400-series highways | |
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Highway markers for Highway 403, the Queen Elizabeth Way, and both the privately-maintained and provincial types for Highway 407 | |
![]() The current 400-series Highway network in Southern Ontario | |
System information | |
Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) | |
Length | 1,997.3 km [1] (1,241.1 mi) |
Formed | July 1, 1952 |
Highway names | |
Provincial | Ontario Highway 4XX |
System links | |
The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways in the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the Autoroute system of neighbouring Quebec, and are regulated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). The 400-series designations were introduced in 1952, although Ontario had been constructing divided highways for two decades prior. Initially, only Highways 400, 401 and 402 were numbered; other designations followed in the subsequent decades. To this day, not all controlled-access highway in Ontario are a part of the 400-series highway network. The network is situated almost entirely in Southern Ontario, although Highway 400 extends into the more remote northern portion of the province.
Modern 400-series highways have high design standards, speed limits of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), with a 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph) limit on select stretches, and various collision avoidance and traffic management systems. The design of 400-series highways has set the precedent for a number of innovations used throughout North America, including the parclo interchange and a modified Jersey barrier design known as the Ontario Tall Wall. As a result, they currently experience one of the lowest accident and fatality rates comparative to traffic volume in North America.
When the 400-series designations were first applied to Ontario freeways in 1952, [2] several divided highways had already been opened in Southern Ontario. [3] Originally inspired by German Autobahns, Minister of Highways Thomas McQuesten planned a network of "Dual Highways" across the southern half of the province during the 1930s. [4] [5] The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) was first, an upgrade to the partially constructed Middle Road in 1934. [6] McQuesten also sought out the economic opportunities that came with linking Toronto to Detroit and New York state by divided roadways with interchanges at major crossroads. Although he no longer served as Minister of Highways by the onset of World War II, his ambitious plans would come to fruition in the following decades as Highways 400, 401, 402, 403 (between Woodstock and Hamilton), and 405. [7]
The construction boom following the war resulted in many new freeway construction projects in the province. The Toronto–Barrie Highway (Highway 400), Trans-Provincial Highway (Highway 401), [8] a short expansion of Highway 7 approaching the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia (Highway 402), [9] and an expansion of Highway 27 (eventually designated as Highway 427 by the mid-1970s) into part of the Toronto Bypass were all underway or completed by the early 1950s. [8] Seeking a way to distinguish the controlled-access freeways from the existing two-lane King's Highways, the Department of Highways created the 400-series designations in 1952. By the end of the year, Highway 400, 401, and 402 were numbered, although they were only short stubs of their current lengths. [2] Highway 401 was assembled across the province in a patchwork fashion, [8] becoming fully navigable between Windsor and the Quebec border on November 10, 1964; [10] Highway 400 was extended north to Coldwater on Christmas Eve 1959; [11] Highway 402 was extended to London between 1972 and 1982. [12] [13]
In addition to this network backbone, plans for additional 400-series highways were initiated by the late 1950s, comprising the Chedoke Expressway (Highway 403) through Hamilton; [14] the Don Valley Parkway Extension (Highway 404) northward from the soon-to-be constructed Toronto expressway; [15] Highway 405 to connect with the American border near St. Catharines; [16] Highway 406 south from St. Catharines to Welland; [17] Highway 407 encircling the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), though not built for another 40 years; [18] Highway 409 to connect Highway 401 with Toronto International Airport; [19] and The Queensway (Highway 417) through Ottawa. [20] The first sections of these freeways were opened in 1963, [21] 1977, [22] 1963, [21] 1965, [23] 1997, [24] 1974, [25] and 1960, [26] respectively.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, additional freeways were planned or built, including Highway 427 in Toronto, [27] Highway 403 through Mississauga, [28] Highway 410 north to Brampton and Highway 416 to connect Highways 401 and 417. [29] [30] Highway 420 was designated in Niagara Falls, [2] [31] though it had been built as part of the QEW in 1941. [32] Other major works included the skyway bridges along the QEW and the expansion of Highway 401 through most of Toronto into twelve-lane collector–express systems. [8] [33] [34]
By the mid-1980s, the network had more-or-less taken its current shape, with only Highways 407, 412, 416 and 418 yet to be built. [35] [36] Instead, emphasis was placed on expanding existing routes to accommodate increasing traffic volumes. [18] However, extensions of Highway 400 towards Parry Sound, [37] Highway 403 between Woodstock and Hamilton, [38] Highway 404 towards Newmarket, [39] and Highway 427 towards Vaughan were underway. [40] By the end of the decade, construction of Highway 407 and Highway 416 had begun, [18] [41] and Highway 410 was expanded from two to four lanes. [42]
