Ontario Highway 417

Ontario Highway 417

King's Highway 417, commonly referred to as Highway 417 and the Queensway through Ottawa, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It connects Montreal (via A40) with Ottawa, and is the backbone of the transportation system in the National Capital Region. Within Ottawa, it forms part of the Queensway (along with Ottawa Road 174 east to Trim Road) west to Highway 7. Highway 417 extends from the Quebec border (near Hawkesbury) to Arnprior, where it continues westward as Highway 17. Aside from the urban section through Ottawa, Highway 417 passes through farmland that dominates much of the fertile Ottawa Valley.

Within Ottawa, the Queensway was built as part of a grand plan for the city between 1957 and 1966, and later reconstructed to its present form throughout the 1980s. The eastern section, from Gloucester to the Quebec border, opened in 1975 in preparation for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Sections west of Ottawa have been under construction since the mid-1970s, with the latest section to Arnprior opening in 2005. As of 2012, the Arnprior Bypass is being twinned as far west as Campbell Drive and is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.