1. Route description

2. History

3. Major intersections

4. References

5. External links

Secondary Highway 537, commonly referred to as Highway 537, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway is {{convert|16.1|km}} in length, connecting Highway 69 near Wanup with Finni Road. It once continued {{convert|3.6|km|abbr=on}} further to intersect Highway 17 in Wahnapitae, but was truncated in 1998; this portion of the route is now designated as Municipal Road 537. Highway 537 remains the only secondary highway in the province within a jurisdiction that also maintains a county/regional road network.

Route description

Highway 537 acts as a connector route between Highway 17 and Highway 69. It is also the main access road to the communities of Wanup and St. Cloud. The highway is paved for its entire length, as well as for the {{convert|3.6|km}} that continues as Municipal Road 537.

Today, the route begins at Estaire Road within Greater Sudbury near an interchange with Highway 69 (slated to become a northerly extension of Highway 400 by 2021) and travels {{convert|2.7|km}} east, past the interchange and through forest, to the community of Wanup, where it intersects the Old Wanup Road.^[2] Prior to 2009, the highway began at Highway 69, which at that time followed Estaire Road, immediately north of the Wanapitei River. It then proceeded north for {{convert|2.0|km}} alongside the river to the intersection with the current route in Wanup.^[1]

From Wanup, the highway travels northward and eastward towards Highway 17, travelling through sparesely populated forest along the way. Provincial maintenance of the route ends just north of a small development at Finni Road, where the road continues as Sudbury Municipal Road 537 north into Wahnapitae, ending at Highway 17 within the community.^[2]

History

Originally, Highway 537 intersected Highway 69 at Wanup. When Highway 69 was subsequently realigned to bypass the community, the portion of the old Highway 69 north of Wanup became a local street named Old Wanup Road, while the portion south of Wanup became an extension of Highway 537.

Old Wanup Road remains part of the provincial highway system under the unsigned 7000-series designation of Highway 7042.^[1]

On January 1, 1998, the full portion of the route which lay within the town of Nickel Centre, from Highway 17 to {{convert|700|m|abbr=on}} north of Finni Road, was downloaded to the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and became Regional Road 537. This reduced the length of the highway by {{convert|2.9|km|abbr=on}}. When the region was reorganized into Greater Sudbury in 2001, Highway 537 was further reduced in length, as the Nickel Centre boundary no longer existed. The route is now {{convert|3.6|km|abbr=on}} shorter than it was prior to 1998.^[1]

Since the municipal amalgamation of 2001, the remainder of the highway now also falls within the city limits of Greater Sudbury, although no further route downloading has taken place as of 2018. It is now the only secondary highway in the province located within a jurisdiction which also maintains its own numbered municipal road system.^[2]

With the completion of the Highway 69 freeway through the area in 2009, a new alignment of Highway 537 was constructed between Wanup and Highway 69. The route now interchanges with the Highway 69 freeway and intersects Estaire Road {{convert|2.5|km|abbr=on}} north of the old junction. The prior alignment of Highway 537 south of Wanup was renamed as an extension of Old Wanup Road. At the same time, the highway's former terminus at the old alignment of Highway 69 was also realigned slightly, and now intersects Estaire Road {{convert|150|m|abbr=on}} north of the old junction, as the existing junction would have conflicted with the current Highway 69 route's crossing of the Wanapitei River.

On June 2, 2013, the highway was temporarily closed to traffic after a rail bridge crossing the Wanapitei River in Wanup collapsed, causing a train derailment.^[3]

On May 12, 2015, the highway was temporarily blocked to traffic by a rockfall.^[4]

Major intersections

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 537. The entirety of the highway is located within Greater Sudbury.^[5]

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