Highway 400

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
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.

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 its ultimate terminus in Sudbury). As of 2009^[update], the length of the highway is 209.0 km (129.9 mi).

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 1972. Because the speed limit on Ontario freeways was raised in 1968 from 60 to 70 mph (97 to 110 km/h) it rendered this interchange obsolete shortly after its completion.^{[citation needed]} 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 (31 mph) 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.

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.^[2] 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 Queen Elizabeth Way (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 4.0 m (13 ft) and 4.3 m (14 ft) in the outermost lane and several extremely narrow acceleration lanes). From Innisfil Beach Road to Simcoe Road 88, some work is being done^[when?] to the bridges. The right lane is closed occasionally every night so that the bridges can be widened and possibly replaced with modern overpasses in preparation for the planned widening from 6 to 8 lanes from Highway 9 to Highway 11. Highway 400 also has some notable low standard interchanges such as at Canal Road (Exit 58), where two bidirectional, one-lane "ramps" meet the freeway at a 90° angle, without even turning tapers. Also from Canal Road to the junction at Highway 11, most of the median is an old style box beam guardrail. The rails are rusty and are responsible for many accidents involving vehicles going through the median and into oncoming traffic. The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and Simcoe County are working to have better rails installed and finally Ontario tall wall barriers when the highway is widened.^[3].

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 (0.62 mi) south of that interchange, creating a 1 km (0.62 mi) 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 become 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 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.

Expansion

Highway 400 at exit 156 in Port Severn.

Construction is currently underway to extend Highway 400 to the city of Greater Sudbury in Northern Ontario, along the existing Highway 69 corridor. Although the timetable may be subject to change, Highway 400's entire route to Sudbury is currently scheduled for completion in 2017.

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 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. 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 opened in 2009.^[4] As the Sudbury segment is discontinuous with the Highway 400 route, however, it will not be renumbered as part of Highway 400 until the remainder of the construction is completed in the mid-2010s.

As of July 2008, the newly-constructed lanes at the Wahta Gap are now fully in operation. As of November 2008, Highway 69 has been switched over to the new lanes between Parry Sound and Nobel while upgrades are done to the existing lanes.

A few private roads, including a private access road to Global Ontario's Midland-area transmitter ("Global Tower Road"), remain at-grade Right-in/right-out (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.

Construction phases (Toronto section)

• Highway 401 to Jane Street (1966)
• Jane Street to Weston Road (1975) - later as Black Creek Drive in 1985 (an at-grade municipal expressway that is not part of Highway 400, although the land was initially intended for a controlled-access Highway 400 south extension)

Volume information (2005)

The lanes of Highway 400, looking north from Highway 26 (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)

Control cities

From South to North:

• Toronto (southbound)
• Barrie
• Parry Sound
• Sudbury
• North Bay

Notes: In Barrie, 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.

Lane configurations from south to north

Exit list

Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Toronto	19	Black Creek Drive	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	20	Jane Street
	21	Hwy 401	Signed as exits 21A (east) and 21B (west)
	24	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 mall
	33	RR 73 (Rutherford Road)
	35	RR 25 (Major Mackenzie Drive)
	37	RR 49 (Teston Road)
King	43	RR 11 (King Road) – Nobleton, King City	Under Construction
	52	RR 16 (Lloydtown-Aurora Road) – Schomberg, Aurora
	55	Hwy 9 – Newmarket, Orangeville
Bradford West Gwillimbury	58	File:Simcoe county road 8.png CR 8 (Canal Road)	Right-in/right-out interchange
	64	File:Simcoe county road 88.png CR 88 – Bradford, Bond Head	Signed as exits 64A (east) and 64B (west)
Innisfil	75	File:Simcoe county road 89.png Hwy 89 / CR 89 – Cookstown, Alliston
	85	File:Simcoe county road 21.png 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	105	Hwy 11 north – Orillia, North Bay	Northbound left exit and southbound left entrance
	111	File:Simcoe county road 11.png CR 11 (Forbes Road) Dalston, Midhurst
	117	File:Simcoe county road 22.png CR 22 (Horseshoe Valley Road) Craighurst
Oro-Medonte	121	File:Simcoe county road 93.png Hwy 93 / CR 93 (Penetanguishene Road) – Midland, Penetanguishene, Hillsdale
	131	Mount St. Louis Road
	136	File:Simcoe county road 19.png CR 19 – Moonstone
	137	Lower Big Chute Road – Coldwater	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Severn	141	File:Simcoe county road 23.png Hwy 12 east / TCH east / CR 23 (Vasey Road) – Coldwater, Fesserton, Waverley	South end of Hwy 12/TCH overlap
	147	File:Simcoe county road 16.png Hwy 12 west / CR 16 – Waubaushene, Victoria Harbour, Midland, Orillia	North end of Hwy 12 overlap
	149	File:Simcoe county road 59.png 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
	182	Iroquois Cranberry Growers Drive – Wahta Mohawk Territory
	185	DR 12 (12 Mile Bay Road)
	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
	229	Parry Sound Drive	Currently under construction
McDougall	231	Highway 124/Parry Sound Drive	Full interchange under construction; currently a two-lane interchange on Highway 69

