The numbered roads in the Regional Municipality of Durham account for about 832km (517miles) of the county road system in the Canadian province of Ontario. The Durham Region Works Department owns and maintains the regional roads and regional highways, while the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) owns and maintains the King's Highways in the region. The 67 (7 King's Highways, 4 Regional Highways, and 56 Regional Roads) numbered roads provide access to the entirety of the region. Highway 401 forms the backbone of the region, traveling from the western boundary of the region to the eastern boundary alongside Lake Ontario, and serving over 200,000 vehicles per day. Several provincially maintained highways existed in the region prior to 1998, when they were transferred to municipal government in the region as part of a province-wide downloading of highways. Where the regional tier of municipal government has since been responsible for these routes, they have been designated as Durham Regional Highways.
The road network of the Regional Municipality of Durham consists of 832 kilometres (2,087 lane kilometres) of arterial roadway. There are 60 numbered roads, referred to mostly as Regional Roads, though four former King's Highways are referred to as Regional Highways, where they are now owned and maintained by the region.
In addition to the roads, there are 209 bridge and culvert structures currently maintained by the region. The region is not responsible for the bridges over and under Highway 401, Highway 407 and Highway 412 nor the bridges over and under Highway 35/115 or, all of which are maintained by the MTO. The region is also exempt from the construction and maintenance of bridges crossed by railway, but not from bridges which separate road and rail crossings.
The regional municipality of Durham was created in 1974 by the merger of portions of Durham and Ontario counties.
The Regional Municipality of Durham is responsible for the maintenance of both pavement as well as many structures that are over, under, or near the pavement. Bridges, culverts, and traffic signals are all built and maintained by the Works Department.
The Durham Regional Police Service Traffic Enforcement unit handles enforcement of traffic laws, except on the King's Highways, which are patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police. Speed limits on regional roads vary between 50 and 80 kilometres per hour. Police in Durham will generally not set speed traps, as the region encourages the safe flow of traffic, and punishes unsafe driving rather than speed limits. Maintenance and snow clearing is performed by the Durham Works Department. Five depots operate throughout the region in addition to the traffic operations centre in Whitby.
| Name(s) | Western/Southern Terminus | Eastern/Northern Terminus | Length | Communities | Comments | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston Road Dundas Street West, King Avenue | Toronto - Durham boundary | Durham - Northumberland boundary | 43km (27miles) | Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Bowmanville, Newcastle | Formerly part of Highway 2, prior to January 1, 1998. Split into four sections; ends 800 meters east of Fothergill Court in Whitby, resumes at, and has two discontinuities in Clarington.[1] | ||
| Brock Street North, Baldwin Street | Rossland Road | Gatineau hydro corridor, south of Highway 7 (Highway 407 interchange) | 4.8km (03miles) | Whitby, Brooklin | Formerly part of Highway 12, prior to January 1, 1998; continues north as Highway 12, south as Brock Street | ||
| Toronto Street South, Brock Street | 25.1km (15.6miles) | Goodwood, Uxbridge | Formerly part of King's Highway 47, prior to April 1, 1997. Continues west as . Discontinuous between First Avenue/Marietta Street and Fourth Avenue in Uxbridge. | ||||
| - | Durham - Kawartha Lakes boundary | 6.6km (04.1miles)[2] | Talbot | Formerly part of King's Highway 48. Continues east as Kawartha Lakes Road 48. |
| Name(s) | Western/Southern Terminus | Eastern/Northern Terminus | Length | Communities | Comments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brock Road, Main Street | Montgomery Park Road | 46.2km (28.7miles) | Pickering, Uxbridge, Leaskdale, Udora | |||||
| Simcoe Street, Durham - Victoria Boundary Road | Harbour Road (former Durham Regional Road 62) | Brock Concession Road 14 | 49km (30miles) | Oshawa, Columbus, Raglan, Port Perry, Seagrave, Sonya, Manilla | Signed as Kawartha Lakes Road 2 between Seagrave and Manilla, where the road is maintained by the City of Kawartha Lakes under a boundary road agreement. Used originally by the Mississauga Indians to get to Osler Marsh.[3] Later became the main highway to Port Perry, and was later extended to Beaverton.[4] In the 1840s, Abram Farewell proposed maintaining the road with tolls, which were ultimately never imposed.[5] | |||
| Brock Street West, Centre Street, Fairbanks Street | 1.8km (01.1miles) [6] | Oshawa | ||||||
| Winchester Road, Grandview Street North, Columbus Road, Darlington Concession 8 | 19.8km (12.3miles) | Brooklin, Enniskillen | ||||||
| Taunton Road | 48.1km (29.9miles) [7] | Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington | Continues west as Steeles Avenue into Toronto | |||||
| Central Street, Pickering Concession 9, Myrtle Road, Raglan Road | 24.4km (15.2miles) [8] | Pickering, Claremont, Whitby, Oshawa | ||||||
| Saintfield Road | 7km (04miles) [9] | Seagrave | ||||||
| Island Road | Hood Road / Carnegie Beach Drive | 11.5km (07.1miles) [10] | Passes through the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation reserve, and by the Great Blue Heron Casino. | |||||
| Brock Street West, Main Street South, Reach Street | 26.1km (16.2miles) | Uxbridge, Epsom, Port Perry, Ontario | ||||||
| Ganaraska Road | Durham - Northumberberland boundary | 9.9km (06.2miles) [11] | Kendal | |||||
| River Street | 5.7km (03.5miles) [12] | Sunderland | ||||||
| Sandford Road | 12.1km (07.5miles) [13] | Sandford | Continues west into York Region as Herald Road and Green Lane | |||||
| Cameron Street | 7.1km (04.4miles) [14] | Cannington | ||||||
| Zephyr Road, Brock Concession 3 | 24.5km (15.2miles) | Zephyr, Leaskdale | ||||||
| Liberty Street | 8.9km (05.5miles) | Bowmanville, Hampton | ||||||
| Simcoe Street | Durham - Victoria Boundary Road | 8.7km (05.4miles) [15] | Beaverton | Continues east as Kawartha Lakes Road 8 (Glenarm Road) in the City of Kawartha Lakes | ||||
| Ritson Road | 11.3km (07miles) [16] | Oshawa | ||||||
| Mill Street, Main Street, Manvers Road | 6.3km (03.9miles) | Newcastle | ||||||
| Newtonville Road | 11.9km (07.4miles) [17] | Newtonville, Kendal | ||||||
| Shirley Road | 11km (07miles) [18] | |||||||
| Mosport Road, Boundary Road, Durham Road 20 | 12.5km (07.8miles) [19] | |||||||
| Church Street, Goodwood Road | 18.4km (11.4miles) [20] | Goodwood, Utica, Manchester | Continues east as Highway 7A towards Port Perry | |||||
| Bayly Street, Victoria Street, Bloor Street | 29.9km (18.6miles) [21] | Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa | ||||||
| Lakeridge Road, Osborne Street, Mara Road | 74.4km (46.2miles) | Ajax, Whitby, Pickering, Vallentyne, Port Bolster, Beaverton | Lakeridge Road serves as a boundary line for three-quarters of the municipalities of Durham: Ajax, Pickering, and Uxbridge to the west; Whitby, Scugog, and Brock to the east. | |||||
| Church Street | CN rail line bridge south of | 1km (01miles) [22] | Ajax | Regional Road 24 designation was retired from the CN Rail line towards in 2015. | ||||
| Consumers Drive, Stellar Drive, Champlain Avenue | Brock Street | 5.1km (03.2miles) | Whitby, Oshawa | |||||
| Champlain Avenue | 1.7km (01.1miles) | Whitby, Oshawa | ||||||
| Thickson Road | 15.3km (09.5miles) [23] | Whitby, Brooklin | ||||||
| Altona Road | 10.5km (06.5miles) [24] | Pickering, Whitevale | ||||||
| Rossland Road, Peter Matthews Drive (Future road segment) | 9.9km (06.2miles) [25] | Whitby, Oshawa | Peter Matthews Drive is a future road segment in Pickering | |||||
| Liverpool Road | 2km (01miles) [26] | Pickering | ||||||
| York - Durham Line | / | 18.4km (11.4miles) | Stouffville, Mount Albert | Continues east as | ||||
| Westney Road, 7th Concession | 18.7km (11.6miles) [27] | Ajax, Greenwood | ||||||
| Harmony Road | 10.3km (06.4miles) [28] | Oshawa | ||||||
| Courtice Road, Enfield Road | / Service Road East | 14.7km (09.1miles) | Courtice | |||||
| Wilson Road | 6.2km (03.9miles) [29] | Oshawa | ||||||
| Hopkins Street, Anderson Street | 3.7km (02.3miles) [30] | Whitby | ||||||
| Finch Avenue | 5.8km (03.6miles) | Pickering | ||||||
| Whites Road | Petticoat Creek Conservation Area | 12.4km (07.7miles) [31] | Pickering | Extended north to Highway 7 in February 2021 in order to have an interchange with Highway 407 as part of local development. | ||||
| Scott Concession 3, Durham Road 39 | 10.1km (06.3miles) [32] | Zephyr | Continues south as | |||||
| Alexander Knox Road | Future road segment | Pickering | Future road segment in Pickering | |||||
| Salem Road | 6.4km (04miles) | Ajax | ||||||
| Darlington - Clarke Townline | 8.1km (05miles) [33] | |||||||
| Cochrane Street | Dundas Street West | 2.1km (01.3miles) [34] | Whitby | |||||
| Harwood Avenue | Lake Driveway | 4.7km (02.9miles) [35] | Ajax | |||||
| Henry Street | Dundas Street West | 2km (01miles) [36] | Whitby | |||||
| Brock Street South | Water Street | 1.3km (00.8miles) [37] | Whitby | Continues north as Durham Regional Highway 12 | ||||
| Shore Line Road | Durham - Simcoe boundary | 2km (01miles) [38] | ||||||
| Portage Road, Canal Road, Durham Road 50 | Ontario Highway 12 | Durham Regional Highway 48 | 5.2km (03.2miles) [39] | Brock | Section from Regional Road 51 to just north of Trent-Severn Waterway was the Old Highway 12 before diverting to the west. | |||
| Old Highway 12 / Talbot Road | Talbot River | 0.19km (00.12miles) | Brechin, Ontario, Beaverton, Ontario | Continues south as Regional Road 50 and north as Simcoe County Road 51. Original route of Ontario Highway 12 over Talbot River before being re-routed to the west. Road ends where bridge crossing beyond Durham Region into Simcoe County. | ||||
| Phillip Murray Avenue, Boundary Road, Thornton Road | 7.8km (04.8miles) | Oshawa, Whitby | Split into three sections; two sections are south of Highway 401 and the Canadian National Railway, while the northern section resumes on Thornton Road at | |||||
| Stevenson Road | 6.4km (04miles) [40] | Oshawa | ||||||
| Park Road | 6.4km (04miles) | Oshawa | ||||||
| Townline Road | 5.2km (03.2miles) [41] | Oshawa, Courtice | ||||||
| Farewell Street | Approx. 220 m south of Harbour Road | 1.8km (01.1miles) | Oshawa | |||||
| Waverley Road, Martin Road, Durham Road 57, New Scugog Road, Blackstock Road, Caesarea Road, Bowmanville Avenue | Durham - Kawartha Lakes boundary | 41.9km (26miles) | Bowmanville, Blackstock, Caesarea | Continues east as Kawartha Lakes Road 57 | ||||
| Manning Road, Adelaide Avenue | Brock Street | 10.1km (06.3miles) | Whitby, Oshawa | Manning and Adelaide are separated at the Whitby - Oshawa boundary by the Mount Lawn Cemetery. Closing this gap is part of the Durham Region Transportation Master Plan. There is also an environmental assessment underway for a planned eastern extension of Adelaide Avenue from to Trulls Road. | ||||
| Gibb Street, Olive Avenue | 6.6km (04.1miles) | Whitby, Oshawa | Gibb Street and Olive Avenue are separated at . This corridor has been identified as a bottleneck and an environmental assessment is underway to determine a solution. | |||||
| Wentworth Street | 5.5km (03.4miles) [42] [43] | Whitby, Oshawa | Wentworth Street is discontinuous between Stevenson Road and Park Road by the General Motors of Canada Oshawa Assembly Plant. |
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