Ontario Highway 88 - Highway 400

Highway 400

With the completion of the Toronto- Barrie Highway 400 in 1952, a new multi-lane highway emerged that would transform Barrie and Northern Ontario forever. A series of bridges and interchanges were built along the highway and every side road with an even number (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) was cut off in West Gwillimbury at Highway 400. The remaining side roads, with odd numbers, were given access either over or under the highway. Highway 88 was given a clover leaf interchange where 8 ramps were constructed, which was one of the most expensive types of interchanges that could be built at the time. Currently, the ramps are seen as very dangerous to merge onto and off the highway as they have not been maintained or upgraded properly. As well, many accidents have occurred as the average speed on these highways has increased since the time of construction. It is one of the few cloverleaf low-standard interchanges left on Ontario's 400 series highways. As well, it is the only interchange on the original section of Highway 400 between Barrie and Toronto where there are no traffic lights servicing traffic coming off or going on the highway (with the exception of the Canal Road exit, which is an even lower-standard interchange).