Highways 407 and 416 opened in the late 1990s. [24] [43] Until early 2015, Highways 407 and 416 were the most-recently designated (and constructed) freeways in Ontario. This has changed with the construction of Highways 412 and 418. In addition to these new additions to the 400-series network, several extensions of existing freeways have been built or are underway, [36] including Highway 410 north of Brampton in 2009, [44] Highway 400 to north of Parry Sound in 2010, [45] Highway 417 to Arnprior in 2012, [46] Highway 404 to Keswick in 2014, [47] Highway 401 through Windsor in 2015, [48] and four-laning Highway 406 to Welland in late 2015. [49]
The 400-series highways always have a minimum 4 lane cross-section with grade separation at all junctions. Interchanges tend to be spaced at least 1.5 kilometres apart in urban areas unless there are basket weave ramps or collector lanes to facilitated shorter merge distances. In rural areas, interchanges tend to be spaced at least 3 kilometres apart, although exceptions exist. When the cross-section of highway is larger than 10 lanes, the road is usually arranged into a local–express lane system, which exist on sections of Highways 400, 401, 403, 404 and 427. On all but a few interchanges in the whole system, ramps merge freely on the highway except if there are ramp meters in use, and stop or yield controlled ramps are rare. An interchange with stop-controlled ramps onto Highway 400 at Canal Road is currently scheduled for replacement.
While older freeways have some lapses in safety features, contemporary 400-series highways have design speeds of 130 km/h (81 mph), speed limits ranging from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 110 km/h (68 mph), various collision avoidance and traffic management systems, and several design standards adopted throughout North America. [50] Of note are the Ontario Tall Wall median barrier and the Parclo A-4 interchange design, the latter which became standard in the design for the widening of Highway 401 through Toronto in 1962. The Institute of Traffic Engineers subsequently recommended this design to replace the cloverleaf interchange throughout North America. [51] [52] Ontario highways rank fourth in North America for fatality rates, with 0.61 fatalities per 10,000 licensed drivers in 2017. However, this also includes two-lane provincial highways. [53] On May 1, 2019, the government of Ontario was looking towards raising the speed limits of the 400-series highways up to 120 km/h (75 mph). Jeff Yurek had stated that "The 400-series highways were built for, I believe, a speed limit of 120 km/h safely." [54] A 110 km/h (68 mph) trial was set up on three stretches of highways on September 26, 2019, to test the viability of increasing speed limits. [55] The three trialed sections along with three more sections were permanently changed to the higher speed limit on April 22, 2022, and two more sections were trialed. [56] The two trialed sections were made permanent along with 10 more sections on July 12, 2024. [57] [58]
Conforming with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices , Ontario utilizes green signs for guidance purposes, including distances to nearby interchanges and destinations. [59] Generally, blue signage is used to list services and attractions at upcoming exits, known as Tourism-Oriented Directional Signing. [60] However, several exceptions exist, notably blue guidance signage for toll highways such as Highway 407, in addition to the collector lanes of highways. [59] The baseline standard for the construction of or expansion to a freeway in Ontario is an average daily traffic count of 10,000 vehicles per day. However, other factors are considered as well, particularly future traffic volume forecasts. To promote economic development in a disadvantaged region (e.g., the current extension of Highway 400 to Northern Ontario), a 400-series highway may be built where the existing highway's traffic counts fall below 10,000. [61]
The MTO plans and finances the construction and maintenance of the King's Highway system, which includes the 400-series network. [62] The system includes 1,971.8 kilometres (1,225.2 mi) of freeways. Highway 401 is the longest freeway at 828.0 kilometres (514.5 mi), in addition to being the widest and busiest road in Canada. Highway 420 is the shortest of the routes at 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi). [1]
There are four examples of 400 series standard highways in Ontario that are not signed as such. The Gardiner Expressway between Highway 427 and Parklawn Road was originally built as a section of QEW (Hwy 451) and therefore is built to 400-series standards but lost its QEW designation after being downloaded to the City of Toronto. The section of Highway 7 between the town of Carleton Place and its junction with Highway 417 is also built to 400-series standards, but a 400-series designation has yet to be applied. Highway 69 between Sudbury and Key River is built to 400-series standards in anticipation of it becoming part of Highway 400 once the 70-kilometre (43 mi) gap between the two freeways is filled. Highway 115 north of Highway 35/Highway115 concurrency and Peterborough is also built to 400-series standards, however a 400-series designation has yet to be applied. Most other freeways and expressways in Ontario that lack a 400-series designation have lower construction standards, lower design speeds and lower speed limits.
