Ontario Highway 400 - Future

Future

On June 28, 2005, it was officially confirmed that Highway 69 would be twinned and bypassed north to Highway 17 in Sudbury. This announcement was accompanied by a time line with the completion date set for 2017. However, work was already underway in 2003 to expand Highway 69 south of Sudbury to four lanes. As work is completed at the southern end near Nobel, the Highway 400 designation is being extended north.

Construction began on the segment from Sudbury southwards to Estaire in 2005, while route planning studies were completed for the Estaire to Parry Sound segment. Portions of the route will be opened to traffic in segments as contracts are fulfilled; the segment between Sudbury and Estaire opened on November 12, 2009, while the Nobel bypass from Parry Sound to Highway 559 opened October 26, 2010. The remaining 115 km (71 mi) of two lane highway between Highway 559 and Estaire is in the planning and engineering phase. As the Sudbury segment of the freeway is discontinuous with the remainder of Highway 400, it will not be renumbered until the southern segment is connected with it.

As one of the oldest 400-series freeways, several vintage overpasses have been demolished in recent years to accommodate the future expansion of Highway 400 to a ten-lane freeway in the section from Vaughan to Barrie. Sixteen of these historic structures, sub-standard by today's freeway requirements, remained as of summer 2009, with all slated for replacement in the near future. In order to preserve some of this heritage the Ministry of Transportation created a 1800mm x 1625mm reusable urethane mould of the provincial coat-of-arms from the 5th Line overpass located south of Bradford, which will be used to decorate the replacement structures.