and County/Regional Route 2

All daytime photos courtesy Doug Kerr (the first four on the page). The nighttime (sorry) photos are mine, and are all eastbound. The reason so much of Highway 2 has become a County or Regional Road is because Highway 401 has taken all of the through traffic off of the road, and so it serves little purpose to the province. The great downloading of many provincial highways to the counties and regions occurred in the 1990's, completed by 1998.


Green shields are used as trailblazers. The top photo is/was westbound in Kingston, and this one I'm sure is nearby.


EB and WB on CR 2 (still signed as Highway 2, but I'm sure the shields have now been replaced), respectively, at former Highway (yup, now CR) 32. 32 will take you to Highway 401's Exit 645. Note the age of the 32 shield in the WB photo versus the relative newness of the cutouts above - square shields are used primarily at junctions, cutouts otherwise, according to Chris Bessert, though there is plenty of variation on that.


CR 29, former Highway 29, SB where it ENDS in Brockville. The number 29 still extends up to Arnprior on the Ottawa River.


As I said, shield confusion, CR 2 EB at Augusta Road, still in Brockville.


From the age of this sign, it's clear this was never Highway 31. The Myers Point sign is for a dead-end with about 10 houses on it, and refers to the street name itself (no "Road" afterward). Both are at the same intersection.

CR 18, Edward St., Prescott.


The Ogdensburg-Prescott Bridge, located east of both towns, linking New York to Ontario from NY 812 to Highway 16. NY 812 connects to NY 37, which has absolutely nothing to do with US 37. The last sign gets it right, but with the NJ-style black background (I'm sure they just borrowed a shield from NYSDOT and stuck it on). Unlike some other old signs on former Highway 2, Highway 16 is still a provincial route, but now only exists to get traffic to the Highway 416 freeway - after that, it's just CR 44.


I don't recall seeing any other Heritage Parkway signs on CR 2, but EDR signs are everywhere. Since Highway 401 is the freeway bypass for the original Toronto-Montréal road, which is now Highway/CR/RR 2, it makes sense that in the case of Emergency, 2 would be the Detour Route. Even on these strange signs, the 401 is white on green because it's a guide sign to the route itself.


Older guide cutouts at CR 14 in Ingleside (first photo) and CR 35 in Long Sault (second and third photos), both part of the township of South Stormont in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry (hereafter referred to as S D G, as you'll see soon). Sault means "rapids," from the French for "jump." The fourth photo's bilingual sign is at CR 33, Power Dam Drive west of Cornwall.


All of these photos are eastbound, multiplexed with Highway 138 southbound. Yes, 138 is still a Highway, but that's no excuse for 2 to still be signed as one. The first sign is inside the 7th Avenue rotary, and the other photos are at the foot of the Seaway International Bridge leading from Cornwall to Rooseveltown, NY. Obviously, all BGS's date to before 1998, and I would guess they're maintained by the City of Cornwall instead of the Counties of S D G.


A very literal interpretation of the county trapezoid, as CR 2 leaves Old Montréal Road (it has been given back to the riverside forest) and heads up to be the north frontage road of Highway 401. CR 32 has always begun in South Lancaster, and has not been truncated just because 2 has been realigned.


The oldest guide sign of all, where the green background has almost completely disappeared and the white numerals and arrow have scraped away to the green underneath, at CR 23 just west of the Québec border. There is clearly more room on this assembly, and I assume it had a Highway 2 shield on the right. Note the cut-corner 4, an older font that's very difficult to find anymore.

Onto the parallel Highway 401

Onto Highway 416
Back to Ontario Roads
Back to Roads