Conventional King's Highways are primary trunk highways which have route numbers between 2 and 148 (until recently, 2 through 169). All King's Highways are paved.
These routes are usually two or four-lane undivided roads, but there are some that have been upgraded to expressways and freeways over the years.
Construction of new conventional King's Highway routes has been rather limited in recent years. In general, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has been opting to construct
new routes as freeways, since their capacity is much higher than conventional highways. Generally, the King's Highways were numbered in approximate order
of assumption or designation date. In recent decades, however, some old route numbers were reused. Thus, there is no real "system" in place in terms of
route numbering logic in Ontario. However, some route numbers tend to be clustered close together. For example, most of the highways in the 50s lie between
Brantford and the Niagara Peninsula, and most of the highways in the 80s are in Southwestern Ontario. This is merely a coincidence, however, and does not
represent any effort made to number highways in any particular sequence.
The King's Highways generally have fairly high geometric design standards, although most routes are not built to the supreme standards that are used for
the 400-Series Highways. Design speeds normally range from 80 km/h to 110 km/h, with horizontal and vertical curve standards that are superior to the
Secondary Highways, but are not quite up to the standards used for the high-speed 400-Series Freeways. Some King's Highways are built as freeways with full
grade separation at intersecting roads and railway lines. Freeway sections are generally built to the same standards as the 400-Series Highways. For
example, the design standards used on the freeway section of Hwy 115 between Enterprise Hill and Peterborough are practically indistinguishable from the
400-Series Highways. However, most King's Highway routes are merely built to arterial or collector highway standards, depending on the function and traffic
requirements of the roadway. The primary function of the King's Highways is to accommodate through traffic, although many routes serve as collector
highways with considerable local access.
The posted speed limit on most rural Ontario King's Highways is 80 km/h (50 mph). Those portions of the King's Highways that have been upgraded to
expressways or freeways generally have a posted speed limit of 90 km/h or 100 km/h. A handful of major highways in Northern Ontario have a posted speed
limit of 90 km/h (56 mph). The posted speed limit on most rural portions of Hwy 11, Hwy 17, Hwy 17A, Hwy 61, Hwy 66, Hwy 69, and Hwy 102 is 90 km/h.
The rural sections of Hwy 101 from Wawa to the Hwy 647 junction, and from Timmins to Matheson are posted at 90 km/h. The Sudbury Bypass portion of Hwy 144
has a 90 km/h limit. Also, a limited portion of Hwy 71 from Nestor Falls southerly to Emo is posted at 90 km/h. All urbanized and built-up areas along
these highways will have lower speed limits imposed. Watch carefully for signs indicating a change in speed limit!
There are a few "suffixed" or alpha-numeric King's Highway route numbers in Ontario. Route numbers like Hwy 11B and Hwy 7A still exist in Ontario, albeit
in rather limited numbers. Generally, routes with a suffix "A" are alternate routes and suffix "B" are business routes. Business routes ("B" suffix) were
very common in the 1960s and early 1970s, when many new highways were built which completely bypassed towns. The routes were designed so that a motorist
could exit the new highway, access the town's services and amenities, and find the way back to the main highway with little difficulty. Often, these routes
were temporary measures, until regular highway users got accustomed to finding their way through a town and back out to the highway. Some "B" suffixed
highways lasted only a few years before being decommissioned. There were three highways in Ontario that carried a "C" suffix (Hwy 3C, Hwy 7C & Hwy 40C). I
suppose the purpose of this suffix was to denote a "connector" route. However, this designation was so rarely used on highways, that my explanation for
its existence is pure speculation on my part. There was one highway that carried a "D" suffix. For a few years the Dundas Diversion (Cootes Drive) was
known as Hwy 8D. There was also a Hwy 2S between Gananoque and Brockville. The "S" in this instance stood for "Scenic".
The King's Highways are marked using the same basic black-and-white crown-shaped highway markers that are used on the 400-Series Highways. Overhead signs
are uncommon on conventional highways, although they are becoming much more common on freeways, even if they are not part of the 400-Series Freeway
System. The following photos are of a modern King's Highway 112 marker, a modern King's Highway 129 marker and a modern King's Highway 11B marker:
Left: Photograph taken by Cameron Bevers © 2003
Centre: Photograph taken by Cameron Bevers © 2007
Right: Photograph taken by Cameron Bevers © 2003