Ontario Highway 401 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Highway 401 shield A Macdonald–Cartier Freeway reassurance marker

Highway 401
Macdonald–Cartier Freeway
Highway 401 runs along southern Ontario connecting Windsor, Toronto and the Quebec border.
Highway 401 within Ontario, Canada
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length: 817.9 km (508.2 mi)
History:
  • Proposed 1938
  • Opened December 1947 – October 11, 1968
Major junctions
West end: Highway 3 to Windsor
 
East end: A-20 towards Montreal, QC
Location
Major cities: Windsor, London, Kitchener, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, Kingston and Cornwall
Highway system

  • Ontario provincial highways
  • List
  • 400-series
  • Former
← CAN 400 CAN 402 →

Ontario Highway 401, also called King's Highway 401, is a provincial highway in southern Ontario, Canada. It is 817.9 kilometres (508.2 miles) long. It starts near Ontario's border with Quebec, where the road is called Quebec Autoroute 20. The western end of the highway is in Windsor.

Construction on the highway started in 1947. By 1952, three different parts of the highway were finished, with the three parts connected by 1964. In 2013, another part of the highway was started. This part would extend the highway to the New International Trade Crossing at the Canadian-U.S. border near Detroit.

In 2008, part of the highway between Trenton and Toronto was called the "Highway of Heroes". This was because many Canadian soldiers who were killed overseas arrived at the Trenton airforce base. Their bodies were then transported along the highway to Toronto.

Images for kids

  • Highway 401 east of Highway 400

    Highway 401 just east of Highway 400 in Toronto, one of the highway's busiest segments

  • Highway 401's busiest point

    Highway 401 at Weston Road has volumes of over 500,000 vehicles per day during the summer months, making it the busiest stretch of highway in the world.

  • Highway 401-Highway 402 interchange

    Highway 401 widens to six lanes at Highway 402 in London.

  • Highway 401 between 403 and 410

    Highway 401 between Highway 410 and Highway 403 in Mississauga

  • Highway 401 The Basketweave Aerial

    "The Basketweave", located just east of the Highway 400 interchange, is a free-flowing crossover between the collector and express lanes.

  • A video camera mounted on a tall cement pole on the side of a roadway. The camera is not pointing at the roadway visible at the bottom-right of the picture, but to the left.

    Traffic cameras are mounted at every exit within Toronto and form one part of the COMPASS system.

  • Highway 401 in Toronto

    Highway 401 in central Toronto; the North York skyline is visible in the distance.

  • 401 Gridlock

    Traffic congestion on Highway 401 east of Toronto. During rush hours and special holidays, Highway 401 eastbound suffers severe from traffic jams as several lanes end between Pickering and Ajax, causing a traffic bottleneck.

  • A four-lane divided highway among short hills travels into the background and curves to the right. The two divided halves are separated by a depressed swampy median.

    East of Highway 416, Highway 401 is a low-volume rural freeway with a grass median.

  • A highway passes beneath the camera and continues straight into the horizon. It is surrounded by forests on either side and contains no guardrail to separate opposite flows of traffic.

    The former Highway 2A near Highland Creek, aside from a resurfaced pavement, has not been altered since it opened in 1947.

  • A four-leaf clover shaped highway junction, located in the midst of developing suburbs.

    The Highway 400 interchange in 1953. Today, the former cloverleaf has been replaced with a multilevel interchange.

  • Bird's-eye view of a highway at night. The highway starts at the bottom centre, turning to the right as it progresses into the background. Streams of light show the movement of cars along the highway. Tall poles support lit bulbs. Many buildings and lights are visible in the distance.

    Heavy traffic traverses Highway 401 within Toronto 24 hours a day.

  • A bird's-eye view of a large highway interchange under construction. Several bridges are complete, but nothing is paved, aside from one highway crossing horizontally, which detours between the bridges.

    The widening of Highway 401 from four to twelve lanes in Toronto took nine years and was accomplished with at least four lanes open at all times. Shown here is the Highway 401 / Don Valley Parkway / Highway 404 interchange under construction in 1965.

  • A blue plaque on a stone wall. The plaque has a yellow border, and is mostly rectangular in shape, with the long end oriented horizontally. However, the top side has a camel hump in the centre, with a circle centred at the top of the hump. Inside the circle is an Ontario coat-of-arms. The plaque reads: THE MACDONALD CARTIER FREEWAY This plaque commemorates the completion of the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway (Highway 401), the longest freeway operated without tolls by a single highway authority in North America. Covering 510 miles between Windsor on the Canada–US border and the Ontario-Quebec boundary, it serves the richest economic region in Canada. In January 1965, it was named by The Honourable John Robarts, Premier of Ontario, in honour of the two founding architects of the Confederation of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Georges Etienne Cartier. This site is located on the last section of construction, consisting of 15 miles between Ivy Lea and Highway 2, which was completed on October 11, 1968.

    A plaque near Brockville commemorates the official completion of the highway.

  • "An aerial photo of a wide 18-lane highway."

    Throughout the Greater Toronto Area, Highway 401 uses a collector-express roadway configuration to manage high traffic volumes. Highway 401's widest segment has 18 through lanes, located near Toronto Pearson International Airport and includes The Transfer.

  • A black-and-white photo shows a four-lane freeway divided by a grass median. In the oncoming lanes, traffic is congested into the distance. With few exceptions, the freeway is surrounded by farmland.

    Within years after opening, the four-lane Toronto Bypass was congested, prompting the Department of Highways to widen this section to 12 lanes beginning in 1963.

  • Driving down a six-lane highway during the day. In front is a concrete bridge. The highway curves to the right as it passes beneath the bridge.

    Highway 401 at Meadowvale Road in 1989, before being widened to a 14-lane collector-express system

  • A bridge showcased against the sky, with the ground not visible. Lining the bridge are people, some holding Canadian flags.

    Canadians line overpasses along the Highway of Heroes to pay their respects to fallen soldiers.

  • Highway 401 from Wellington Road in London, Looking West Towards Highway 402

    Highway 401 was widened in 2008 between Highway 402 and Wellington Road in London

  • HGParkway Western End

    The new parkway (pictured under construction in July 2013) was extended alongside former Highway 3 and the E.C. Row Expressway to the Detroit River, where it will cross the future Gordie Howe International Bridge to connect with I-75 in Michigan.

  • Highway 401 west of Highway 402

    Highway 401 between Highway 4 and Highway 402 is being reconstructed and now includes a new interchange with Wonderland Road. This photo was taken from the Westminster Drive overpass which was demolished on July 5, 2014, to prepare for the widening of the highway west towards Highway 4.

  • Highway 401 Greenbelt

    Highway 401 in the Greenbelt. The stretch of Highway 401 between Highway 8 and Highway 407 ETR is slated to be widened from six to ten lanes, including two HOV lanes.

  • 401 Hurontario-12

    Work is underway to expand Highway 401 from six to twelve lanes from Hurontario Street to the Credit River by 2019, consisting of a collector-express system with HOV lanes. Pictured is Highway 401 near Mavis Road in 2012.

  • "A paved segment of highway next to a busy freeway."

    Work underway in 2012 to widen Highway 401 from six to fourteen lanes between Highway 410 and Hurontario Street. The widening included a collector-express system and (yet to be opened) HOV lanes.

  • CambridgeONroute2

    ONroute Cambridge South service station


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Ontario Highway 401 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.