Ontario Highway 658


Secondary Highway 658, commonly referred to as Highway 658, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway extends between the city of Kenora and the community of Redditt. For a decade, Highway 658 was numbered as Highway 666, leading to numerous sign thefts and a petition by members of a church on the route. This petition eventually led to the route being renumbered in late 1985.

Route description

Highway 658 travels through communities lying north of Highway 17, the Trans-Canada Highway. It is mostly rural, being surrounded by ranches and equipment sheds as well as the boreal forest and rock outcroppings of the Canadian Shield. Though it is signed as beginning at the Kenora Bypass, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario traffic counts indicate that the section through Kenora is maintained as a connecting link. In the town of Redditt, the highway ends at a train station served by Via Rail.

History

Highway 658 was originally designated on July 21, 1966, travelling north from Highway 17, west of Whitefish. The route was long, passing west through Worthington and turning north to near Fairbank Provincial Park.
This route and most other secondary highways in the area were transferred to the Regional Municipality of Sudbury when it was established on January 1, 1973, and is now known as Greater Sudbury Municipal Road 4.
The current iteration of Highway 658 was originally designated as Highway 128, a route which came into existence on January 18, 1956. In 1975, the route was one of several King's Highways redesignated as Secondary Highways; it was given the number 666. Local citizen and two churches located along the route began to petition the MTO in 1982, requesting the number be changed due to concerns with its connotation as the "number of the beast". The route number was officially changed to 658 on November 1, 1985, though signs indicating "Formerly Highway 666" were attached to reassurance markers along the highway.

Major intersections