Highway 402 (Ontario)

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Highway 402
Length:	102.5 km (64 miles)
Formed:	1952
Direction:	East/West
From:	I-69/94/Blue Water Bridge at the Canada/USA border in Point Edward
To:	Highway 401 in London
Major cities:	Sarnia, London

Highway 402 is a 400-Series Highway in southwestern Ontario, Canada that runs 103 km (64 miles) from the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward (a village surrounded by Sarnia) to Highway 401 in London. It is one of two vital links for trade between Ontario and the midwestern United States and is generally not as congested as other Canada-United States routes. Highway 402 is a four-lane controlled access freeway for nearly the entire length, except on the approach to the Blue Water Bridge where it widens out. The only sizable community between Sarnia and London is Strathroy.

Highway 402 was one of the original 400-series highways (the other being the QEW, Highway 400, and Highway 401). Highway 402 was formerly known as the Blue Water Bridge Approach and it was a short freeway that offered direct access to the bridge, bypassing the existing Highway 7 in Sarnia. Highway 402 terminated at the interchange with Highway 40 and travelers continued onwards to London on Highway 7.

Due to increased volumes of traffic on Highway 7, the rest of Highway 402 was constructed to link up with 401 just outside of London, which substantially increased the highway's length. East of the Murphy Road overpass, Highway 402 was re-aligned to bypass the old junction with Highway 40; Exmouth Street was redirected to connect with Highway 7 at that junction, incorporating the bypassed alignment of old Highway 402. For the new Highway 402, a new overpass crossing was required with the then-CNR line (after the tracks were removed, it was renamed the Howard Watson Nature Trail) and a Parclo B4 interchange (very rare in Ontario) was constructed with the newly twinned Highway 40 just north of the existing interchange. The completion of the interchange with Front Street in 1982 (a Parclo AB, with the EB exit to Front Street also having a connector to Venetian Boulevard) removed the last at-grade intersection on Highway 402, making it a complete freeway from Highway 401 to the Blue Water Bridge.

However, the roadbed design had underestimated the volume of truck traffic and Highway 402 has required extensive reconstruction in the mid-late 1990s, with traffic shifted onto one half of the highway so that the other could be rebuilt. Also, the wooden truss signs were replaced with those with metal supports; many of the intersecting roads are now designated with specific names instead of their regional numbers (Exit 15, or Mandaumin Road was previously signed as Lambton Road 26 in the 1970s and 80s). In 1997, the Blue Water Bridge was twinned and sound barriers were added to the stretch between Christina Street and Modeland Road. Highway 7, the other existing provincial route between Sarnia and London was downloading to local authorities as London Line 22 around that time. Just outside London, new interchange ramps were added to the existing Wonderland Road overpass in 1998. In 2004, due to lineups leading to the bridge crossing, the speed limit was lowered to 70 km/h (45 mph) west of Airport Road.

The Blue Water Bridge crossing has 6 lanes of bridge traffic as well as non-stop freeway access, giving it an advantage over the busy Ambassador Bridge crossing at Windsor-Detroit which also suffers from 13 traffic lights leading up to the bridge. In addition, Highway 402 as a whole is built to higher safety standards and less congested that Highway 401. Across the Blue Water Bridge, Highway 402 continues in Michigan as Interstates 69 and 94 and along with Highway 401 and Interstate 75, these freeways form part of the NAFTA Superhighway.

Highway 402 has Parclo A2 and B2 interchanges exclusively for its rural length, as well as a wide grass median. Within the City of Sarnia, any entry ramps to westbound 402 are signed as Bridge to the USA instead of Highway 402, since the freeway is rarely used as an urban commuter route. Truck lineups heading west towards the bridge have often stretched as far as the Oil Heritage Road (Exit 25).

Plans are underway to widen Highway 402 to six lanes within Sarnia in 2008. Due to extensive truck backups from the bridge crossing towards the USA, the westbound lanes will be widened by two lanes; eastbound capacity will remain as it is. The new four lane roadway will be divided into specific lanes for cars, trucks (two lanes), and local traffic.

[edit] Volume Information (2005)

• Highest Volume: 25,100 AADT from Indian Road (Exit 3) to Highway 40 (Exit 6)
• Lowest Volume: 15,300 AADT from the Blue Water Bridge to Front Street (Exit 1)

[edit] Interchanges from East to West

Municipality	#	Intersecting Road(s)	Notes
Continues as Interstate 69 and Interstate 94 in Michigan
Point Edward	0*	Blue Water Bridge
	1	Front Street
Sarnia	2	Christina Street	No eastbound exit
	3	Indian Road (Lambton Road 29)
	6	Modeland Road ( Highway 40)
	9	Airport Road
Plympton-Wyoming	15	Mandaumin Road (Lambton Road 26)
	25	Oil Heritage Road (Lambton Roads 30 and 21 South, formerly Highway 21)	Begin multiplex with 21 (legally signed although redundant)
Warwick	34	Highway 21/Forest Road (Lambton Road 8)	End multiplex with 21
	44	Nauvoo Road (Lambton Road 79)
Adelaide-Metcalfe	56	Kerwood Road (Middlesex Road 6)
	65	Centre Road (Middlesex Road 81, formerly Highway 81) (Strathroy)
Strathroy-Caradoc	69	Hickory Drive (Middlesex Road 39) (Strathroy)
	82	Glendon Drive (Middlesex Road 14) (Mount Brydges)
	86	Longwoods Road (Middlesex Road 2, formerly Highway 2)
London	98	Colonel Talbot Road ( Highway 4) (Lambeth)
	100	Wonderland Road	Interchange ramps added in 1998 to existing overpass.
	103*	Highway 401 East	Same-direction interchanges only.

*Exit number not posted, based on kilometre post

	400-series highways of Ontario
400 | 401 | 402 | 403 | 404 | 405 | 406 | 407 ETR | 409 | 410 | 416 | 417 | 420 | 427 | QEW
Proposed: 424
Ontario Provincial Highways | List of Ontario expressways