The MTO began planning for the use of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes with the HOV Opportunities Study, contracted to McCormick Rankin in 2001. This led to the test trial of three HOV lanes in the GTA in December 2005: southbound Highway 404 between Highway 7 and Highway 401, with a dedicated HOV ramp built to connect with westbound Highway 401, and Highway 403 in both directions between Highway 407 and Highway 401 in Mississauga. [63] Since then, HOV lanes have been opened on several 400-series freeways around the Golden Horseshoe and National Capital Region. In May 2007, the MTO introduced a multibillion-dollar Horseshoe Network Project, which included plans to incorporate HOV lanes into numerous 400-series highways. [64]
By then, work was already advanced on several projects, including the northbound HOV lane on Highway 404 (that opened on July 23, 2007) and an HOV lane along both directions of Highway 403 between Highway 407 and Highway 401. A third pair of HOV lanes has since been introduced to the QEW/403 through Oakville, and a fourth individual HOV lane travels eastbound on Highway 417 from just west of Eagleson Road in Ottawa to just east of Moodie Drive. [64]
More than 450 kilometres (280 mi) of HOV lanes are currently proposed for construction by 2031. Future plans include extending existing HOV lanes and introducing them to other 400-series freeways. [65] as of October 2014 [update] , two projects have been confirmed: Highway 410 between Highway 401 and Queen Street in Brampton, and Highway 427 between Highway 409 and Highway 7. The MTO has stated that HOV lanes will only be introduced through new construction and that no general-purpose lanes will be converted. The general goals of the project are to help increase highway efficiency (an HOV lane is claimed by the Ontario government to have the ability to move as many people as four general-purpose lanes), [65] reduce congestion, conserve energy and help protect the environment. [66]
During the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games held in Toronto, several HOV lanes had their minimum requirements increased from two passengers to three, and some highways had their general-purpose lanes temporarily converted to HOV lanes to accommodate increased traffic. These temporary restrictions lasted from June 29 to August 18. [67]
2021 saw several new HOV lanes opened. The southbound HOV lane on Highway 400 between King Road and Major Mackenzie Drive was opened on September 11, 2021; while the northbound lane opened two months later on November 11. The Highway 427 extension, which opened on September 18, included an HOV lane north of Finch Avenue. [68] [69] [70] [71]
The following table lists planned expansions to the HOV network by 2031. [65] [72]
Highway | Starting location | Terminating location | General location | Status |
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400 | King Road | Lloydtown-Aurora Road | Region of York | Lane construction underway |
404 | Highway 7 | Stouffville Road | Region of York | Lane and bridge construction underway |
Highway | Starting location | Terminating location | General location |
---|---|---|---|
400 | Langstaff Road | Major Mackenzie Drive | Regional Municipality of York |
400 | Lloydtown-Aurora Road | Highway 88/Bradford West Gwillimbury | Region of York and Simcoe County |
401 | Regional Road 25 | Halton-Wellington Boundary | Regional Municipality of Halton |
404 | Stouffville Road | Ravenshoe Road | Region of York |
QEW | Red Hill Valley Parkway | Highway 406 | Hamilton and Region of Niagara |
QEW | 407/403 | Guelph Line | Burlington |
QEW | Trafalgar Road | Winston Churchill Boulevard | Oakville and Mississauga |
Highway | Type | Length (km) | Length (mi) | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Status | Proposed Opening Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Highway 400 | Extension [73] | ~138 | ~86 | Regional Road 559 near Parry Sound | Highway 17 in Sudbury | Partially Open / Under Construction | Late 2020s | Completed sections numbered as Highway 69 |
