Ontario Highway 3

Ontario Highway 3

King's Highway 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3 and historically as the Talbot Trail, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which travels parallel to the shore of Lake Erie. It has three segments, the first of which runs from the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor to Highway 77 in Leamington. The second portion begins at Talbotville Royal outside of St. Thomas, and travels to the western city limits of Port Colborne. The road is regionally maintained within Port Colborne as Niagara Regional Road 3, but regains its provincial designation at Highway 140. From there the highway is mostly straight, passing the Niagara Speedway in the village of Gasline. Its third and final terminus is at Edgewood Park, near the Fort Erie boundary. From there, the road continues under local jurisdiction to the Peace Bridge, where drivers can return to the United States

The total length of Highway 3 is 261.0 km (162.2 mi), consisting of 50.8 km (31.6 mi) from Windsor to Leamington, 168.1 km (104.5 mi) from Talbotville Royal to Port Colborne and 42.1 km (26.2 mi) from Port Colborne to Edgewood Park. Most of the highway follows the historic Talbot Trail, a settlement trail following the northern shore of Lake Erie. Highway 3 is a two-lane freeway from Wellington Road to Centennial Road in St. Thomas. In Windsor, Highway 3 carries a large amount of truck traffic, as it is the only direct link between Highway 401 and the Ambassador Bridge. Another 2-lane freeway segment of Highway 3 runs between Talbot Rd. near Essex to Talbot Rd. near Leamington.

For a while after the portion between Leamington and St. Thomas was downloaded, the Ministry of Transportation had considered renaming the Windsor-Leamington segment of Highway 3 as Highway 103 (a previous designation to an old routing of Highway 69 in Muskoka in the 1970s before Highway 400 was extended through the area).