Route Description
Highway 416 begins at an interchange with Highway 401, branching to the north near the community of Johnstown in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. This interchange only provides access to and from the west, but immediately north of it, a second interchange with the remaining section of Highway 16 provides access from Johnstown and to both directions of Highway 401, as well as to an international crossing into the United States. Proceeding north, the two carriageways of the freeway are separated by an 68-metre (223 ft)-wide forested median. The route is surrounded by thick forests for the next 10 km (6.2 mi). As it passes beneath Leeds and Grenville County Road 44, the original routing of Highway 16 (the Prescott Highway) south of Spencerville, it exits the forest and enters farm fields. The route travels to the east of the community, access to which is provided by an interchange at County Road 21, and crosses a swamp and the South Nation River.
Highway 416 crosses under the Prescott Highway a second time; to the north, the two remain roughly parallel but separated as they pass through a mix of farmland and forest. South of the community of Kemptville, the Prescott Highway crosses the route a third time, with an interchange connecting the two highways. The freeway curves to the northeast, bypassing Kemptville and featuring an interchange with County Road 43 (formerly Highway 43). It crosses the line of the old Bytown and Prescott Railway, then curves to the northwest, providing an interchange with River Road. At the southeast corner of the River Road interchange is the Veterans Commemorative Park, dedicated in 2000 by the Royal Canadian Legion. It crosses the Rideau River and enters the Ottawa region. Aside from the first couple of kilometres north of the Rideau River, the majority of the freeway cuts through swaths of farmland which fill the Ottawa Valley. The median also narrows for the remainder of the distance into Ottawa. The freeway encounters an interchange with Dilworth Road and thereafter with Roger Stevens Drive, the latter providing access to North Gower.
Continuing north of Manotick through fields, Highway 416 is crossed by the Prescott Highway for the fourth and final time as that road turns northeast and travels into downtown Ottawa as Prince of Wales Drive. Shortly thereafter is an interchange with Brophy Drive / Bankfield Road; the latter provides access to the Prescott Highway / Prince of Wales Drive. Approaching urban Ottawa, the route passes alongside a large quarry, then jogs to the west along an S-curve, crossing the Jock River in the process. After this, an interchange with Fallowfield Road provides access to the suburb of Barrhaven which occupies portions of the land immediately east of the freeway. The route jogs back to the east along a second S-curve and passes through an aesthetically designed bridge while travelling alongside the Stony Swamp.
The final section of Highway 416 travels parallel to Cedarview Road, which was relocated for the freeway. The Stony Swamp lies west of the route while farmland lies to the east. At the northern end of the swamp is an interchange with West Hunt Club Road. The freeway continues through a section of greenspace before descending gently into a trench. It passes beneath Bruin Road and the Ottawa Central Railway while travelling alongside Lynwood Village. The highway is crossed by Baseline Road and Richmond Road; the former provides an onramp to southbound Highway 416. The freeway ends at a large interchange with the Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 417 (Exit 131), near the shore of Britannia Bay on the Ottawa River; downtown Ottawa is to the east and Kanata is to the west.
Read more about this topic: Ontario Highway 416
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