Ontario Highway 404

Facing south along Woodbine Avenue in 1965; the crossroad is Finch Avenue, which passes over the ten lane freeway that has since replaced this rural road

A freeway east of Highway 11 was planned as early as 1954, when the province extended Highway 48 south from Port Bolster. A large cloverleaf interchange was constructed with the Toronto Bypass, and plans formulated for a dual highway around the east side of Lake Simcoe, connecting with Highway 11 near Orillia or Gravenhurst. This route was dropped when Metropolitan Toronto began planning for the northern extension of the DVP in 1957, as subdivisions encroached upon Woodbine Avenue north of Highway 401. The six-lane expressway was to follow the alignment of Woodbine from its southern terminus at Lawrence Avenue to north of Steeles Avenue, where the Department of Highways (DHO) would continue the road as a "new King's Highway".[3]

In 1959, the DHO announced that they would construct and maintain the new route once the DVP was completed to Highway 401 and designate it Highway 404.[7] The proposed route of the freeway was presented at a special delegation on December 13, 1960 by Harold Barry, a representative of the department.[8] Design work started in 1973,[9] and construction began following the awarding of a C$6.9 million contract in March 1976. This contract included construction of the Finch Avenue interchange, overpasses at McNicoll and Van Horne Avenues and 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of six-lane freeway between Sheppard and Steeles Avenues.[10][11] Shortly thereafter, on April 20, Ernest Avenue and Van Horne Avenue were closed to traffic at Woodbine.[12] The first section of Highway 404 between Highway 401 and Steeles Avenue opened in late 1977, including the flyover ramp from southbound Woodbine Avenue.[13] The freeway was separated by a grass median with a steel box beam acting as a barrier between the lanes. Construction north of Toronto proceeded quickly, with the contract for the section from Steeles to Highway 7 being awarded in 1976 and the section opening on November 10, 1978.[13][14] The next extension, to Stouffville Road (then known as the Gormley Side Road), was opened ceremoniously on December 9, 1980 by minister James Snow;[15] the segment north of Highway 7 was four lanes wide.[16]

Looking north from Sheppard Avenue at Highway 404's divided cross-section; from left-to-right is the southbound collector lanes, southbound express lanes including HOV lane, on-ramp (from Highway 401), and northbound lanes

The section of Highway 404 north of Stouffville Road was the subject of considerable controversy when work began to clear the route on May 15, 1981 before the completion of an environmental impact assessment. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications was charged with violating the newly enacted Environmental Assessment Act, which it contested came into effect after construction of the extension had begun.[17] Minister James Snow was charged with violating the act, and called upon to resign. The Minister did not resign, but paid a C$3,500 fine. Despite the issues surrounding it, the extension between Stouffville Road and Bloomington Road was opened ceremoniously on the morning of August 10, 1982.[18]

Construction on the segment north of Bloomington to Aurora Sideroad was already in progress by this point. It was opened to traffic in late September 1985.[19] 16th Avenue, which had been widened from two to four lanes during the mid-1980s, received ramps connecting to the freeway south of that existing underpass.[20] Construction on the 6.5 km (4.0 mi) section from Wellington Street to Davis Drive began in early 1986, and the section opened to traffic on October 24, 1989 at 8:30 am. This final segment cost $22.1 million, ending the continuous construction program undertaken since 1973 at a cost of $83.3 million.[9]

Studies and environmental assessments into various extensions began almost immediately after the completion of the route to Newmarket in 1989; it would take over a decade for any northward progression to take place. The completion of the route to Davis Drive was met with scorn as traffic in Newmarket rapidly increased as the bedroom community grew with the new highway access. Municipal officials warned prior to the opening of the route that major traffic delays would be faced along Davis Drive. Then-mayor Ray Twinney began an immediate push to widen Green Lane – at that time an unpaved rural route – into a bypass of the town.[21] Traffic delays were also compounded at the southern end of Toronto, where drivers whom had previously made use of Yonge Street, Bayview Avenue or Leslie Street would shift to make use of the new freeway.[22][23]

