on april 1, 1997, the ministry of transportation of ontario (mto) transferred the responsibility of maintenance and upkeep along of highway 17 east of "the split" with highway 417 to trim road (regional road 57), a process commonly referred to as "downloading". the region of ottawa–carleton designated the road as regional road 174. despite the protests of the region that the route served a provincial purpose, a second round of transfers saw highway 17 within ottawa downloaded entirely on january 1, 1998. an additional was added to the length of regional road 174.