Ontario Highway 83
# Ontario Highway 83

King's Highway 83, also known as Highway 83, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route travelled inwards from the shores of Lake Huron, beginning at Highway 21 north of Grand Bend and travelling eastward to Highway 23 in Russeldale. Today the route is known by the local names Dashwood Road and Thames Road, as well as by county-assigned designations Huron County Road 83 and Perth County Road 20.

## Route description

Highway 83 was a straight highway connecting Highway 21 north of Grand Bend with Highway 23 in Russeldale, lying almost entirely within Huron County. Today, the majority of the former route is known as County Road 83, although the portion that lay within Perth County became part of County Road 20.

Between the termini of the route, the highway passed through the communities of Dashwood, Thames Road and Farquhar, as well as the town of Exeter. Outside these locations, the surroundings of the former route consist of a mix of farmland and woodlots. West of Hay, itself lying immediately north of Exeter, the Hay Swamp, a provincially significant wetland and conservation area, lies immediately north of the route.

## History

Highway 83 was first established by the Department of Highways in 1938 to connect Highway 21 near Grand Bend with Highway 23 in Russeldale. On April 13, 1938, the 38.6-kilometre (24.0 mi) Thames Road was assumed into the expanding provincial highway network. The route remained generally unchanged over the years, aside from being paved. In 1997, Highway 83 was deemed to serve a local function and was transferred to Perth and Huron counties on April 1, decommissioning the route in the process.

## Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 83, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

| Division | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Huron | Grand Bend | 0.0 | 0.0 | Highway 21 | |
| Huron | Dashwood | 8.4 | 5.2 | County Road 2 south | |
| Huron | Bluewater–South Huron boundary | 10.5 | 6.5 | County Road 2 north – Zurich | |
| Huron | Exeter | 19.8 | 12.3 | | Western town limit |
| Huron | Exeter | 20.8 | 12.9 | Highway 4 – London | |
| Huron | Exeter | 21.9 | 13.6 | | Eastern town limit |
| Huron | South Huron | 28.8 | 17.9 | County Road 11 | |
| Perth | Russeldale | 38.8 | 24.1 | Highway 23 | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi ||||||
