Highway 400 (Ontario)

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Highway 400
Length: 209 km[1] (129.9 mi)
Formed: 1951 (numbered in 1952)[citation needed]
South end: Black Creek Dr in Toronto
Major
junctions:		 Hwy 401 in Toronto
Hwy 11 near Barrie
North end: Hwy 69 near Parry Sound
(extension to Hwy 17 in Sudbury underway)
Major cities: Toronto, Barrie, Parry Sound
Ontario provincial highways
< Hwy 148 Hwy 401 >
400-series - County

The King's Highway 400, more commonly known as Highway 400 or the 400, is a key north-south 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that links the city of Toronto to the central and northern sections of the province. As such, it serves as the primary route from Toronto to "cottage country" in the Muskoka region of Ontario.

Contents

[edit] Description

Originally known as the Toronto-Barrie Highway, over the years the route has been widened and extended beyond Barrie to its current terminus in Parry Sound (and eventually its ultimate terminus in Sudbury). The current length of the highway is 209 km or 129 miles.

South of Highway 401, provincial control ends at the Maple Leaf Drive overpass and Highway 400 turns into Black Creek Drive. Highway 400 had been completed up to Jane Street in 1966 (alongside the expansion of Highway 401) but plans to extend Highway 400 further south to the Gardiner Expressway had been shelved in the 1970s. Land for the Highway 400 extension was used to build the Black Creek Drive which was completed and transferred to Metro Toronto in 1982.

The junction with Highway 401 is one of the earliest multi-level interchanges built when Highway 401 was widened to a collector-express system in 1967. Because the speed limit on Ontario freeways was raised in 1968 from 90 km/h to 100 km/h (55 to 62 mph) it rendered this interchange obsolete shortly after its completion. There are several flyover ramps that are not designed to handle speeds that motorists are accustomed to; notably the 400 southbound to 401 westbound ramp which has seen several truck rollovers because of excessive speed, and in the opposite direction the 401 eastbound to 400 northbound ramp which has added rumble strips and a revised 50 km/h speed in order to allow drivers to safely navigate the sharp curve.

Between Highway 401 and Highway 407, Highway 400 is one of the widest highways in the Greater Toronto Area without a collector-express system; the only full interchange is with Finch Avenue. In the 1950s, that stretch was 4-6 lanes wide but a major reconstruction that ended in 1971 saw it widened to 10 lanes. In the 1990s, concurrent with the construction of Highway 407, the section between Highway 401 and Finch Avenue was widened to 12 lanes and that project necessitated the demolition and reconstruction of the Sheppard Avenue overpass. The 1990s also saw the replacing of the 1960s conventional truss lights and metal guardrail with high-mast lighting and an "Ontario tall-wall" concrete median barrier.

Highway 400 North to Major Mackenzie Drive.
Highway 400 North to Major Mackenzie Drive.

The 400-407 junction is the only 4-way 4-level stack interchange in Ontario (during the Highway 407 design, similar 4-level interchanges were planned at Highway 410 and Highway 404 as well but they were scaled to cut costs, and are now clover-stack interchanges. North of Highway 407, Highway 400 has been extensively reconstructed in the early 1990s to accommodate incoming Highway 407 traffic and there is a small collector-express system serving Highway 7 and Langstaff Road. In the early 2000s, the junctions with Rutherford Road and Major Mackenzie Drive were extensively reconstructed to modern Parclo A4 configurations, and a new partial interchange was added for Bass Pro Mills Drive in 2004 to accommodate the opening of the Vaughan Mills shopping centre.

Highway 400 was one of the original 400-series freeways, along with the QEW, Highway 401, and Highway 402. The rural section between Vaughan and Barrie has many overpass bridges still in use that date back to the 1950s (most of which are substandard compared to most modern freeways, with clearances generally between 4.0m and 4.3m (between 13'3" and 14'3") in the outermost lane and several extremely narrow acceleration lanes), as well as some notable low standard interchange ramps such as at Canal Road (Exit 58), which is a 20 km/h (15 mph) RIRO entrance.

A spur route designated Highway 400A existed until 1997, linking Highway 400 and Highway 11 north of Barrie. When Highway 400 was first constructed to its original northern terminus, it continued onwards to meet Highway 11 at an interchange with Penetanguishene Road, which carried the Highway 11 alignment through downtown Barrie at the time. The first extensions to Parry Sound were performed 1 km south of that interchange, creating a 1 km gap between Highway 11 and Highway 400 designated as Highway 400A and exclusively signed with trailblazers. When Highway 11 along Penetanguishene Road and Yonge Street was downloaded to municipal authorities in the late 1990s, the designation of Highway 11 was extended to the interchange with Highway 400, and Highway 400A ceased to exist. Northbound traffic on Highway 400 towards Parry Sound and Sudbury must therefore keep right at the interchange, while the two leftmost lanes exit onto Highway 11 to Orillia and eventually North Bay (designated as a control city). Southbound traffic on 400 and 11 simply merges together.

Highway 400's interchange with Highway 518 is the first and only interchange between a 400-series highway and a secondary highway in the province, but more will be built as the 400 is extended northwards.

