Despite Lambton County designating County Road 22 along London Line between Highway 40 in Sarnia and the county boundary east of Wisbeach, Highway 22 never officially continued west of Watford, Ontario. Prior to provincial downloading in the 1990s, Highway 22 began at the Highway 7 and Highway 79 north of Watford, and progressed east towards Highway 4 in London. The first were located in Lambton County, and this segment is now known as Lambton County Road 22. East of the Lambton–Middlesex boundary, the route is now known as Middlesex County Road 22.
History
The highway was built in 1927 as a collector highway to go from Watford to London. In the early 1980s, due to the completion of Highway 402, the road became less popular, until, it was downloaded in 1998. Before the road was downloaded, it was in length. The highway was first called Provincial Highway 22, until it was renamed to King's Highway 22 in 1930. In 1947, the road was shortened by as a more direct road alignment had been found. The last gravel sections on the road were paved in 1952. In 1973, it was re-routed through London. The route of Highway 22 was gradually decommissioned and transferred to local/county jurisdiction throughout the 1990s. The London–Middlesex Act, passed December 10, 1992, expanded the municipal boundaries of the City of London effective January 1, 1993. The section of Highway 22 between Derwent Road and east of Denfield Road was consequently transferred to the City of London. As part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premier Mike Harris under his Common Sense Revolutionplatform, a significant portion of the Ontario highway network was transferred to local or regional jurisdiction. Ownership of the roadway was transferred to the counties and city that Highway 22 crossed: Lambton County, Middlesex County, and the City of London. On April 1, 1997, a section of Highway 22 between the Highway 7/79 junction south of Arkona and the Highway 81 junction north of Strathroy was transferred to Lambton and Middlesex counties. This was followed up several months later by the transfer of the remaining east of Highway 81 to the London boundary on January 1, 1998.
