Highway 403 (Ontario)

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Highway 403 is a 400-Series Highway in Ontario, Canada that extends 126 km (78.3 mi.) from Woodstock in the west to Mississauga in the east. It is concurrently signed with the Queen Elizabeth Way on a 22 km (14 mi.) stretch from Burlington to Mississauga. Highway 403 is also known as the Chedoke Expressway within Hamilton.

Hamilton-Ancaster segment

A predecessor project to Highway 403 was when a new alignment of QEW ("Freeman Diversion") opened in 1960, bypassing the exisiting alignment which was renamed Plains Road. The new QEW not only improved access to the Burlington Skyway, it also allowed for an interchange (a semi-directional "T" junction) to be built for the future Highway 403. The Hamilton-Ancaster section of Highway 403 from Ancaster to the QEW in Burlington was completed in the 1960s.

This curving section of highway is noted for its scenic view as it descends down the Niagara Escarpment. The stretch through downtown Hamilton between Aberdeen Avenue and Main Street West is considered to be one of the more dangerous stretches of provincial freeways, because the curves are not designed to be taken at speeds beyond the 90 km/h (55 mph) posted speed limit.

Mississauga segment

The eastern section of Highway 403, which cut through Mississauga and stretched from the QEW in Oakville to Highway 401, was completed in 1982. Known informally as the Hamilton Expressway, it was initially designed to run parallel to Eglinton Avenue, carrying on to the 401-427 interchange. Metro Toronto planned to continue Highway 403 as the Richview Expressway, which would have then continued as the Crosstown Expressway to the Don Valley Parkway. A revised plan for Highway 403 in the late 1960s called for it to terminate at a "Y-junction" with the 401 just west of Renforth Drive and the 401-427 interchange.

In the end, Highway 403 curved north at Cawthra Road and terminates at the newer 401-410 junction. To accommodate Highway 403 traffic headed for Highway 427, the stretch of Highway 401 near Pearson International Airport was widened to an 18-lane collector-express system in 1986, with the collectors providing a direct connection between Highways 427 and 403. The right-of-way intended for the eastern extension of Highway 403 was eventually used for a controlled access arterial extension called Eastgate Parkway.

401-403-410 interchange

Starting in the mid-1970s, the massive 401-403-410 interchange was completed in several stages. The first stage was the construction of the outermost 401 overpasses and 403 flyover ramps, along with the Dixie Road interchange. A loop ramp and directional ramp served 410 SB to 401 EB and vice versa, making for only a partial interchange since Highway 410 was only a two-lane freeway at the time. The new 401 bridges bypassed the original alignment of the 401 and accommodated the 410 loop ramp until the 1990s. Although these handled mainline traffic for the interim, they would serve as collector lanes/ramps for 401 and 403 by the time the project was complete.

In 1986-87, the 401-403 interchange was expanded with two extra high-speed flyover ramps between the existing 1970s ramps; these directly connected the 401 and 403 express lanes. Highway 403 was expanded to a 10-lane collector-express system between Eastgate Parkway and Highway 401. A collector-express system on Highway 401, completed shortly before in 1986, links the outermost Highway 403 ramps/collectors directly to Highway 427.

In the 1990s, concurrent with the widening of Highway 410 to a full freeway, the high-speed flyover ramps from and to the 401 EB were constructed. The original 401 alignment was also restored with a new six-lane overpass and now serve as express lanes, while the outermost 401 bridges from the 1970s were redesignated as collector lanes to serve Dixie Road. The old 410 SB to 401 EB loop ramp was demolished and the underpasses were used for 403 to 410 connecting ramps. This was finally completed in 1995, and because of its more recent design it uses high-mast lighting instead of the conventional truss lights found in the rest of the interchange. It is almost a four-level stack interchange although it is not completely finished, lacking ramps from 401 EB to 403 WB which prevents direct access from 401 to Cawthra Road.