[edit] Expansion

Highway 400 at exit 156 in Port Severn.
Highway 400 at exit 156 in Port Severn.

Continued construction will eventually extend Highway 400 to the city of Sudbury in Northern Ontario, along the existing Highway 69 corridor.

This commitment was originally made in 1991 by the New Democrat government of Bob Rae. Although construction did commence at the highway's southern end, the project was curtailed by the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris shortly after the 1995 provincial election, with construction ending at the highway's current terminus in Parry Sound.

The continued construction to Sudbury was subsequently reinstated by Harris' successor (and former MPP for Parry Sound—Muskoka), Ernie Eves in 2002.

In 2004, construction began on the segment from Sudbury southwards to Estaire, and route planning studies were completed for the Estaire to Parry Sound branch. Although the timetable may be subject to change, the four-laned route is scheduled to be completed in its entirety by 2017. Portions of the route will be opened to traffic as construction is completed — the next segment from Parry Sound to Nobel is currently scheduled to open in 2010, and the segment immediately south of Sudbury is scheduled to open in 2009. [2]

As of fall 2006, the newly-constructed lanes at the Wahta Gap are now in operation. However, this segment will remain a two-lane roadway until sometime in 2008, as the original two lanes are now closed for regrading and bridge reconstruction.

A few private roads, including an access road to Global Ontario's Midland-area transmitter ("Global Tower Road"), remain at-grade RIRO-style intersections (with no left turns), although these are extremely low-traffic routes which neither warrant a full interchange nor interfere in any significant way with Highway 400 traffic.

[edit] Construction phases (Toronto section)

[edit] Volume information (2005)

The lanes of Highway 400, looking north from Bayfield Street (Exit 98).
The lanes of Highway 400, looking north from Bayfield Street (Exit 98).
  • Highest Volume: 176,800 vehicles Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) from Highway 401 (Exit 21) to Finch Avenue (Exit 25)
  • Lowest Volume: 9,100 vehicles AADT from South Bay Road (Muskoka Road 48) / Muskoka Road 34 (Exit 162) to Crooked Bay Road / Georgian Bay Road (Exit 168)

[edit] Control cities

From South to North:

Notes: In Barrie, Ontario, signs also say "Sudbury, Via Hwy. 69" and "North Bay, Via Hwy. 11" Also, Parry Sound and Barrie are not listed as control cities north of Port Severn.

[edit] Lane configurations from south to north

Section Travel Lanes
Jane Street/Black Creek Drive to Highway 401 3 Lanes per Direction
Highway 401 to Finch Avenue 6 Lanes per Direction
Finch Avenue to Steeles Avenue 5 Lanes per Direction
Steeles Avenue to Highway 407 4 Lanes per Direction
Highway 407 to Langstaff Road 7 Lanes per Direction (4 express, 3 local)
Langstaff Road to Major Mackenzie Drive 4 Lanes per Direction
Major Mackenzie Drive to King Rd 3 Lanes per Direction
1 Additional Lane & HOV lane per direction currently under planning
King Rd to Highway 11 3 Lanes Per Direction
Highway 11 to Musquash River bridge 2 Lanes per Direction
"Wahta Gap" (Musquash River bridge to Highway 69/Tower Road) 1 Lane per Direction, Undivided, Divided under construction (expected completion 2008)
Highway 69/Tower Road to Bowes Street/McDougall Road 2 Lanes per Direction

