Ontario Highway 409

Ontario Highway 409

King's Highway 409, commonly referred to as Highway 409 and historically as the Belfield Expressway, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that extends from Highway 401 in Toronto to Pearson International Airport, west of Highway 427, in Mississauga. It is a short freeway used mainly as a bypass for traffic approaching the airport or Highway 427 northbound from Highway 401 westbound, as both are not accessible at the complex interchange between Highways 401 and 427.

Planning for Highway 409 took place throughout the late 1960s amidst considerable controversy around its original path through the historic town of Malton. Eventually the route was changed to provide access to the airport instead of towards Brampton and completed through the mid-1970s, opening in 1978. The significance of the route has increased over the years alongside expansion of the airport. In 2000, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) purchased the section west of Highway 427 in order to modify the ramps leading into the airport.

The speed limit along Highway 409 is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) east of Highway 427 and 60 km/h (37 mph) west of it. It is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police east of the Toronto–Peel boundary and by the Peel Regional Police to the west of it. The original name of the freeway was derived from the road running parallel to and north of it, Belfield Road. Belfield is a local road managed by the City of Toronto and runs from Kipling Avenue to Atwell Drive.