Route Description
Highway 7A is a 48.3-kilometre (30.0 mi) highway which serves as an alternative route to Highway 7, bypassing Lindsay and providing a shorter and more direct southern route between Whitby and Peterborough. It begins in the community of Manchester at an intersection with Highway 7 and Highway 12. West of this intersection, the road continues as Durham Regional Road 21 towards Stouffville. The highway travels northeast into the town of Port Perry, where it curves east and becomes Scugog Street. Passing through the town, the highway serves as a commercial strip, centring around Simcoe Street. In the east end of the town, the highway passes several big-box retailers before crossing the western arm of Lake Scugog on the Scugog Causeway.
On Scugog Island now, the highway first passes Island Road (Durham Regional Road 7), which leads to Great Blue Heron Casino and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island reserve, then curves southeast and enters the Osler Marsh. It once continued east along what is now Reader Road and curved southeast at the end of that road. The modern route, constructed when the causeways were reinforced in the 1960s, lies south of the original route. The route continues southeast across the Cartwright Causeway, separating the eastern arm of Lake Scugog from the marsh. After approximately a kilometre (0.6 miles), the highway curves east and continues for 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the end of the causeway. For the next 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi), the highway travels straight to the east past farmland, then curves north near Blackstock. It intersects Durham Regional Road 57, which travels south to Bowmanville. The two routes travels north concurrently with for 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) before Road 57 departs north towards Caesarea as Highway 7A gently curves east and passes through the former railway village of Nestleton Station.
Returning to farmland, the highway enters the northern tip of the Oak Ridges Moraine and the terrain begins to undulate near the border between Durham Region and Kawartha Lakes. Eventually, the farmland transitions into forests and the highway dives into and out of glacial ravines; these form the headwaters of the Pigeon River. The route intersects Highway 35 approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) east of Nesleton Station; both highways travel south concurrently for 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) before Highway 7A branches east and Highway 35 continues south to Orono and Newcastle. A carpool parking lot is also available at this junction.
Highway 7A continues east through a valley-ridden region containing a mix of thick deciduous forests and farmland. Shortly after passing the northern terminus of City Road 32 (Porter Road), the highway enters the village of Bethany, where it crosses the Victoria Rail Trail and intersects the southern terminus of City Road 38 (Ski Hill Road) before curving southeast and entering Peterborough County. The highway curves back to the east and passes through a final ravine. It crosses through farmland before entering the community of Cavan, where it meets County Road 10. Approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) east of Cavan, Highway 7A ends at an interchange with Highway 115, which itself intersects and becomes concurrent with Highway 7 approximately 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) northeast of this point, thereafter continuing into Peterborough.
Read more about this topic: Ontario Highway 7A
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