a circuitous routing via Highway11 to North Bay, and thence along Highway17 to Sudbury and beyond to Sault Ste. Marie. In 1956, Highway69 was extended north of Sudbury to Capreol, bringing its length to . The year 1976 saw big changes for Highway69. The portion of highway south of MacTier was shifted onto the routing of former Highway103, completely absorbing that roadway into its length. The former routing was renamed Highway169. It was at this time that Highway69 was at its longest, from Highway12 and Highway400 at Waubaushene north to Sudbury. Until the mid-1970s, Highway69 continued through Sudbury along Regent Street, Paris Street and Notre Dame Avenue, and into the suburban towns of Valley East and Capreol. At some point between 1974 and 1977, it was truncated at Hanmer. By 1980, the northern terminus had shifted to the Southwest Bypass. While this route is no longer part of the provincial highway, and is officially designated as a series of Sudbury Municipal Roads, it is still often referred to locally as "Highway69 North". Four-laning Although planning for an eventual four-lane highway started in 1969, the commitment to expand Highway69 to a full freeway was first made in 1991 by the New Democrat government of Bob Rae. That year construction began on the southbound structures over Matchedash Bay and the Canadian National Railway crossing north of Highway12. Both were complete by the end of 1990. During 1991, construction began on the interchanges at Quarry Road and Port Severn Road, new service roads between those interchanges and the southbound structure over the Trent–Severn Waterway. In 1988, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario completed a study of the Highway69 corridor between Muskoka Road5 in Port Severn and Tower Road southwest of MacTier, a distance of approximately . This work was carried out through the 1990s as one large project, reaching as far as south of Go Home Lake Road (Muskoka District Roads32/38) by mid-to-late 1997. It was extended farther to south of the Musquash River in October 1999. The Highway400 designation was moved north, and Highway69 equally shortened, after each project. Engineering was underway on the first south of Sudbury. However, that project was shelved by the Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Mike Harris shortly after the 1995 provincial election. Despite this, construction of the segment from Highway 141 to the Seguin River, proceeded in November 1999, and the MacTier bypass south of Highway141