400-series highways

For the 400-series highways in British Columbia, see List of British Columbia provincial highways#Defunct route numbers.
400-series highways

Highway 403 shield Queen Elizabeth Way shield

Highway markers for Highway 403 and the Queen Elizabeth Way

The current 400-series Highway network in Southern Ontario
System information
Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO)
Length: 1,915.3 km[1] (1,190.1 mi)
Formed: July 1, 1952 (1952-07-01)
System links

The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of 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, but under provincial jurisdiction and regulated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). Although Ontario had been constructing divided highways for two decades prior to their designation, it wasn't until 1952 when these routes were given 400-series designations. Initially only Highways 400, 401 and 402 were numbered; other designations followed in the subsequent decades.

Modern 400-series highways have high design standards, speed limits of 100 kilometres per hour (60 mph), and various collision avoidance and traffic management systems. 400-series highway design 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 Ontario Tall Wall. As a result, they currently experience the lowest accident and fatality rate comparative to traffic volume in North America.

History

When the 400-series designations were first applied to Ontario freeways in 1952,[2] several existing routes were in place.[3] Originally inspired by German Autobahns, Thomas McQuesten planned a network of "Dual Highways" across the southern half of the province.[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 opportunity that came with linking Toronto to Detroit and New York 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 that followed World War II resulted in a great number of 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 into part of the Toronto Bypass were all underway or completed by the early 1950s.[8] Seeking a new way to distinguish the controlled-access freeways from the existing two lane King's Highway networks, the Department of Highways created the 400-series designations in 1952. By the end of the year, Highway 400, 401 and 402 were numbered, though 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 Quebec 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 Pearson 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 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 and 416 not yet 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, Highway 407 and 416 were the most-recently designated (and constructed) freeways in Ontario. This has changed with the designation 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 400 to north of Parry Sound in 2010,[44] Highway 404 to Keswick in 2014,[45] four-laning Highway 406 to Welland by 2015,[46] extending Highway 410 north of Brampton in 2009,[47] and Highway 417 to Arnprior in 2012.[48]

Design standards

While older freeways feature some lapses in safety features, modern 400-series highways feature design speeds of 130 km/h (81 mph), speed limits of 100 km/h (62 mph), various collision avoidance and traffic management systems, and several design standards adopted throughout North America,[49] notably 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.[50][51] Highways in Ontario have been either the safest or second safest in North America, with 0.63 fatalities per 10,000 licensed drivers in 2010.[52]

Like the US Interstate network, green signs are primarily used to represent interchanges whilst blue signs represents nearby services and attractions. However, there have been cases where blue signs are instead used as interchange signs on privately owned toll highways (i.e. 407 ETR) as well as for collector lanes of an express-collector configuration and also for airport service roadways. The province's baseline standard for the construction of a freeway is an average traffic count of 10,000 vehicles per day. However, other factors are considered as well. 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. As well, for environmental, budgetary or community reasons, some proposed 400-series highways (e.g., the Highway 400 extension in Toronto from Highway 401 to the Gardiner Expressway that was cancelled in the 1970s) have not been built, even where an existing highway's traffic counts exceed the standard.