Highway 401 | Extension [74] | ~3 | ~2 | I-75 in Detroit | Ojibway Parkway in Windsor | Under Construction | 2025 | Part of Gordie Howe International Bridge Project |
Highway 404 | Extension [75] | ~31 | ~19 | Regional Road 8 in Keswick | Highway 12 north of Sunderland | Proposed | Late 2020s | |
Highway 410 | Extension [76] | ~3 | ~2 | Highway 10 in Brampton | Future Highway 413 north of Brampton | Funded | Late 2020s | Part of the Highway 413 project |
Highway 413 | New Route [76] | ~52 | ~32 | Highway 401 and Highway 407 in NW Mississauga | Highway 400 north of Vaughan | Funded | Late 2020s | |
Highway 417 | Extension [77] | ~16 | ~10 | Highway 60 in Renfrew | Campbell Drive west of Arnprior | Proposed | Late 2020s | |
Highway 427 | Extension [76] | ~2 | ~2 | Regional Road 49 south of Bolton | Future Highway 413 South of Bolton | Funded | Late 2020s | Part of the Highway 413 project |
"Bradford Bypass" | New Route [78] | ~16 | ~10 | Highway 400 near Bradford | Highway 404 south of Keswick. | Funded | Late 2020s | Intended to be a 400 series standard highway, designation is unclear. Construction began at the Yonge Street interchange in November 2022 |
Number | Length (km) | Length (mi) | Southern or western terminus | Northern or eastern terminus | Local names | Formed | Removed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 226.0 | 140.4 | Maple Leaf Drive in Toronto (continues as Black Creek Drive) | Highway 69 in Carling | Toronto–Barrie Highway | [79] | 1952current | Scheduled for extension to Sudbury. [79] |
![]() | 828.0 | 514.5 | Ojibway Parkway in Windsor | A-20 towards Montreal, QC | Macdonald–Cartier Freeway, Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway, Highway of Heroes | [79] | 1952current | Busiest highway in North America. [80] Scheduled for extension to American border following completion of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. |
![]() | 102.5 | 63.7 | I-69 / I-94 at Canada–United States border on Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward | Highway 401 in London | [9] | 1953current | ||
![]() | 125.2 | 77.8 | Highway 401 near Woodstock | Highway 401 / Highway 410 in Mississauga | Chedoke Expressway, Alexander Graham Bell Parkway | [21] | 1963current | |
![]() | 50.1 | 31.1 | Highway 401 / DVP in Toronto | Regional Road 8 (Woodbine Avenue) in East Gwillimbury | [22] | 1977current | ||
![]() | 8.7 | 5.4 | Queen Elizabeth Way – St. Catharines | I-190 at Canada–United States border on Queenston-Lewiston Bridge towards Lewiston, NY | General Brock Parkway | [21] | 1963current | |
![]() | 26.0 | 16.2 | East Main Street in Welland | Queen Elizabeth Way in St. Catharines | [23] | 1965current | ||
![]() ![]() | 151.4 | 94.1 | Highway 403 / Queen Elizabeth Way in Burlington | Highway 35 / Highway 115 in Clarington | [81] | 1997current | Tollway divided into two sections; Highway 407E and 407 ETR, with the latter privately operated [82] | |
![]() | 5.6 | 3.5 | Pearson Airport in Mississauga | Highway 401 in Toronto | Belfield Expressway | [83] | 1978current | |
![]() | 20.3 | 12.6 | Highway 401 / Highway 403 in Mississauga | Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) in Caledon | [84] | 1978current | ||
![]() | 10.0 | 6.2 | Highway 401 in Whitby | Highway 407 in Whitby | West Durham Link | [85] | 2016current | Route number assigned February 5, 2015 [86] tolls removed, effective April 5, 2022 [87] |
![]() | 76.4 | 47.5 | Highway 401 towards Brockville | Highway 417 in Ottawa | Veterans Memorial Highway | [43] | 1999current | |
![]() | 192.0 | 119.3 | Highway 17 in Arnprior | A-40 (TCH) towards Montreal, QC | Queensway, Trans-Canada Highway | [26] | 1971current | Unlike most freeways, kilometre posts are numbered east to west. |
![]() | 12.8 | 8.0 | Highway 401 in Clarington | Highway 407 in Clarington | East Durham Link | [88] | 2019current | Route number assigned February 5, 2015. [86] tolls removed, effective April 5, 2022 [87] |
