King's Highway 135, commonly referred to as Highway 135, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario on the southern edge of London, following Exeter Road, which it is better known as. This short highway was an important connector link during the construction of Highway 401. The road's main purpose was to link Highway 401 in London with Highway 2 in Lambeth, at a time when the London-area section of Highway 401 was only completed to the interchange with Highway 4. Highway 135 was designated in 1957, alongside the newly opened section of Highway 401 between London and Woodstock. It remained in place as the freeway network grew around it. With the completion of Highway 402 to Sarnia in 1982, Highway 135 no longer served as a long-distance route. As a result, it was decommissioned in 1995, and is now known as Exeter Road.
Highway 135 was a short route that travelled along today's Exeter Road on the south side of London. At its western terminus, the highway began at an intersection with Highway 2 and Highway 4 near Lambeth. From there the route travelled east towards Wellington Road, passing White Oaks Road midway. At Wellington Road, the route turned south to meet Highway 401 at Exit 186.
History
The road was first designated as Highway 135 in 1957, and was just 6.6 kilometers in length. While Highway 401 continued west of Highway 135's interchange to Highway 4, it was suited for drivers that wished to head towards Windsor along the less-popular Highway 3, as Highway 2 was still the main trans-provincial highway at the time, and was quite busy. The usefulness of Highway 135 as a shortcut to Windsor had dwindled dramatically in 1964, when Highway 401 was completed from Tilbury to Highway 4 as a grade-separated Super two Freeway, finally linking Windsor to London and Toronto. This rendered travelling along Highway 2 to be obsolete, as Highway 401 was straight, did not have stoplights and towns to slow down travellers. The road was still a provincially significant highway, despite its short length, as it allowed motorists headed to and from Sarnia to travel to Highway 401, by using Highway 135, to Highways 4/2, then Highway 81, to Highway 7 to Sarnia, as Highway 402 was only completed in the Sarnia area. During the 1970s, Highway 402 would be extended in stages towards Strathroy and London. When Highway 402 was completed in 1983, Highway 135's significance was greatly reduced. The road was little more than a shortcut to Highway 4 and the western end of London by the end of the 1980s, and it was formally decommissioned in 1995 by the Ministry of Transportation, thus ending its career as a provincial Kings Highway. Today, the road is simply known as Exeter Road.
