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The new HOV lanes on Highway 404. (Photo courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation)
Roadway widening projects on Highways 400 and 404 have been tagged as complete by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The new north-south lanes are part of the provincial plan to tackle gridlock and support the safe movement of people and goods in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Eleven kilometres of Highway 404 have been widened, running from Highway 407 to Stouffville Road. The work involved the addition of a new High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction for use by cars, taxis, motorcycles and other vehicles. Nine kilometres of Highway 400, from Major Mackenzie Drive to King Road, saw crews adding one new general-purpose lane in each direction.
On Highway 404, Dufferin Construction Company conducted the work between Highway 407 and Major Mackenzie Drive, while Brennan Paving and Construction Ltd. had the contract from Major Mackenzie Drive to Stouffville Road. Green Infrastructure Partners was engaged to widen Highway 400 from Major Mackenzie Drive to King Road.
“Not only is gridlock costing our economy billions of dollars every year, it’s robbing Ontario drivers of valuable time and quality of life,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Expanding Highways 400 and 404 will provide much needed relief for drivers, helping them spend less time in traffic and more time with their families and friends.”
“We either sit back and watch as our 400-series highway network reaches capacity within the next decade — or we take action,” explained Stephen Lecce, MPP for King—Vaughan. “We got shovels in the ground and widened the 400 through a key bottleneck stretch in record time — and will continue widening the highway through King Township to save families time and money.”
The Ontario government has announced plans to spend nearly $28 billion over the next decade to repair, build and expand highways, roads and bridges across the province. Future roadway plans include the Bradford Bypass, Highway 413 and the Garden City Skyway bridge-twinning project.