Ontario Highway 401 - Route Description

Route Description

Highway 401 extends across Southwestern, Central and Eastern Ontario. In anticipation of the future expansion of the highway, the transportation ministry purchased a 91.4-metre-wide (300 ft) right-of-way along the entire length. Generally the highway occupies only a portion of this allotment. It is one of the world's busiest highways; a 2008 analysis stated that the annual average daily traffic (AADT) count between Weston Road and Highway 400 in Toronto was approximately 450,000, while a second study estimates that over 500,000 vehicles travel that section on some days. This makes it the busiest roadway in North America, surpassing the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles and I-75 in Atlanta. The just-in-time auto parts delivery systems of the highly integrated automobile industry of Michigan and Ontario have contributed to the highway's status as the busiest truck route in the world, carrying 60 percent of vehicular trade between Canada and the US.

Highway 401 also features the busiest multi-structure bridge in North America, located at Hogg's Hollow in Toronto. The four bridges, two for each direction with the collector and express lanes, carried an average of 373,700 vehicles daily in 2006. The highway is one of the major backbones of a network in the Great Lakes region, connecting the populous Quebec City – Windsor corridor with Michigan, New York and central Ontario's cottage country. It is the principal connection between Toronto and Montreal, becoming Autoroute 20 at the Quebec border.