400-series highways
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, and are regulated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. 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.
Modern 400-series highways have high design standards, speed limits of , 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 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,several divided highways had already been opened in Southern Ontario.
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.
The Queen Elizabeth Way was first, an upgrade to the partially constructed Middle Road in 1934.
McQuesten also sought out the economic opportunities 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, and 405.
The construction boom following the war resulted in many new freeway construction projects in the province. The Toronto–Barrie Highway, Trans-Provincial Highway,
a short expansion of Highway 7 approaching the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia,
and an expansion of Highway 27 into part of the Toronto Bypass were all underway or completed by the early 1950s. 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. Highway 401 was assembled across the province in a patchwork fashion,
becoming fully navigable between Windsor and the Quebec border on November 10, 1968; Highway 400 was extended north to Coldwater on Christmas Eve 1959;
Highway 402 was extended to London between 1972 and 1982.
In addition to this network backbone, plans for additional 400-series highways were initiated by the late 1950s, comprising the Chedoke Expressway through Hamilton;
the Don Valley Parkway Extension northward from the soon-to-be constructed Toronto expressway;
Highway 405 to connect with the American border near St. Catharines;
Highway 406 south from St. Catharines to Welland;
Highway 407 encircling the Greater Toronto Area, though not built for another 40 years;
Highway 409 to connect Highway 401 with Toronto International Airport;
and The Queensway through Ottawa.
The first sections of these freeways were opened in 1963,
1977,
1963, 1965,
1997,
1974,
and 1960,
respectively.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, additional freeways were planned or built, including Highway 427 in Toronto,
Highway 403 through Mississauga,
Highway 410 north to Brampton and Highway 416 to connect Highways 401 and 417.
Highway 420 was designated in Niagara Falls,
though it had been built as part of the QEW in 1941. 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.
By the mid-1980s, the network had more-or-less taken its current shape, with only Highways 407 and 416 yet to be built.
Instead, emphasis was placed on expanding existing routes to accommodate increasing traffic volumes. However, extensions of Highway 400 towards Parry Sound,
Highway 403 between Woodstock and Hamilton,
Highway 404 towards Newmarket,
and Highway 427 towards Vaughan were underway.
By the end of the decade, construction of Highway 407 and Highway 416 had begun,
and Highway 410 was expanded from two to four lanes.
Highways 407 and 416 opened in the late 1990s.
Until early 2015, Highways 407 and 416 were the most-recently designated 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, including Highway 410 north of Brampton in 2009,
Highway 400 to north of Parry Sound in 2010,
Highway 417 to Arnprior in 2012,
Highway 404 to Keswick in 2014,
Highway 401 through Windsor in 2015,
and four-laning Highway 406 to Welland in late 2015.
Design standards
While older freeways have some lapses in safety features, contemporary 400-series highways have design speeds of, speed limits of, various collision avoidance and traffic management systems, and several design standards adopted throughout North America.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.
Highways in Ontario are among the safest in North America, with 0.63 fatalities per 10,000 licensed drivers in 2010. 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. Jeff Yurek had stated that "The 400-series highways were built for, I believe, a speed limit of 120 km/h safely". A 110 km/h trial has been set up on select stretches to test the viability of increasing speed limits.
Conforming with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Ontario utilizes green signs for guidance purposes.
Generally, blue signage is used to list services and attractions at upcoming exits, known as Tourism-Oriented Directional Signing.
However, several exceptions exist, notably blue guidance signage for toll highways like Highway 407 and Highway 412, in addition to the collector lanes of highways.
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, a 400-series highway may be built where the existing highway's traffic counts fall below 10,000.
The MTO plans and finances the construction and maintenance of the King's Highway system, which includes the 400-series network.
The system includes of freeways. Highway 401 is the longest freeway at, in addition to being the widest and busiest road in Canada. Highway 420 is the shortest of the routes at.
High-occupancy vehicle lanes
The MTO began planning for the use of high-occupancy vehicle 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.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.
By then, work was already advanced on several projects, including the northbound HOV lane on Highway 404 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.
More than 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.
, 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, reduce congestion, conserve energy and help protect the environment.
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.
Future HOV lanes
The following table lists planned expansions to the HOV network by 2031.| Highway | Starting location | Terminating location | General location | Status |
| 400 | Major Mackenzie Drive W. | King Road | Region of York | Lane construction underway |
| 400 | King Road | Highway 9 | Region of York | Bridge construction underway |
| 401 | Highways 403 & 410 | Highway 25 | Milton | Lane and bridge construction underway |
| 404 | Highway 7 | Stouffville Road | Region of York | Lane construction underway |
| 410 | Highway 401 | Queen Street | Mississauga, Brampton | Complete |
| 427 | Highway 409 | Highway 407 | near Pearson International Airport in Toronto | Complete |