The Highways of Hamilton /

Ontario 5 and Hamilton Regional Road 5

ON 5 in blue, RR 5 in purple.

Highway	Duration	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
ON 5	1925-1927	Halton County line east of Waterdown	Haldimand County line south of Mt. Hope	30
ON 5	1927-1930	ON 8, Peters Corners	Halton County line east of Waterdown	19
ON 5	1930-1998	Brant County line west of Troy	Halton County/Region line east of Waterdown	31
RR 5 (west segment)	1998-	Brant County line west of Troy	ON 8, Peters Corners	13
ON 5		ON 8, Peters Corners	ON 6, Clappison's Corners	13
RR 5 (east segment)		ON 6, Clappison's Corners	Halton Region line east of Waterdown	6

Overview

Highway 5 is an east-west road running north of Dundas through Waterdown. It's one of Ontario's premiere provincial numbered roads, with a lineage back to 1925. For most of its existence, it served as a parallel route to Highway 2, running from Paris to Scarborough inland from the Lake Ontario shore. (Barenaked Ladies fans will be pleased to know that not only did the road serve the band's hometown, but it would have run right past "an old house on the Danforth" and Birchmount Stadium, home of the Robbie.)

Of course, this being Ontario, Highway 5 has been cut to ribbons. The entire highway in the county equivalents of Brant, Halton, Peel, and Toronto was deemed redundant to the MTO in 1998, and promptly demoted to a patchwork of regional roads and city streets. In Hamilton-Wentworth, the road's fate has been a bit kinder: The highway retained its original alignment and number. It's also retained its only portion still under provincial control, a 13km segment serving essentially as a siphon to shunt traffic between Highways 8 and 6.

History

No highway in Hamilton changed more drastically in its early years than Highway 5. Its original configuration of 1925 was actually a composite of two routes, the Hamilton Northeast Entrance Highway (following Dundas Street, a 1790s military route) and the Hamilton-Jarvis Provincial Highway. The latter followed a north-south orientation through the newly-constructed Clappison's Cut, and passed through downtown Hamilton en route to Haldimand County and Highway 3 near the Lake Erie shore.

(DHO, 1927 & 1928)

In 1927, the Department of Public Highways of Ontario did a "number swap." The south portion of Highway 5 was renumbered as an extension of Highway 6. Meanwhile, a new extension was commissioned carrying Highway 5 west. This route followed the orientation of concession lines, and made heavy use of pre-existing infrastructure.

Over the years, the highway has seen the following adjustments:

B,H,I

F,G

A: In 1927, the original course of ON 5 south of Clappison's Corners was reclassified as part of ON 6.
B: The same year, a new extension was added to ON 5 west of Clappison's Corners, connecting the road to ON 8 at Peters Corners.
C: In 1930, ON 5 was extended further west through Wentworth and Brant counties to a new terminus at ON 2 in Paris.
D: By 1936 a 700m segment in Troy was bypassed, leaving Troy Road.
E: Also by 1936, a jog at Middletown Road was smoothed out.
F: Also by 1936, ON 5 was straightened north of Greensville, leaving behind Collinson Road.
G: By 1964, the previously-straightened segment north of Greensville was given a new earth cut.
H: In 1998, the portions of ON 5 west of ON 8 and east of ON 6 were reclassified as a Regional Road.
I: In 2012, a roundabout was installed at the transition between ON 5 and RR 5 in Peters Corners.

Related highways and alternate routes

ON 5B

Highway	Duration	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
ON 5B	1938-1940	Brant County line west of Lynden	Main St. (ON 8), Dundas	21

In 1938, Highway 5 was the recipient of a business ("B") spur linking its parent to downtown Dundas. This alternate route was very lengthy, covering 28 kilometres in Brant and Wentworth counties along the Governors Road.

Two years later, ON 5B was "promoted" to its own highway and renamed ON 99. It exists today as a Regional Road.