Ontario Highway 76

Highway 76 began near the Lake Erie shoreline in Eagle, at Highway 3. From there it travelled northwest through a mixture of farmland and woodlots for 4.2 kilometres (2.6 mi) to the town of West Lorne, meeting . Immediately north of West Lorne before encountering an interchange with Highway 401 (Exit 137). About 8.6 kilometres (5.3 mi) north of Highway 401, Highway 76 crossed over the Thames River. Highway 76 ended 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) beyond the river at Longwoods Road (then Highway 2) midway between Wardsville and Strathburn as well as near the town of Glencoe.[4][5]

South of the Thames River, Highway 76 was within Elgin County, while north of the river was within Middlesex County. Outside of Eagle and West Lorne, the former highway was entirely rural. Today it is known as Elgin County Road 76 and Middlesex County Road 76 in the respective county.[4][5]

Highway 76 was first assigned by the Department of Highways (DHO), predecessor to today's Ministry of Transportation, on September 16, 1936. It was initially 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) long, connecting Highway 3 with the village of West Lorne to the northwest along an existing gravel township road.[2] The DHO quickly improved the route, fully paving it by 1938.[6] Several highway routings were altered southwest of London in late 1957, in anticipation for the construction of Highway 401. On December 5, 1957, Highway 76 was extended 12.4 kilometres (7.7 mi) northwest to Highway 2 between Wardsville and Strathburn.[7] Highway 401 would open between Tilbury and London as a two lane freeway on October 22, 1963 with an interchange at Highway 76. For nearly two years, traffic utilised the future westbound lanes until the eastbound lanes opened July 20, 1965.[8]

Highway 76 remained unchanged for the next 30 years. 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. As Highway 76 generally served local traffic as opposed to long-distance movement, it was downloaded to Elgin County and Middlesex County effective April 1, 1997.[3] The two counties each retained the number 76 for the route in their respective county road system.[4][9]

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 76, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1] 

Division	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Elgin	Eagle	0.0	0.0	Highway 3
	West Lorne	5.4	3.4	County Road 2
	West Elgin	7.4	4.6	Highway 401
Middlesex	Southwest Middlesex	18.0	11.2	Highway 2 (Longwoods Road)	Now Middlesex County Road 2
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi