Ontario Highway 17B - Garden River

Garden River

In 2007, the province of Ontario redesignated a former portion of Highway 17 in the Algoma District, from Echo Bay to Sault Ste. Marie, after the opening of a new expressway alignment in the area. Although the official provincial designation was Highway 638, the Garden River First Nation — through which the route passes — has insisted on the designation of Highway 17B instead, even going so far as to post their own non-official Highway 17B signs on the route.

As of February 2009, at the eastern terminus with Highway 17, the highway has been officially rebadged as Highway 17B. The signage is in evidence until the intersection of Highway 638 at Echo Bay, after which the route no longer has any official identification. The western terminus of 17B at Highway 17 features no 17B signage whatsoever. The intersection is identified from 17 simply as Bar River Road.

In February 2010, Garden River's band council publicly warned that they would consider imposing tolls on the routes of both Highway 17 and Highway 17B through their territory if the provincial government did not assist the council with a funding shortfall of approximately $1 million.