Network

List of 400-series highways
Route Name(s) Length (km)[1] Length (mi) Southern or western terminus Northern or eastern terminus Created Description Ref(s).
 Toronto–Barrie Highway 226 140 Maple Leaf Drive in Toronto
(continues as Black Creek Drive)		  Highway 69 in Carling July 1, 1952 Scheduled for extension to Sudbury by 2021 [53]
 Macdonald–Cartier Freeway/ Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway/ Highway of Heroes 817.9 508.2 Ojibway Parkway in Windsor A-20 towards Montreal, QC July 1, 1952 Backbone of the 400-series network; busiest highway in the world
102.5 63.7 I-69 / I-94 at Canada–United States border on Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward  Highway 401 – London 1953
Chedoke Expressway 125.2 77.8  Highway 401 near Woodstock   Highway 401 / Highway 410 in Mississauga December 1, 1963 [54]
 50.1 31.1  Highway 401 / DVP – Toronto Woodbine Avenue − East Gwillimbury 1977
General Brock Parkway 8.7 5.4  Queen Elizabeth Way – St. Catharines I-190 near Lewiston, NY September 11, 1963 [54]
 26.0 16.2 East Main Street in Welland  Queen Elizabeth Way in St. Catharines December 7, 1965 [55]
 107.3 66.7  Highway 403 / Queen Elizabeth Way – Burlington  Highway 7 – Pickering June 7, 1997 [56][57]
 Belfield Expessway 5.6 3.5 Pearson Airport  Highway 401 – Toronto August 25, 1978
20.3 12.6   Highway 401 / Highway 403 – Mississauga  Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) – Caledon November 15, 1978 [58]
 West Durham Link 10 6.2  Highway 401 – Toronto, Whitby  Highway 407 February 6, 2015
Veterans Memorial Highway 76.4 47.5  Highway 401 to Kingston  Highway 417 to Ottawa September 23, 1999 [59]
 Queensway (within Ottawa) 187.0 116.2  Highway 17 – Arnprior A-40 (TCH) towards Montreal, QC 1971 [26]
 East Durham Link  Highway 401 – Toronto, Oshawa  Highway 407 February 6, 2015
Niagara Veterans Memorial Highway 3.3 2.1  Regional Road 98 (Montrose Road) Rainbow Bridge to United States November 1, 1941
19.9 12.4  Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway – Toronto  Regional Road 7 – Vaughan December 4, 1971 [27]
Queen Elizabeth Way
 139.1 86.4 Peace Bridge – Buffalo, NY, USA  Highway 427 – Toronto 1931

High-occupancy vehicle lanes

Map showing locations of HOV lanes in the province, as of March 2013

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 Markham and Highway 401, with a dedicated HOV ramp built to connect with westbound Highway 401, and Highway 403 in both directions within Mississauga.[60] Since then, HOV lanes have been opened on several 400-series freeways around the Golden Horseshoe and National Capital Region. In May 2007, the Ministry of Transportation introduced a multi-billion dollar Horseshoe Network Project, which included plans to incorporate HOV lanes into numerous 400-series highways.[61]

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 Kanata to just east of Moodie Drive.[61]

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.[62] However, as of October 2014, only 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),[62] reduce congestion, conserve energy and help protect the environment.[63]

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 converted temporarily to HOV lanes to accommodate increased traffic. These temporary restrictions lasted from June 29 to August 18.[64]

Future HOV lanes

The following table lists planned expansions to the HOV network by 2031.[62]

Highway Starting location Terminating location General location
Near-term (2015—2020)
400 Major Mackenzie Drive W. Kirby Road/King Road Region of York
Kirby Road/King Road Highway 9 Region of York
401 Mississauga Road Highway 403 Mississauga
404 Highway 7 Aurora Road
410 Highway 401 Queen Street (former Highway 7) Mississauga, Brampton
427 Highway 409 Highway 407 near Pearson International Airport in Toronto
Long-term (2021—)
400 Highway 9 Highway 88/Barrie Region of York and Simcoe County
401 Milton Mississauga Road
Brock Road Ritson Road Region of Durham
403 Highway 6 Highway 407/Queen Elizabeth Way Hamilton and Burlington
QEW Highway 407 Mississauga
404 Aurora Road Keswick Region of York
410 Highway 401 Queen Street Brampton
QEW Red Hill Valley Parkway Highway 406 Hamilton and Region of Niagara
407/403 Guelph Line Burlington
Trafalgar Road Highway 427 Oakville and Mississauga

