Route Markers

Vintage and modern municipal, provincial, and regional route markers

Route Reassurance

While these signs have seen mostly subtle changes over the past few decades, there have been a few significant ones made to their appearance over the course of the past century. Route markers are highly collectible because of their uniqueness, historical significance, and relatability. Unlike most ordinary road signage, they often come in a variety of colours, shapes, designs, and sizes. Older signs with older, more stylish typefaces and weathered appearances are typically more sought.

Collector Highways

Controlled-Access Highways

Other Markers

Collector
Highways

Controlled-Access
Highways

Other
Markers

Highlights

1930: "The King's Highway"

Ontario's highway route markers are definitely the most royal of any in North America and 1930 is the year the province's highways were first officially referred to as "King's Highways" [1] with markers featuring a shield with a St. Edward's Crown on top. Prior to this and similar to other provinces, its highways were simply referred to as provincial highways with markers that were in the shape of a narrow, upside-down triangle [2].

A Sign of Loyalty to the Crown

According to a piece in the March 20th, 1930 edition of the Mail and Empire, from April of that year onwards Ontario's highway system would change from "Provincial Highways" to "King's Highways" in honour of the reigning monarch at the time, King George V [1]. "The King's Highway" moniker would be a mainstay on the shield markers for many decades until its removal in 1993 [2].

QEW

The QEW/Queen Elizabeth Way is the only provincial highway in Ontario that does not have an official route number, though it is sometimes referred to internally as Highway 451. It is also the only highway that whose route markers are paired with tabs indicating an upcoming control city as opposed to a cardinal direction. The control cities along the length of the QEW are Fort Erie, Hamilton, Niagara, and Toronto [3].

The Queen Elizabeth Way

The highway was named after Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate her and King George VI's visit to North America in 1939 [3] and its route markers are a unique purple text on gold background.

Les Autoroutes du Québec

The second-most populous province in Canada has its own controlled-access highway system similar to the Interstate Highway System in the US [4] with route markers that blend European and American designs.

Inspiration

The colours of Quebec's Autoroute markers look to have been inspired by the US Interstate Highway System and also the network itself with numbering schemes and classes including primary, collector, spur, and bypass [4]. A hint of Europe is featured in the red header in the form of a highway overpass.

Sources

“Highways Will Be Symbol of Loyalty to His Majesty.” The Mail and Empire, 20 Mar. 1930.
Bevers, Cameron. “History of Ontario’s King’s Highway Signs.” Ontario Highway Sign History - History of Ontario’s Kings Highways, https://thekingshighway.ca/signs.htm. Accessed 7 Sept. 2024.
Bevers, Cameron. “Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW).” Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) History - The King's Highways of Ontario, https://www.thekingshighway.ca/Queen_Elizabeth_Way.htm. Accessed 7 Sept. 2024.
“Autoroutes of Quebec.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Aug. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoroutes_of_Quebec

Sources:

“Highways Will Be Symbol of Loyalty to His Majesty.” The Mail and Empire, 20 Mar. 1930.
Bevers, Cameron. “History of Ontario’s King’s Highway Signs.” Ontario Highway Sign History – History of Ontario’s Kings Highways, https://thekingshighway.ca/signs.htm. Accessed 7 Sept. 2024.
Bevers, Cameron. “Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW).” Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) History – The King’s Highways of Ontario, https://www.thekingshighway.ca/Queen_Elizabeth_Way.htm. Accessed 7 Sept. 2024.
“Autoroutes of Quebec.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Aug. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoroutes_of_Quebec

Media Gallery

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Media Gallery

Porcelain Small Highway 2

Porcelain Small Highway 7

Small Highway 11

Highway 2

Highway 69

Don Valley Parkway

These round markers were initially brown in colour for a few years after the opening of the scenic parkway. Not too many of these get taken down so I imagine there aren't too many in private collections.

Don Valley Parkway

1960's Highway 401

An incredibly rare sign that dates back to about a decade after the construction of the first few sections of North America's busiest highway.

1960's Highway 401

TO 401 Trailblazer

Highway of Heroes

M-C (Macdonald-Cartier) Freeway

Highway 403

QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way)

Autoroute 20

Trans-Canada Highway (Ontario)

1950s Ontario
Highway 11

A vintage 1950s Highway 11 marker featuring a special reflective coating considered innovative at the time.

A pre-1987 Ontario Highway 2 route marker with an MTC (pre-MTO) identifier.

MTC (Pre-1987) Ontario Highway 2

A vintage pre-1987 Highway 2 marker with an MTC (pre-MTO) identifier.

Ontario Secondary Highway 557

A nicely-weathered marker for Northern Ontario's equivalent to the county road system in the south.

Don Valley Parkway Trailblazer

A trailblazer for directing motorists to Toronto's Don Valley Parkway.

1960s
Ontario Highway 401

Dates back to about a decade after the construction of the first few sections of the busiest highway in North America.

Ontario Highway 401 Trailblazer

A trailblazer (usually accompanied by a directional tab) to direct motorists to Ontario Highway 401.

Ontario Highway of Heroes

A special designation marker that accompanies Highway 401 markers between Trenton and Toronto.

A route marker for Quebec's Autoroute 20, a continuation of Ontario Highway 401.

Quebec
Autoroute 20

A current route marker for Quebec's Autoroute 20, a continuation of Ontario Highway 401.

Trans-Canada Highway - Ontario

A current designation marker that accompanies highway markers along the Central Ontario Route.

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