As part of a series of budget cuts initiated by premier Mike Harris under his Common Sense Revolution platform in 1995, numerous highways deemed to no longer be of significance to the provincial network were decommissioned and responsibility for the routes transferred to a lower level of government, a process referred to as downloading. The section of Highway 93 parallel to Highway 400 was determined to be redundant and was consequently downloaded to Simcoe County on April 1, 1997. The section north of Highway 12 into Penetanguishene primarily served local traffic and was downloaded on the same day.