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See also

References

Sources

  1. 1 2 Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2010). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Government of Ontario. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Walter, Karena (February 21, 2014). "Search Engine: Highway Mysteries Solved". The Niagara Falls Review. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by C.P. Robins. Ontario Department of Highways. 1953. § Q28–U41.
  4. ↑ "Hopes to Improve Roads". The Gazette (Montreal). February 18, 1936. p. 14. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  5. ↑ Stamp 1987, pp. 11–12.
  6. ↑ English, Bob (March 16, 2006). "Remember That 'Little Four-Lane Freeway?'". The Globe And Mail (Toronto). ...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.
  7. ↑ Stamp, Robert M. (1987). The Queen Elizabeth Way, Canada's First Superhighway. Boston Mills Press. ISBN 0-919783-84-8.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Shragge, John G. (2007). "Highway 401 - The Story". Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
  9. ↑ Built Heritage, Cultural Landscape and Planning Section (January 2006). "2.0 Background History". Heritage Impact Assessment: Christina Street Bridge over Highway 402, Sarnia (PDF) (Report). Archaeological Services Inc. p. 4. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  10. ↑ Ministry of Transportation and Communications (1972). pp. 8–9.
  11. ↑ "Open 400 Link to Coldwater". The Toronto Star. December 24, 1959. p. 18. The new, 22-mile extension from south of Crown Hill to Coldwater will be ready for traffic this afternoon.
  12. ↑ Highway Construction Program: King's and Secondary Highways. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1972–1973. p. xi.
  13. ↑ Annual Report (Construction ed.). Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1982–1983. p. 76.
  14. ↑ Annual Report for the Fiscal Year (Report). Ontario Department of Highways. March 31, 1958. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  15. ↑ Don Valley Parkway Extension, Highway 401 to Steeles Avenue (Report). Desjardines. 1957.
  16. ↑ "Above the Regular Budget". The Ottawa Citizen 116 (29). July 31, 1958. p. 7. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  17. ↑ Annual Report. Department of Highways. March 31, 1961. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 Sewell, John (2009). The Shape of the Suburbs: Understanding Toronto's Sprawl. University of Toronto Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8020-9884-9. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  19. ↑ Hicks, Kathleen A. (2006). "Road Controversy - 1968". Malton: Farms to Flying (PDF). Friends of the Mississauga Library System. pp. 208–209. ISBN 0-9697873-9-1. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  20. ↑ Robertson, Peter. "The Queensway Began with a Royal Blast: Flashback to 1957.". Carlington Community Association. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  21. 1 2 Ontario Department of Highways 1970, p. 11
  22. ↑ Construction Program: King's and Secondary Highways (Report). Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1976–77. p. XV.
  23. ↑ Ontario Department of Highways 1970, p. 12
  24. 1 2 Settlement of Claim of Richard Prendiville (PDF) (Report). Ontario Superior Court of Justice. December 12, 2001. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  25. ↑ Construction Program: King's and Secondary Highways (Report). Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1976–77. p. XIV.
  26. 1 2 Clark, Glenn (April 14, 2012). A Historical Timeline for the Township of Gloucester. The Gloucester Historical Society. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  27. 1 2 "Highway 27 Interchange Fully in Service". The Globe and Mail 128 (38,061) (Toronto). December 4, 1971. p. 5.
  28. ↑ Coleman, Thomas (July 12, 1975). "Drivers Will Wait Years Before Relief from QEW Jams". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). p. 5.
  29. ↑ The History of Toronto's Unfinished Expressway System (Report). Energy Probe. April 5, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  30. ↑ "New 45-Mile Highway to Link Ottawa with 401". The Globe and Mail 124 (36,795) (Toronto). November 14, 1967. p. 4.
  31. ↑ "Queen Elizabeth Way - Hamilton to Fort Erie". Highway Construction Program 1972-73 (Report). Ministry of Transportation and Communications. April 1972. p. xv.
  32. ↑ Stamp, Robert M. (1992). Bridging the Border: Structures of Canadian–American Relations. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 129. ISBN 1-55002-074-9.
  33. ↑ Stamp 1987, pp. 59–61.
  34. ↑ "Chronology". Annual Report (Report). Department of Highways. March 31, 1964. p. 296.
  35. ↑ Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1986.
  36. 1 2 Ontario Road Map (Map). Cartography by Cartography Section. Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. 2014–15.
