.68 mi) north of it.[51]

Planning to remove the dangerous two lane Brunner Mond bridge in Amherstburg, the site of numerous accidents, was underway by the 1970s. The bridge crossed a Penn Central Railroad track midway between Texas Road and Brunner Avenue, and formed a major hurdle in the proposal to four lane Highway 18 between Amherstburg and LaSalle.[52][53][54] On March 1, 1976, Minister of Transportation James Snow officially announced that the rebuilt highway would be four lanes wide.[55] Work on the crossing began on July 11, 1977 and was completed by the end of the year.[56]

Meanwhile in Windsor, construction of the E.C. Row Expressway was underway. Built to provide a ring road around Windsor, the expressway was opened as a two lane road between Ojibway Parkway and Huron Church Road on June 9, 1983.[57] Starting with the 1982 Ontario Road Map, Highway 18 is shown as following the still-unopened E.C. Row Expressway to Huron Church Road.[58] Construction to widen the west end of the E.C. Row Expressway to four lanes began in October 1989[59] and was completed in September, 1990.[60]

Widening of 4.7 km (2.9 mi) of Highway 18 between Amherstburg and the River Canard bridge began on July 23, 1985, at a ground-breaking ceremony attended by Minister of Transportation Ed Fulton. Fulton personally intervened to ensure that the oft-deferred project be built.[61] Construction to widen 8 km (5.0 mi) of the route from north of the River Canard bridge to south of the Turkey Creek bridge in LaSalle began in the spring of 1987.[62]

As part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premier Mike Harris under his Common Sense Revolution platform in 1995, numerous highways deemed to no longer be of significance to the provincial network were decommissioned and responsibility for the routes transferred to a lower level of government, a process referred to as downloading. Highway 18 was downloaded east of Essex County Road 45 (Union Avenue, former Highway 107), a distance of 6.1 km (3.8 mi), on April 1, 1997. The 7.8 km (4.8 mi) portion of the route through LaSalle was transferred to that town on the same day.[63] Essex County Road 45 (Union Avenue) was assumed in order to establish a logical eastern terminus for the route at Highway 3 in Ruthven. On January 1, 1998, the remainder of Highway 18 was downloaded and transferred to Essex County.[3] Since 1998, the former route of Highway 18 has been known as Essex County Road 20.[7]

Highway 18A was a 31.1-kilometre-long (19.3 mi) route that began and ended at Highway 18, travelling along the Lake Erie shoreline and through Colchester. It was the southernmost highway to ever exist in Canada, as the only one to travel south of the 42nd parallel. Highway 18A was assumed as a provincial highway on April 13, 1938.[64] It was transferred to Essex County on January 1, 1978, and has since been known as Essex County Road 50.[11]

Highway 18B was a short stub serving to connect Highway 18 with Highway 3 west of Leamington. It was assumed by the DHO on August 25, 1937.[65] While initially gravel-surfaced,[68] the highway was paved in 1944.[69] Highway 18B was renumbered as Highway 107 in 1952.[66][67] Highway 18 would briefly follow this route between April 1997 and January 1998.[63][3]

Dalhousie Street in 2015

A second Highway 18B existed through downtown Amherstburg in the 1960s, following the original route of Highway 18 along Richmond Street and Dalhousie Street.[41]