Service centres

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

Status of construction activity

As of fall 2008, only a 26 km (16 mi) segment of the future Highway 400 extension, from the Pickerel River to the Magnetawan First Nation, remains in the initial assessment phase. The entire remainder of the route is now in the engineering, property acquisition or full construction stages.^[5]

• Currently under construction:

One Additional Lane & HOV lane per direction between Major Mackenzie Drive and King Road in Vaughan and King townships. Project includes construction of Teston Road interchange (completed fall 2009), and expanding King Road interchange (currently underway) Construction started in 2008

Sudbury, Gladu Road to Burwash (19.2 km (11.9 mi)), scheduled to open in 2009

Parry Sound, existing terminus to north of Highway 559 (17 km (11 mi)), scheduled to open in 2010 with completion of Nobel Bypass

• Engineering and property acquisition phase:

Burwash to Pickerel River (48 km (30 mi))

Nobel Bypass to Magnetawan First Nation (46 km (29 mi))

• Route planning and environmental assessment:

Pickerel River to Magnetawan First Nation (26 km (16 mi))

• Future expansion, no current activity:

Sudbury, Regent Street/Gladu Road to Highway 17

Proposed interchanges from south to north

Municipality	#	Destinations	Notes
Bradford West Gwillimbury	60?	5th Line	Recent proposal
McDougall	237	Nobel access road	Interchange construction to begin soon; to open 2010
	241	Highway 559	Interchange construction to begin soon; to open 2010
Carling	250	Woods Road
The Archipelago	259	Shebeshekong Road (Highway 7182)
	266	North Shore Road/Highway 644
	270	Highway 529/Pointe au Baril
Parry Sound, Unorganized	280	Harris Lake Road
	291	Highway 529/Highway 645	Specific alignment still under review
	307	Highway 522	Specific alignment still under review
	314	Indian Reserve of French River (access road)
Killarney	322	Highway 607/Hartley Bay Road
	331	Highway 64
Sudbury, Unorganized	339	Crooked Lake Road	Delamere access road
	347	Highway 637
	359	Secord Road	Access to town of Estaire
Sudbury	366	Highway 537	Interchange under construction
	374	Regent Street (Sudbury Road 46/existing Highway 69)	Interchange under construction
	380	Highway 17	Final phase to link to twinned Southeast Bypass

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Highway 400 (Ontario)

• Highway 400 Live Traffic Cams
• History of Ontario's King's Highway — Highway 400
• Highway 400 extension Route Planning Studies
• Highway 400 at OntHighways.com
• Google Maps: Highway 400 route

Preceded by Highway 69

Trans-Canada Highway Highway 400

Succeeded by Highway 12

v • d • e Portions of the Trans-Canada Highway British Columbia: Highway 1 • Highway 5 • Highway 16 | Alberta: Highway 1 • Highway 16 Saskatchewan: Highway 1 • Highway 16 | Manitoba: Highway 1 • Highway 16 • Highway 100 Ontario: Highway 17 • Highway 69 • Highway 400 • Highway 12 • Highway 7 • Highway 71 • Highway 11 • Highway 66 • Highway 417 Quebec: Autoroute 40 • Autoroute 25 • Autoroute 20 • Autoroute 85 • Route 185 • Route 117 • Autoroute 15 New Brunswick: Route 2 • Route 16 | Confederation Bridge | Prince Edward Island: Route 1 | Nova Scotia: Highway 104 • Highway 105 • Highway 106 Newfoundland: Route 1