Ontario Highway 50 - History

History

Highway 50 was first assumed by the Department of Highways as part of the King's Highway network in 1936, connecting Highway 49 with Bolton. On August 12, 1936, the 5.4-kilometre (3.4 mi) route was designated. One year later, on August 11, 1937, the route was extended north to Highway 9. On October 6, it was extended south to Highway 7 along the York–Peel boundary.

Highway 50 was downloaded, a process that transfers responsibility for funding and maintenance of a highway to the various jurisdictions it resided within, beginning on April 1, 1997. On that day, the section between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7 was transferred to the joint jurisdiction of the Regional Municipalities of York and Peel, and the connecting link in downtown Bolton transferred to the Town of Caledon. The road was designated Regional Road 24 on July 10, 1997, but renumbered as Regional Road 50 on March 26, 1998. York Region did not follow suit with this change, and so the road is still designated as Regional Road 24 by their Public Works Department. The remaining section of Highway 50 north of Highway 7 was transferred to the regions of York and Peel and the County of Simcoe on January 1, 1998, decommissioning the designation entirely. A final transfer took place on August 13, 1998 between the Town of Caledon and Region of Peel, when the former connecting link through Bolton was assumed as part of Regional Road 50. Simcoe County has since designated its portion of the former highway as County Road 50.