Highway 28 was assigned in 1928, when the entirety of Highway 12A was renumbered. Highway 12A was one of the original provincial highways assumed in 1919 and 1920. The Port Hope – Peterborough Road was assumed by the
Department of Highways on August 11, 1920, extending from
Highway 2 (Walton Street) in
Port Hope to Highway 7 (George Street North) in downtown Peterborough. The route received the 12A numbering during the summer of 1925. During the mid-1930s, Highway 28 was extended as far north as
Apsley. This was accomplished by assuming existing
Peterborough County roads along the Otonabee River as far as Burleigh Falls, via Lakefield. North of there, the department assumed the
Burleigh Falls Road. Highway 28 was extended from Peterborough to Burleigh Falls on April 4, 1934. The Burleigh Falls Road was assumed to Apsley on August 11, 1937. During the 1936 fiscal year, preparations were made for the upcoming merger of the Department of Northern Development and Department of Highway, which occurred on April 1, 1937. The town of Bancroft was chosen as the location of the first operations centre for the new Central District of the department. Consequently, it was decided to extend Highway 28 to the town along the remainder of the Burleigh Falls Road. Plans to connect Ottawa with Bancroft arose in the mid-1950s. When the province designated Highway 132 in January 1956, they also announced plans for a new highway which would travel south from
Renfrew to
Calabogie, then turn west towards Denbigh and Bancroft. Ultimately, this road was never constructed, but new road links were established in the following years regardless. In early 1956, Highway 500 was established between
Kinmount and
Hermon following the
Monck Road. In 1963, a new road was constructed between
McArthur Mills and Denbigh through the
Madawaska Highlands, and opened as an extension of Highway 500 on July 1. During the early 1980s, Highway 500 was renumbered as an extension of Highway 28. This took place between 1980 and 1982. During the 1997 and 1998
mass downloading of highways, the southern of Highway 28 were transferred to the counties of Peterborough and
Northumberland, the town of Port Hope and Lakefield and the city of Peterborough. The section from Highway 115 north to Lakefield was decommissioned on April 1, 1997. On January 1, 1998, the southernmost section, between Highway 2 and Highway 115, was transferred. During the spring of 2003, the entirety of Highway 134 was redesignated as part of Highway 28, extending the southern terminus to Highway 7 east of Peterborough.
Highway 134 Highway 134 served as an alternate route to Highway 28 in Peterborough County. It was established in 1975, when a section of
Peterborough County Road 34 between Highway 7 and Highway 28 was upgraded, creating an eastern bypass around the City of Peterborough. In 1997, Highway 28 south of
Lakefield was downloaded, ending abruptly at the Highway 134 / intersection. This was rectified in 2003 when Highway 134 became part of Highway 28. == Major intersections ==