![]() | 3.3 | 2.1 | Regional Road 98 (Montrose Road) | US 62 at Canada–United States border on Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls | Niagara Veterans Memorial Highway | [89] | 1941current | |
![]() | 27 | 17 | Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway in Toronto | Regional Road 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive) in Vaughan | [27] | 1971current | 6.6 km (4.1 mi) extension to Regional Road 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive) opened September 18, 2021 | |
![]() | 139.1 | 86.4 | I-190 at Canada–United States border on Peace Bridge in Fort Erie | Highway 427/Gardiner Expressway in Toronto | [90] | 1937current | Internally referred to as Highway 451 in the Ontario Ministry of Transportation | |
King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stretches 828 kilometres (514 mi) from Windsor in the west to the Ontario–Quebec border in the east. The part of Highway 401 that passes through Toronto is North America's busiest highway, and one of the widest. Together with Quebec Autoroute 20, it forms the road transportation backbone of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, along which over half of Canada's population resides. It is also a Core Route in the National Highway System of Canada. The route is maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police. The speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) throughout the majority of its length, with the remaining exceptions being the posted 80 km/h (50 mph) limit westbound in Windsor, in most construction zones, and the 110 km/h (68 mph) speed limit on the 40 km (25 mi) stretch between Windsor and Tilbury that was raised on April 22, 2022, the 7 km (4.3 mi) extension east of the aforementioned, the 35 km (22 mi) stretch between Highway 35 / 115 and Cobourg, the 44 km (27 mi) stretch between Colborne and Belleville, the 66 km (41 mi) stretch between Belleville and Kingston, and the 107 km (66 mi) stretch between Highway 16 and the east end of the highway that were raised on July 12, 2024.
King's Highway 407, commonly referred to as Highway 407 and colloquially as the "four-oh-seven", is a tolled 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Comprising a privately leased segment as well as a publicly owned segment, the route spans the entire Greater Toronto Area (GTA) around the city of Toronto, travelling through the suburbs of Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa before ending in Clarington, north of Orono. At 151.4 km long, this is the fourth-longest freeway in Ontario's 400 series network, after Highways 417, 400, and 401. The segment between Burlington and Brougham in Pickering is leased to and operated by the 407 ETR Concession Company Limited and is officially known as the 407 Express Toll Route (407 ETR). It begins at the junction of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) and Highway 403 in Burlington, and travels 108.0 km (67.1 mi) across the GTA to Brock Road in Pickering. East of Brock Road, the tollway continues east as Highway 407, a toll route operated by the provincial government, for 43.4 km (27.0 mi) to Highway 35/115 in Clarington. The route interchanges with nine freeways: the QEW, Highway 403, Highway 401, Highway 410, Highway 427, Highway 400, Highway 404, Highway 412, and Highway 418. Highway 407 is an electronically operated toll highway; there are no toll booths along the length of the route. Distances are calculated automatically using transponders or automatic number-plate recognition, which are scanned at entrance and exit portals.
The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels 139.1 kilometres (86.4 mi) around the western end of Lake Ontario, ending at Highway 427 as the physical highway continues as the Gardiner Expressway into downtown Toronto. The QEW is one of Ontario's busiest highways, with an average of close to 250,000 vehicles per day on some sections.