[edit] Exit list

Location # Destinations Notes
Toronto Black Creek Drive Southbound exit and northbound entrance
20 Jane Street
21 Hwy 401 Signed as exits 21A (east) and 21B (west)
25 Finch Avenue
Vaughan 26 Hwy 407
27 Steeles Avenue Northbound exit and southbound entrance
29 RR 7 – Brampton, Markham
30 RR 72 (Langstaff Road) Northbound exit and southbound entrance
32 Bass Pro Mills Drive Northbound exit and southbound entrance, Access to Vaughan Mills Mega Mall
33 RR 73 (Rutherford Road)
35 RR 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive)
37 RR 49 (Teston Road) Under construction
King 43 RR 11 (King Road) – Nobleton, King City
52 RR 16 (Lloydtown-Aurora Road) – Schomberg, Aurora
55 Hwy 9 – Newmarket, Orangeville
Bradford-West Gwillimbury 58 CR 8 (Canal Road) Right-in/right-out interchange
64 CR 88 – Bradford, Bond Head Signed as exits 64A (east) and 64B (west)
Innisfil 75 Hwy 89 / CR 89 – Cookstown, Alliston
85 CR 21 (Innisfil Beach Road) - Thornton, Barclay
Barrie 90 Mapleview Drive Formerly Molson Park Drive
94 Essa Road Former Hwy 27
96 Dunlop Street - Angus Signed as exits 96A (east) and 96B (west) northbound; former Hwy 90
98 Hwy 26 / Bayfield St – Stayner, Wasaga Beach Former Hwy 27
102 Duckworth Street
Springwater Hwy 11 north – Orillia, North Bay Northbound left exit and southbound left entrance
111 CR 11 (Forbes Road) – Dalston, Midhurst
117 CR 22 (Horseshoe Valley Road) – Craighurst
Oro-Medonte 121 Hwy 93 / CR 93 (Penetanguishene Road) – Midland, Penetanguishene, Hillsdale
131 Mount St. Louis Road
136 CR 19 – Moonstone
137 Lower Big Chute Road - Coldwater Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Severn 141 Hwy 12 east / TCH east / CR 23 (Vasey Road) – Coldwater, Fesserton, Waverley South end of Hwy 12/TCH overlap
147 Hwy 12 west / CR 16 – Waubaushene, Victoria Harbor, Midland, Orillia North end of Hwy 12 overlap
149 CR 59 (Quarry Road) / Tay Road 2
153 Port Severn Road South - Port Severn
Georgian Bay 156 DR 5 (Muskoka Road) / Port Severn Road North – Port Severn, Honey Harbour
162 DR 34 (White's Falls Road) / DR 48 (South Bay Road) – Severn Falls
168 Georgian Bay Road, Crooked Bay Road
174 DR 33 (South Gibson Lake Road)
177 DR 32 (Go Home Lake Road) / DR 38 – Bala South end of Hwy 69 overlap
Iroquois Cranberry Growers Drive - Wahta Mohawk Territory Currently an at-grade intersection; interchange under construction
DR 12 (12 Mile Lake Road) Currently an at-grade intersection; interchange under construction
189 Hwy 69 north – Mactier, Gravenhurst North end of Hwy 69 overlap
Seguin 207 Hwy 141 – Rosseau, Huntsville
213 Hwy 69 south (Rankin Lake Road) South end of Hwy 69 overlap
214 Seguin Trail Road, Horseshoe Lake Road
217 Oastler Park Drive, Badger Road
220 Hwy 518 (Hunter Drive) – Orrville
Parry Sound 224 Bowes Street, McDougall Road - Parry Sound

[edit] Service centres

The service centres are located at the following points on Highway 400 and contain the following services:

Location km Direction Fuel Food Other
King 20 Southbound Esso Wendy's, Tim Hortons, Mr. Sub Nicholby's Express, Picnic Area
25 Northbound Petro-Canada Wendy's, Tim Hortons, Mr. Sub Nicholby's Express
Innisfil 55 Southbound Petro-Canada McDonald's "unknown"
Barrie 65 Northbound Petro-Canada McDonald's "unknown"
Muskoka 90 Southbound Shell Tim Hortons, KFC "unknown"
99 Northbound Esso Tim Hortons, KFC "unknown"

[edit] Status of construction activity

  • Currently under construction:
1 Additional Lane & HOV lane per direction between Major Mackenzie Dr and King Rd in Vaughan & King Construction is scheduled to begin in 2008
Wahta (8 km), scheduled to open in 2008
Sudbury, Gladu Road to Burwash (19.2 km), scheduled to open in 2009
Parry Sound, existing terminus to Nobel (7 km), scheduled to open in 2010 with completion of Nobel Bypass
  • Engineering and property acquisition phase:
Burwash to Pickerel River (48 km)
Nobel bypass (10 km)
  • Route planning and environmental assessment:
Pickerel River to Nobel bypass (68 km)
  • Future expansion, no current activity:
Sudbury, Regent Street/Gladu Road to Highway 17

[edit] Proposed interchanges from south to north

Municipality # Destinations Notes
Parry Sound 226 Parry Sound Road Currently under construction
McDougall 229 Highway 124 Full interchange under construction; currently a two-lane interchange on Highway 69
234 Nobel access road Interchange construction to begin soon; to open 2010
238 Highway 559 Interchange construction to begin soon; to open 2010
Carling 247 Woods Road
The Archipelago 256 Shebeshekong Road
263 North Shore Road/Highway 644
267 Highway 529/Pointe au Baril Specific alignment still under review
277 Harris Lake Road
288 Highway 529/Highway 645
304 Highway 522
311 Indian Reserve of French River (access road)
Killarney 319 Highway 607/Hartley Bay Road
328 Highway 64
336 Delamere access road
344 Highway 637
350 Estaire access road Existing Highway 69
356 Nepewassi Road
Sudbury 363 Highway 537 Interchange under construction
371 Regent Street (Sudbury Road 46/existing Highway 69) Interchange under construction
376 Highway 17 Final phase to link to twinned Southeast Bypass

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, 2004 Annual Average Daily Traffic
  2. ^ Status of Construction Activity

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Highway 69		 Trans-Canada Highway
Highway 400		 Succeeded by
Highway 12
v • d • e
Portions of the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway map
v • d • e
Controlled-access highways of Ontario
400-series highways
400 · 401 · 402 · 403 · 404 · 405 · 406 · 407 ETR · 409 · 410 · 416 · 417 · 420 · 427 · QEW — Former: 400A · 401A — Proposed: 424
Other highways
County roads in Ontario · Ontario Numbered Highways · Expressways and 400-series Highways · Kings Highways · Secondary Highways · Tertiary and 7000-series Highways · List of Ontario provincial highways · List of former provincial highways in Ontario · Provincial highways in Ontario · List of Ontario expressways · Connecting Link · Emergency Detour Route