  37. ↑ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (May 2000). "Highway 69 Four-Laning Port Severn to Parry Sound" (PDF). Government of Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2000. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  38. ↑ Transportation Capital Branch (1991–1992). Provincial Highways Construction Projects. Ministry of Transportation. p. 7. ISSN 0714-1149.
  39. ↑ Dexter, Brian (October 25, 1989). "Ontario Studies Plan to Extend Highway 404 Farther North". News. The Toronto Star. p. A8.
  40. ↑ Provincial Highways Construction Projects (Report). Ministry of Transportation. 1989–90. p. 13. ISSN 0714-1149.
  41. ↑ Transportation Capital Branch (May 1991). Northern Transportation Construction Projects 1988–89 (Report). Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. p. 16. ISSN 0714-1149.
  42. ↑ Transportation Capital Branch (1986–1987). Provincial Highways Construction Projects. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. p. XII. ISSN 0714-1149.
  43. ↑ "Ottawa Highway Link Opens". Ontario. Toronto Star. Canadian Press. September 24, 1999. p. A4.
  44. ↑ Ginn, Cameron (October 27, 2010). "$177-Million Section of Highway Now Open". Cottage Country Now (Metroland Media Group). Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  45. ↑ Bradley, Dave (September 17, 2014). "Highway 404 Extension Opens". NewsTalk 1010. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  46. ↑ Forsyth, Paul (August 19, 2011). "406 Widening Underway". Niagara This Week (Metroland Media). Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  47. ↑ Abrey, Heather (November 20, 2009). "Hwy 410 Extension Causing Confusion". Caledon Enterprise (North Peel Media Group). Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  48. ↑ Chase, Sean (November 30, 2012). "Highway 417 opens at Arnprior". The Pembroke Observer (Canoe Sun Media). Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  49. ↑ Revie, Nancy (September 19, 2005). "An Expressway in Name Only". The Guelph Mercury. p. A9.
  50. ↑ Proceedings ... Annual Meeting (Report). Institute of Traffic Engineers. 1962. pp. 100–103.
  51. ↑ "Partial Cloverleaf Interchange (Parclo)". The Canadian Design Resource. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  52. ↑ Road Safety Policy Office - Vehicles (2010). "Forward" (PDF). Ontario Road Safety Annual Report. Government of Ontario. p. 7. ISSN 1710-2480. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  53. ↑ Shragge & Bagnato 1984, pp. 89–92.
  54. 1 2 A.A.D.T. Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 And Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1970. p. 11.
  55. ↑ A.A.D.T. Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 And Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1971. p. 12.
  56. ↑ "Map / Toll Calculator". 407 ETR. February 1, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  57. ↑ Mitchell, Bob (June 6, 1997). "At Last — Opening Bell Tolls for the 407". The Toronto Star. pp. A1, A6.
  58. ↑ Public and Safety Information Section (November 9, 1978). "Highway 410 Opens November 15" (Press release). Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
  59. ↑ "Ottawa Highway Link Opens". Ontario. Toronto Star. Canadian Press. September 24, 1999. p. A4.
  60. ↑ Nikolic, Goran; Pringle, Rob (2008). Evaluating HOV Plans and Priorities – the Case of Expressways in the GTA (PDF) (Report). Transportation Association of Canada. pp. 2–4. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  61. 1 2 Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (May 24, 2015). "McGuinty Government To Improve Commuters Lives With HOV Lane Network". CNW Group. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  62. 1 2 3 Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. "Ontario’s High Occupancy Vehicle Lane Network Plan for the 400-Series Highways in the Greater Golden Horseshoe". Government of Ontario. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  63. ↑ "The Big Move - Strategy #3 - Improve the Efficiency of the Road and Highway Network". Metrolinx. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  64. ↑ Shum, David (June 29, 2015). "HOV Lane Restrictions Now in Effect for Pan Am Games". Global News. Retrieved August 22, 2015.

Bibliography

  • Emery, Claire; Ford, Barbara (1967). From Pathway to Skyway. Confederation Centennial Committee of Burlington. pp. 179–182. Retrieved May 3, 2010. 
  • Shragge, John; Bagnato, Sharon (1984). From Footpaths to Freeways. Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Historical Committee. ISBN 0-7743-9388-2. 
  • Stamp, Robert M. (1987). QEW – Canada's First Superhighway. The Boston Mills Press. ISBN 0-919783-84-8. 
  • '401' The Macdonald–Cartier Freeway. Toronto: Ministry of Transportation and Communications. 1972. 
  • AADT Traffic Volumes 1955–1969 and Traffic Collision Data 1967–1969. Ontario Department of Highways. 1970. 

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