The interchange is designed to accommodate the planned widening of Highway 401 to a 12 lane collector-express system west of the 401-403-410 junction (tentative date of construction start is 2006). This project also includes a proposal to add a directional ramp from 401 EB to 403 WB (where 403 runs north-south from a brief stretch) and a loop ramp in the opposite direction in order to better accommodate Cawthra Road traffic; this would make the interchange a full four-way junction.

Highway 407/Ninth Line

When the Mississauga section of Highway 403 was completed in 1982, it turned south at a curve near Ninth Line to meet the QEW, just east of Ford Drive in Oakville. However, the long term plans called for Highway 403 to maintain its east/west alignment and completely bypass the QEW until Burlington, making it possible that the short existing connection to the QEW would later be incorporated into the original routing of Highway 407. Nonetheless, the right-of-way intended for the complete Highway 403 remained vacant for a decade, until it was used instead for the Highway 407 extension to Burlington.

In 1987, the curve was replaced with high-speed flyover ramps, while additional completed ramps were temporary rerouted to Ninth Line and Trafalgar Road, pending the construction of the extension to Burlington. Designed to accommodate future construction and intended to be the first phase of a three-level "cloverstack" interchange, these high-speed ramps now permamently serve as mainline 403 traffic when Highway 407 plans changed in 1999 to incorporate the 403 extension corridor. When the interchange was completed, it had been modified to treat Highway 407 as mainline traffic and access to Ninth Line was removed.

The QEW-403 "Y-junction" partial interchange in Oakville was designed to be a full "semi-directional T" interchange, with flyover ramps planned from Highway 403 to the QEW (Mississauga) segment east of the junction. This would allow for a direct connection from Highway 401 to the QEW, via the Highway 407 and 403 north-south segments that run parallel to Ninth Line. However, these ramps were not built because of the existing high traffic levels on the QEW's Mississauga section. At the moment, the QEW-403 interchange will remain a bypass of that congested segment of the QEW.

Linking the segments

A new segment of Highway 403 from Brantford to Highway 401 near Woodstock opened in 1990. During the construction of the flyover ramp where Highway 403 westbound terminates, Highway 401 westbound traffic was diverted to the partially completed flyover embankment in order to accelerate construction of the rest of the overpass. Highway 403 was briefly left with three discontinuous sections; Brantford-Woodstock, Hamilton-Ancaster, and Mississauga. As a temporary stopgap, traffic from the Woodstock segment was routed to Highway 2 in order to connect with the Hamilton segment. The last remaining gap between Brantford and Ancaster was plagued by numerous delays, and finally opened in 1997. Highway 2, which was the only parallel route before the completion of Highway 403, was subsequently decommissioned.

The Hamilton-Brantford and Mississauga sections of Highway 403 were initially planned to be linked up, but that land was used instead for an extension of Highway 407 ETR. After this decision, the province planned to renumber the Mississauga section as an extension of Highway 410, but that idea was later abandoned to avoid confusion for people accustomed to the "403" designation which has been use since 1982. Highway 403 was finally made continuous by multiplexing it with the QEW (a rarity in Ontario for 400-series highways) in 2002.

HOV lanes

In 2003, high-mast lighting was added to the previously unlit Mississauga section between Highway 407 and Eastgate Parkway. This system is unique since the light posts are mounted on the shoulder, rather than the median of the freeway, making them less of a dangerous obstacle for drivers. The shoulders were widened between Erin Mills Parkway and Mavis Road for use as bus lanes.

This project preceded the widening of Highway 403, which saw an HOV lane added in each direction; these opened on December 13, 2005. The HOV lanes and the dividing "Ontario tall-wall" concrete barrier were constructed using the right-of-way provided by the grass median. The conventional truss lighting between Eastgate Parkway and Highway 401 was replaced by shoulder-mounted high-mast lighting. Similar HOV lanes have been added to Highway 404 in York Region, marking the MTO's first foray into HOV facilities.

