Ontario Highway 407

Ontario Highway 407

Highway 407, officially known as the 407 Express Toll Route (ETR), is a privately operated 400-series highway and tollway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Despite being included as part of the 400-series network, Highway 407 is not part of the provincial highway network. It begins at the junction of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) and Highway 403 in Burlington, and travels 107.2 km (66.6 mi) northeast and east to its present terminus at Highway 7 and Brock Road (Durham Regional Road 1) in Pickering. Plans are currently underway to extend the highway further east through Durham Region to Highway 35/115 near Orono as a provincially maintained highway.

Leased to a private consortium in 1999, Highway 407 was formerly planned as a 400-series freeway to bypass the Toronto segment of Highway 401, currently the busiest highway in North America.

Major freeway junctions with Highway 407 are located at (from west to east) the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), Highways 403, 401, 410, 427, 400, and 404. Other major street junctions include Bronte Road (Halton Regional Road 25, formerly Highway 25), Hurontario Street (formerly Highway 10), Highway 27, Yonge Street (formerly Highway 11) and Markham Road (formerly Highway 48). In all, there are 40 different junctions on Highway 407 connecting the toll road with the main transportation network in the Greater Toronto Area.

Highway 407 is the first electronically operated toll highway opened in the world; there are no toll booths along the length of the highway. Transponders or licence plates are read at entrance and exit points and distances calculated electronically. Drivers are mailed their bill several days later. The tolls on the highway have generated considerable controversy since the highway opened, as well as a lawsuit brought on by the province.