Provincial highways
There are many classes of roads in Ontario , Canada, including provincial highways (which is further broken down into the King's Highways, the 400-series, Secondary Highways, Tertiary Highways, and the 7000-series), county (or regional) roads, and local municipal routes.
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Roads in Markham | ||
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| Highways and Expressways: | ||
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Major roads, highways and streets in Toronto | |||||||||
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The Trans-Canada Highway is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast. The main route spans 7,476 km (4,645 mi) across the country, one of the longest routes of its type in the world. The highway system is recognizable by its distinctive white-on-green maple leaf route markers, although there are small variations in the markers in some provinces.
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.
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 highways 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.
Numbered highways in Canada are split by province, and a majority are maintained by their province or territory transportation department. With few exceptions, all highways in Canada are numbered. Nonetheless, every province has a number of highways that are better known locally by their name rather than their number. Some highways have additional letters added to their number: A is typically an alternate route, B is typically a business route, and other letters are used for bypass (truck) routes, connector routes, scenic routes, and spur routes. The territory of Nunavut has no highways.
The Ontario 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 405, also known as Highway 405 and the General Brock Parkway, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) near St. Catharines with the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge in the village of Queenston. It then crosses the Niagara River, where it encounters the international border with the United States and continues into New York as Interstate 190 (I-190).
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.
A county highway is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can be determined by each county alone, by mutual agreement among counties, or by a statewide pattern.
King's Highway 20, commonly referred to as Highway 20, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Presently, it is a short 1.9 km (1.2 mi) stub between Highway 58 and Niagara Regional Road 70 in the City of Thorold, but until 1997 it connected Hamilton to Niagara Falls, serving several towns atop the Niagara Escarpment en route.
King's Highway 62, commonly referred to as Highway 62, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway travels south–north from Highway 33 at Bloomfield in Prince Edward County, through Belleville, Madoc and Bancroft, to Maynooth, where it ends at a junction with Highway 127. Prior to 1997, the route continued north and east of Maynooth through Combermere, Barry's Bay, Killaloe, Round Lake and Bonnechere to Highway 17 in Pembroke. This section of highway was redesignated Hastings Highlands Municipal Road 62, Renfrew County Road 62, and Renfrew County Road 58.
King's Highway 77, commonly referred to as Highway 77, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. One of three highways within Essex County, Highway 77 serves to interconnect Highway 3 near Leamington with Highway 401 near Tilbury. Prior to 1998, the highway extended south into Leamington, ending at the former routing of Highway 3 and Highway 18. This section was turned over to Essex County and renamed Erie Street. The speed limit on Highway 77 is 80 km/h (50 mph) in most places, dropping to 50 km/h in built-up areas. It is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police.
King's Highway 15, commonly referred to as Highway 15, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It travels north from an interchange with Highway 401 in Kingston to Highway 7 in Carleton Place, a distance of 114.7 kilometres (71.3 mi). In addition to Kingston and Carleton Place, the highway provides access to the Eastern Ontario communities of Joyceville, Seeley's Bay, Morton, Elgin, Crosby, Portland, Lombardy and Franktown. Prior to 1998, Highway 15 continued north from Carleton Place, passed Almonte and through Pakenham, to Highway 17 in Arnprior.
King's Highway 41, commonly referred to as Highway 41, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 159.6-kilometre (99.2 mi) highway travels in a predominantly north–south direction across eastern Ontario, from Highway 7 in Kaladar to Highway 148 in Pembroke. The majority of this distance crosses through a rugged forested region known as Mazinaw Country. However, the route enters the agricultural Ottawa Valley near Dacre. A significant portion of Highway 41 follows the historic Addington Colonization Road, built in 1854.
There are many classes of roads in Canada. The only inter-provincial systems are the Trans-Canada Highway and National Highway System.
The réseau routier québécois is managed by the Quebec Ministry of Transportation and consists of about 185,000 kilometres (115,000 mi) of highways and roads. In addition, Quebec has almost 12,000 bridges, tunnels, retaining walls, culverts, and other structures such as the Quebec Bridge, the Pierre Laporte Bridge, the Laviolette Bridge and the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel.