Volume Information (2002)

• Highest Volume: 162,800 AADT from Eglington Avenue to Highway 401
• Lowest Volume: 20,100 AADT from Highway 401 to Oxford Road 55

Lane configurations from west to east

Section	Travel lanes
Highway 401 to Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway/Rousseaux Street	2 lanes per direction
Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway/Rousseaux Street to King Street	3 lanes westbound, 2 lanes eastbound
King Street to Queen Elizabeth Way/Highway 407 (Freeman Interchange)	3 lanes per direction
QEW Multiplex	See: Queen Elizabeth Way
Queen Elizabeth Way to Highway 407	2 lanes per direction
Highway 407 to Cawthra Road/Eastgate Parkway	4 lanes per direction (3 Mainline, 1 HOV)
Cawthra Road/Eastgate Parkway to Highway 401/Highway 410	6 lanes per direction (2 Express, 1 HOV, 3 Local)

Interchanges from west to east (Highway 401 to Queen Elizabeth Way)

Municipality	Exit Number	Intersecting Roads
Norwich	0	Highway 401
Norwich	5	Highway 53 (Oxford Road 53)
Brant County	16	Middle Townline Road (Brant Road 25)
Brant County	27	Highway 24 South/Rest Acres Road (Brant Road 24)
Brant County	34	Paris Road
Brantford	36	Highway 24 North/King George Road
Brantford	38	Wayne Gretzky Parkway
Brantford	40	Garden Avenue
Hamilton	55	Highway 52 (Hamilton Road 52)
Hamilton	58	Wilson Street
Hamilton	60	Fiddlers Green Road (Hamilton Road 16)
Hamilton	62	Rymal Road/Highway 6 South
Hamilton	65	Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway/Rousseaux Street
Hamilton	70	Aberdeen Avenue
Hamilton	71	King Street
Hamilton	73	York Road
Hamilton	75	Highway 6 North
Burlington	79	Waterdown Road
Burlington	82	Queen Elizabeth Way/Highway 407

(* Kilometre post numbers between 0 and 40 are actual posted exit numbers. The remainder of the highway does not have exit numbers as of yet, although they are likely to be installed soon.)

Interchanges from west to east (Highway 403 concurrently signed with the Queen Elizabeth Way)

Municipality	Exit Number*	Intersecting Roads
Burlington	101 (83*)	Brant Street (westbound only)
Burlington	102 (84*)	Guelph Line (Halton Road 1)
Burlington	105 (87*)	Walkers Line
Burlington	107 (89*)	Appleby Line
Burlington - Oakville Boundary	109 (91*)	Burloak Drive
Oakville	110 (92*)	Service Road (westbound only)
Oakville	111 (93*)	Bronte Road (Halton Road 25)
Oakville	113 (95*)	Third Line
Oakville	116 (98*)	Dorval Drive
Oakville	117 (99*)	Kerr Street (westbound only)
Oakville	118 (100*)	Trafalgar Drive (Halton Road 3)
Oakville	119 (101*)	Royal Windsor Drive (eastbound only)
Oakville	123 (105*)	Ford Drive, Highway 403 (eastbound only)

(* First number is the posted QEW exit number, second number is the unposted Highway 403 kilometre post mark)

Interchanges from west to east (Queen Elizabeth Way to Highway 401/410)

Municipality	Kilometre Post*	Intersecting Roads
Oakville	105	Queen Elizabeth Way/Upper Middle Road/Ford Drive (westbound only)
Oakville - Mississauga Boundary	107	Dundas Street (Halton Road 5)
Mississauga	110	Highway 407
Mississauga	112	Winston Churchill Boulevard
Mississauga	114	Erin Mills Parkway (Peel Road 1)
Mississauga	118	Mavis Road
Mississauga	120	Hurontario Street
Mississauga	123	Cawthra Road (Peel Road 17)/Eastgate Parkway
Mississauga	124	Eglinton Avenue
Mississauga	126	Highway 401/Highway 410

(* Exit numbers are not posted on this stretch of Highway 403.)

External links

• [Detailed history of Highway 403]
• [Detailed route information for Highway 403]
• [Virtual Tour of Highway 403]

 

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