Ontario Highway 404
Highway 404 is an Ontario 400-Series Highway that runs from the junction of Highway 401 and the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto to its northern terminus at Green Lane/Herald Road in Newmarket. The highway mainly serves as a commuter road for those working in Toronto but living in the northern suburbs of the city.
Originally an extension of the Don Valley Parkway, Highway 404 became a provincial highway (and was completed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation) in 1977. The outdated interchange with Highway 401, built in the late 1960s along with the Highway 401 expansion project, remains a major bottleneck especially for southbound traffic. Initially, Highway 404 was completed from 401 to Steeles Avenue with 6 lanes, a grass median with a steel box-beam barrier, and a conventional shaded high-pressure sodium lighting system (not the truss lights normally used on 1970s Ontario Freeway. North of Steeles, Highway 404 became a 4-lane rural freeway. In the late 1990s, Highway 404 underwent a major reconstruction with the earliest projects centring around the new Highway 407. Subsequently, the grass median and conventional lighting system was replaced with a tall-wall concrete barrier, high-mast lighting, and 2 additional lanes per direction from Highway 401 to Highway 407. North of Highway 407, Highway 404 was widened to 6 lanes all the way to Aurora Road, and the lighting system had been extended to Major Mackenzie Drive.
Running parallel to Highway 400 approximately 15 kilometres to the east, the 404 extends 36 km (22 mi.) north-south. The MTO plans to further extend the 404 northerly (and easterly) to Highway 12, to better serve commuters and to provide an alternate highway link into Ontario's "Cottage country".
Highway 404 has 14 interchanges along its entire length, mostly of the Parclo A4 type. The fact that the exit numbers start at 17 suggest that the Don Valley Parkway was included in distance calculations when signing the exits, although there are no exit numbers posted on the DVP.
Volume Information (2002)
- Highest Volume: 256,600 AADT from Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue
- Lowest Volume: 32,800 AADT from Vivian Road/Mulock Road to Green Lane
Lane Configurations from South to North
| Section | Travel Lanes |
|---|---|
| Highway 401 to Sheppard Avenue | 5 Lanes per Direction 1 additional HOV lane per direction currently under construction |
| Sheppard Avenue to Steeles Avenue | 4 Lanes per Direction 5 lanes per direction between interchanges due to non-disappearing acceleration/de-acceleration lanes, 1 additional HOV lane per direction currently under construction |
| Steeles Avenue to Highway 407 | 5 Lanes per Direction |
| Highway 407 to 16th Avenue (York Road 73) | 3 Lanes Southbound, 4 lanes Northbound |
| 16th Avenue (York Road 73) to Aurora Road (York Road 15) | 3 Lanes per Direction |
| Aurora Road to Green Lane (York Road 19) | 2 Lanes per Direction |
Interchanges from South to North
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 17 | Highway 401 and Don Valley Parkway |
| Toronto | 18 | Sheppard Avenue |
| Toronto | 20 | Finch Avenue |
| Toronto - Markham Boundary | 22 | Steeles Avenue / Woodbine Avenue (York Road 8) (northbound only) |
| Markham | 25 | Highway 407 |
| Markham - Richmond Hill Boundary | 27 | Highway 7 (York Road 7) |
| Markham - Richmond Hill Boundary | 29 | 16th Avenue (York Road 73) |
| Markham - Richmond Hill Boundary | 31 | Major Mackenzie Road (York Road 25) |
| Markham - Richmond Hill Boundary | 33 | Elgin Mills Road (York Road 49) |
| Richmond Hill - Whitchurch-Stouffville Boundary | 37 | Stouffville Road (York Road 14) |
| Richmond Hill - Whitchurch-Stouffville Boundary | 41 | Bloomington Road (York Road 40) |
| Whitchurch-Stouffville - Aurora Boundary | 45 | Aurora Road (York Road 15) |
| Whitchurch-Stouffville - Newmarket Boundary | 49 | Vivian Road / Mulock Road (York Road 74) |
| Whitchurch-Stouffville - Newmarket Boundary | 51 | Davis Drive (York Road 31) |
| Whitchurch-Stouffville - Newmarket Boundary | 53 | Green Lane (York Road 19) |
Future Interchanges from South to North (exit numbers assumed)
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| East Gwillimbury | 59 | Queensville Sideroad (York Road 77) |
| East Gwillimbury | 60 | Bradford Bypass (proposed freeway) |
| East Gwillimbury | 65 | Woodbine Avenue (York Road 8) / Ravenshoe Road (York Road 32) |
| Georgina | 70 | Pollock Road |
| Georgina | 79 | Highway 48 South |
| Georgina | 91 | Pefferlaw Road (York Road 21) |
| Georgina - Brock Boundary | 93 | Lake Ridge Road (York Road 23 / Durham Road 23) |
References
- Cameron Bevers, The History of Ontario's Kings Highways at http://www.thekingshighway.ca/
- Scott Steeves, www.ONTHIGHWAYS.com at http://www.onthighways.com/
- Official extension plans - government notice, published in March 22, 2005 edition of The Globe and Mail