Highway 17 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trans-Canada Highway | ||||
 ON 17 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario | ||||
| Length | 1,964.0 km[1] (1,220.4 mi) | |||
| Existed | July 9, 1920[2]–present | |||
| Tourist routes |  Lake Superior Circle Tour Lake Huron Circle Tour | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  PTH 1 (TCH) towards Winnipeg | |||
 Highway 71 – Kenora Highway 61 – Thunder Bay Highway 11 – Nipigon Highway 101 – Wawa  To I-75 in Sault Ste. Marie Highway 6 – McKerrow Highway 69 – Sudbury Highway 11 – North Bay Highway 41 – Pembroke Highway 60 – Renfrew | ||||
| East end |  Highway 417 near Arnprior | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Ontario | |||
| Major cities | Kenora, Dryden, Ignace, Thunder Bay, Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay, Mattawa, Petawawa, Pembroke, Arnprior | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, 50 km (31 mi) west of Kenora, and the main section ends where Highway 417 begins just west of Arnprior. A small disconnected signed section of the highway still remains within the Ottawa Region between County Road 29 and Grants Side Road. This makes it Ontario's longest highway.[note 1]
The highway once extended even farther to the Quebec boundary in East Hawkesbury with a peak length of about 2,180 km (1,350 mi). However, a section of Highway 17 "disappeared" when the Ottawa section of it was upgraded to the freeway Highway 417 in 1971. Highway 17 was not re-routed through Ottawa, nor did it share numbering with Highway 417 to rectify the discontinuity, even though Highway 417 formed a direct link between the western and eastern sections of Highway 17. However, from East Hawkesbury to Ottawa, Highway 17 retained the Trans-Canada Highway routing and signs until it met up again and merged with Highway 417 until 1997 when Highway 17 through Ottawa was downgraded. The Trans-Canada Highway designation now extends along all of Highway 417.
Ontario Highway 17 is a very important part of the national highway system in Canada, as it is the sole highway linking the eastern and western regions of the country. Although other small roads connect the province of Ontario with the province of Manitoba, it is the only major highway that links the two, making it a crucial section of Canada's primary commercial and leisure route.
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