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Ontario provincial highway 7 is one of the King's Highways in the province of Ontario, Canada. At its peak, Highway 7 measured a total distance of 716 km in length, stretching from Highway 40 east of Sarnia in southwestern Ontario to Highway 417 southwest of Kanata in eastern Ontario.
In 1997 and 1998, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation downloaded portions of the highway to regional and municipal governments. Because of this, there are now two (once three) separated sections of Highway 7.
Western segment
The western segment of Highway 7 runs from Elginfield in Middlesex County in the southwest to the Halton-Peel border in Brampton. This covers a distance of 152.6 km. This highway is a freeway for a 22.4 km stretch from Waterloo regional road 6 south of Baden to Highway 85 in Kitchener; this is part of the Conestoga Parkway. Plans to build a freeway bypass of Highway 7 from Kitchener, through Guelph to Vaughan are currently in development.
At one point Highway 7 ran as far west as Sarnia; that segment was downloaded on January 1, 1998. The western segment was separated from the central segment on April 1, 1997, when the stretch from Brampton to Markham was downloaded due to the opening of Highway 407. Highway 7 through York Region, despite no longer being a provincial highway, is still officially named Highway 7.
Central and eastern segments
The central segment of Highway 7 runs for 136.1 km from Markham to Highway 7A, southwest of Peterborough. A distance of only 6 km separated the central segment from the eastern segment. This separation was eliminated in 2003.
The portion of this highway from Highway 12 north of Sunderland to its eastern terminus is designated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
The eastern segment of Highway 7, separated from the central segment by only 6 km, has a total length of 242.8 km. It begins at Highway 115 in Peterborough, and runs to Highway 417 near Kanata, which is in the Ottawa region. This highway is a freeway for its first 6.5 km, from Highway 115 to Lansdowne Street East (once Highway 7B) in Peterborough. Its entire length is part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
In 2003, these two segments were connected by a renumbering around Peterborough, which created a new multiplex with Highway 115 and renumbered 7A to 7 in southwest Peterborough in order to connect them. The same year, construction started on a 21-km four-phase project between the 417 in Ottawa and McNeely Avenue (the old Highway 15 in Carleton Place) to convert Highway 7 to a four-lane, controlled access highway. Construction is expected to be complete by at least 2007.
See also
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