REWIND: Highway 400 bridged a gap in Barrie

This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.

Highway 400 bridges

When ‘the 400’ opened in 1952, it forever changed the landscape of Barrie and how people traversed through and around the town.

The section of freeway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe loosely follows the Carrying Place Trail, a historic portage route that connected Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes.

Before Highway 400, there were two routes from Toronto to Barrie: Highway 11 and Highway 27. The advent of a divided, multi-lane highway to the numerous recreation areas near or beyond Barrie, as well as access to the natural resources of the north, was both a relief and a welcome transportation advancement.

Although the idea of a divided highway from Barrie to Toronto was not a new one, it wasn’t until after the Second World War that construction began. Finally, in the summer of 1952, all four lanes were open from Toronto to Highway 27 in Barrie.

Residents on and near Sunnidale Road had a front-row seat to watch as the new Highway 400 cut through woods and farmland, the construction happening right in their own neighbourhood. Similar work was going on not far away, on Bayfield Street.

Four bridges crossed this freeway, connecting pieces of the community severed by Highway 400: Dunlop Street, Anne Street, Sunnidale Road and Bayfield Street. (The St. Vincent Street bridge was not built until the 1960s.) Those edges of town would seem positively rural today, but even 50 years ago, as these incredible photos prove, the contrast between now and then is dramatic. Things to spot:

Dunlop Street bridge — Continental Inn, Hart Motors and several factories. Anne Street bridge — Wellington Street Plaza, the Tannery, Prince of Wales School, and Edgehill Drive. Sunnidale Road bridge — Shirley Avenue, Wellington Street, Royal Victoria Hospital, the Dunlop Street Arena, and tannery. Bayfield Street bridge — the Ontario Provincial Police station, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ponderosa Steakhouse, the Crock & Block restaurant, the A&P grocery store and the northern point of the Barrie Country Club (now Sunnidale Park).

If you lived in Barrie back in the day, have fun examining these images for places you recall — you might even spot your house. If you’re new to the area, enjoy exploring these aerial views of Barrie’s past.