The Provincial Highway Network consists of all the roads in Ontario maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), including those designated as part of the King's Highway, secondary highways, and tertiary roads. Components of the system—comprising 16,900 kilometres (10,500 mi) of roads and 2,880 bridges —range in scale from Highway 401, the busiest highway in North America, to unpaved forestry and mining access roads. The longest highway is nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) long, while the shortest is less than a kilometre. Some roads are unsigned highways, lacking signage to indicate their maintenance by the MTO; these may be remnants of highways that are still under provincial control whose designations were decommissioned, roadway segments left over from realignment projects, or proposed highway corridors.
King's Highway 115, commonly referred to as Highway 115, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects Peterborough with Toronto via Highway 401. The highway begins at a junction with Highway 401 southwest of Newcastle and ends at an at-grade intersection with Highway 7 east of Peterborough.
King's Highway 427, also known as Highway 427 and colloquially as the 427, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that runs from the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) and Gardiner Expressway in Toronto to Major Mackenzie Drive in Vaughan. It is Ontario's second busiest freeway by volume and the third busiest in North America, behind Highway 401 and Interstate 405 in California. Like Highway 401, a portion of the route is divided into a collector-express system with twelve to fourteen continuous lanes. Notable about Highway 427 are its several multi-level interchanges; the junctions with the QEW/Gardiner Expressway and Highway 401 are two of the largest interchanges in Ontario and were constructed between 1967 and 1971, while the interchanges with Highway 409 and Highway 407 were completed in 1992 and 1995, respectively.
King's Highway 409, commonly referred to as Highway 409 and historically as the Belfield Expressway, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that extends from Highway 401 in Toronto to Pearson International Airport, west of Highway 427, in Mississauga. It is a short freeway used mainly as a spur route for traffic travelling to the airport or Highway 427 northbound from Highway 401 westbound, as these route movements are not accommodated at the complex interchange between Highways 401 and 427.
King's Highway 404, also known as Highway 404 and colloquially as the 404, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. A continuation of the municipal Don Valley Parkway (DVP) north of Highway 401, it connects Toronto with East Gwillimbury. The 50.1-kilometre (31.1 mi) controlled-access freeway also connects with Highway 407 in Markham, which formed the northeastern ring road of the Greater Toronto Area until the opening of Highway 412 in 2016. Highway 404 provides access to the eastern edge of Richmond Hill, Aurora and Newmarket and the western edge of Whitchurch-Stouffville, in addition to the southern edge of Keswick.
King's Highway 417, commonly referred to as Highway 417 and as the Queensway through Ottawa, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It connects Ottawa with Montreal via A-40, and is the backbone of the highway system in the National Capital Region. Within Ottawa, it forms part of the Queensway west from Highway 7 to Ottawa Road 174. Highway 417 extends from the Quebec border, near Hawkesbury, to Arnprior, where it continues westward as Highway 17. Aside from the urban section through Ottawa, Highway 417 passes through farmland that dominates much of the fertile Ottawa Valley.
King's Highway 400, commonly referred to as Highway 400, historically as the Toronto–Barrie Highway, and colloquially as the 400, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking the city of Toronto in the urban and agricultural south of the province with the scenic and sparsely populated central and northern regions. The portion of the highway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe roughly traces the route of the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, a historic trail between the Lower and Upper Great Lakes. North of Highway 12, in combination with Highway 69, it forms a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH), the Georgian Bay Route, and is part of the highest-capacity route from southern Ontario to the Canadian West, via a connection with the mainline of the TCH in Sudbury. The highway also serves as the primary route from Toronto to southern Georgian Bay and Muskoka, areas collectively known as cottage country. The highway is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police and has a speed limit of 100 km/h (62 mph), except for the section south of Highway 401, where the speed limit is 80 km/h (50 mph) and the 60 km (37 mi) stretch between MacTier and Nobel, where the speed limit was raised to 110 km/h (68 mph) on April 22, 2022.
King's Highway 403, or simply Highway 403, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that travels between Woodstock and Mississauga, branching off from and reuniting with Highway 401 at both ends and travelling south of it through Hamilton and Mississauga. It is concurrent with the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) for 22 km (14 mi) from Burlington to Oakville. The Highway 403 designation was first applied in 1963 to a short stub of freeway branching off the QEW, and the entire route was completed on August 15, 1997, when the section from Brantford to the then-still independent Town of Ancaster was opened to traffic. The section of Highway 403 between Woodstock and Burlington was formally dedicated as the Alexander Graham Bell Parkway on April 27, 2016, in honour of Alexander Graham Bell.
