Highway 526 is a short route which provides access from the community of Britt to Highway 69. West of the community, the road is known as Riverside Drive.[3] The route is lightly travelled, used by an average of 580 vehicles per day in 2007. It intersects Highway 69 three-fifths of the distance between Parry Sound and Sudbury.[1]
The highway begins in the community of Britt, which was established at the head of Byng Inlet, the delta of the Magnetawan River as it flows into Georgian Bay. From the post office in the centre of the community, overlooking the inlet, the highway veers inland and travels northeast, paralleling the Still River. The river flows along the south side of the highway for most of its length; the occasional residence breaks the forests on the north side of the road. At Highway 69, the route passes beneath a concrete arch bridge and curves north. It intersects Highway 69 shortly thereafter.[3]
History
Highway 526 was first assumed by the Department of Highways in early 1956, along with several dozen other secondary highways, but was likely maintained as a development road prior to that.[2][4]
The route has not changed since that time.[3]
Future
The eastern terminus of Highway 526 is slated to be bypassed as Highway 400 is extended northwards from Nobel to Sudbury. The new freeway will lie nearly a kilometre east of the current alignment of Highway 69, and will feature interchanges 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the north near Still River, and 6 kilometres to the south at Highway 529.[5][6]
Major intersections
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 526. The entirety of the route is located within Parry Sound District.[3]
^"Ontario Secondary Roads Now Designated 500, 600". Vol. 112, no. 33, 119. The Globe and Mail. February 4, 1956. p. 4. Two new Ontario road numbers appear on the province's 1956 official road map which will be ready for distribution next week. The new numbers are the 500 and 600 series and designate hundreds of miles of secondary roads which are wholly maintained by the Highways Department. More than 100 secondary roads will have their own numbers and signs this year. All of these secondary roads were taken into the province's main highways system because they form important connecting links with the King's Highways