King's Highway 410, also known as Highway 410 and colloquially as the four-ten, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects Highways 401 and 403 to Brampton. North of Brampton, the commuter freeway ends and the route becomes Highway 10, which continues north through Caledon as a four-lane undivided highway. The route is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police and has a speed limit of 100 km/h (62 mph).
King's Highway 402, commonly referred to as Highway 402 and historically as the Blue Water Bridge Approach, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects the Blue Water Bridge international crossing near Sarnia to Highway 401 in London. It is one of multiple trade links between Ontario and the Midwestern United States. It is four lanes for much of its length, though the approach to the Blue Water Bridge is six lanes.
King's Highway 406, commonly referred to as Highway 406, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The primary north–south route through the central portion of the Niagara Peninsula, Highway 406 connects Welland, Thorold and downtown St. Catharines to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW).
King's Highway 416, commonly referred to as Highway 416 and as the Veterans Memorial Highway, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects Highway 417 in Ottawa with Highway 401 between Brockville and Cornwall. The 76.4-kilometre-long (47.5 mi) freeway acts as an important trade corridor from Interstate 81 between New York and Eastern Ontario via Highway 401, as well as the fastest link between Ottawa and Toronto. Highway 416 passes through a largely rural area, except near its northern terminus where it enters the suburbs of Ottawa. The freeway also serves several communities along its length, notably Spencerville and Kemptville.
King's Highway 420, commonly referred to as Highway 420, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) with downtown Niagara Falls. It continues east as a limited-access expressway named Niagara Regional Road 420 to connect with the Rainbow Bridge international crossing between Canada and the United States over the Niagara River; this was part of Highway 420 until 1998. West of the QEW, the freeway ends at an at-grade intersection with Montrose Road. The highway has a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), making it the only 400-series highway to have a speed limit less than 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) for its entirety.
The cancelled expressways in Toronto were a planned series of expressways in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that were only partially built or cancelled due to public opposition. The system of expressways was intended to spur or handle growth in the suburbs of Toronto, but were opposed by citizens within the city of Toronto proper, citing the demolition of homes and park lands, air pollution, noise and the high cost of construction. The Spadina Expressway, planned since the 1940s, was cancelled in 1971 after being only partially constructed. After the Spadina cancellation, other expressway plans, intended to create a 'ring' around the central core, were abandoned.
King's Highway 27, commonly referred to as Highway 27, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario was once responsible for the length of the route, when it ran from Long Branch to Highway 93 in Waverley. Highway 27 followed a mostly straight route throughout its length, as it passed through the suburbs of Toronto, then north of Kleinburg the vast majority of the highway was surrounded by rural farmland. Today, only the southernmost 1.6 km (1 mi) from Highway 427 north to Mimico Creek is under provincial jurisdiction, the remainder of the route is maintained by the city of Toronto, York Region and Simcoe County.
King's Highway 418, or simply Highway 418, is a controlled-access highway and former tolled highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 400-series highway is 9.2 km (5.7 mi) long, travelling through the Regional Municipality of Durham to connect Highway 401 with the eastern extension of Highway 407. The freeway is located entirely within the Municipality of Clarington near Durham Regional Road 34.
...the freeway concept was promoted by Hamiltonian Thomas B. McQuesten, then the highway minister. The Queen Elizabeth Way was already under construction, but McQuesten changed it into a dual-lane divided highway, based on Germany's new autobahns.
The new, 22-mile extension from south of Crown Hill to Coldwater will be ready for traffic this afternoon.
The key high-volume highways in Ontario are the 400-series highways in the southern part of the province. The most important of these is the 401, the busiest highway in North America, with average annual daily traffic (AADT) of more than 425,000 vehicles in 2004 and daily traffic sometimes exceeding 500,000 vehicles.
Highway 409, a new shortcut to Toronto International Airport, opens next Friday
An eastern extension of Ontario Hwy. 407 and a new toll road to connect the lengthened highway to nearby Hwy. 401 opened Dec. 9 on the outskirts of Toronto.