By 1992, York Region was moving forward with plans to expand Green Lane into a four lane road, while the province was urged to consider extending Highway 404 north to it, and eventually around the east side of Lake Simcoe.[23] The province studied this and other options over the following years, before a formal announcement was made by Minister of Transportation Tony Clement on June 22, 1998 along with York Region chairman Bill Fisch. The plan called for an extension of Highway 404 north to Green Lane, and widening of Highway 9, the western extension of Davis Drive (now part of it after being downloaded and redesignated as York Regional Road 31 east of Highway 400) outside town, to five lanes between Highway 400 and Bathurst Street. At the time over 20,000 vehicles used Davis Drive on an average day.[24]

Preliminary clearing in a field north of Green Lane in April 2011

Advanced construction work near Doane Road in June 2014

In the interim period, work went into expanding the six lane freeway through Toronto and Markham. A combination interchange was built with the new Highway 407 ETR which opened in June 1997, which as a prerequisite required the realignment of some ramps from the nearby Highway 7 interchange.[25] In early 1998, the MTO announced plans for two contracts to widen Highway 404 south of Highway 7. The first contract converted the grass median into an additional lane in each direction with a central concrete barrier between them, with the inner lanes to eventually be converted into HOV lanes. High-mast lighting was also installed, replacing the unique luminaires used on the freeway. The second contract would result in an additional lane in each direction on the outside the existing freeway south of Highway 407, making it ten lanes wide, with expansion of the southbound and northbound lanes completed in 2005 and 2007, respectively.[26][27][28] In 2002, Highway 404 was widened to six lanes between Highway 7 and Wellington Road, using the right-of-way afforded by the grass median.[6]

Highway 404 and 16th Avenue interchange, with Buttonville Municipal Airport in southeast quadrant.

Ramps were added to connect Regional Road 73 (16th Avenue) with the segment of Highway 404 north of that junction, making it a full interchange.[29][30] On June 19, 2003, Transportation Minister and Oak Ridges MPP Frank Klees opened the new ramps, with Thornhill MPP Tina Molinari also in attendance, with traffic permitted onto the ramp following the ceremony.[31]

Starting in the late 1990s, improvements were made to the bottlenecked interchange with Highway 401. This involved the construction of a two-lane on-ramp receiving traffic from the eastbound Highway 401 express and collectors that would converge with Highway 404 northbound without access to Sheppard Avenue, while the existing single lane on-ramp for that same movement was retained for Highway 401 collector traffic to exit at Sheppard Avenue.[4] In early 2004, construction began on a new ramp from the Highway 404 southbound HOV lane to the Highway 401 westbound collectors, with the ramp consisting of a curved tunnel beneath the Highway 404's southbound general traffic lanes. To accommodate the HOV ramp, the ramp for general traffic from Highway 404 southbound to the Highway 401 westbound collectors was realigned which also permitted a higher speed. On December 13, 2005, the southbound HOV lane was opened to traffic. This was one of the three original HOV lanes in Ontario; the other two HOV lanes were on Highway 403 in Mississauga.[27] Work on the northbound HOV lane began shortly thereafter, opening at 8:30 am on Monday, July 23, 2007.[28]

Highway 404 southbound, near the interchange with Steeles Avenue circa 2007. The southbound HOV lane has recently opened, while construction is underway on the northbound HOV lane.

The MTO formally announced plans to alleviate traffic in Newmarket on August 28, 2000: a three contract project to widen and extend Highway 404. The first contract added an additional lane in each direction in the grass median from Major Mackenzie Drive to Bloomington Road. A second contract then extended those two lanes north to Aurora Sideroad. These two projects both began in the summer of 2001 and were completed in December.[6] The third contract called for a four lane extension from Davis Drive to Green Lane and the reconstruction of Green Lane into a four-laned arterial road between Leslie Street and Woodbine Avenue.[32] This contract began shortly after the announcement in September 2000. The extension was opened to traffic on February 8, 2002 at a ceremony attended by York North MPP Julia Munro and York Region chairman Bill Fisch.[33][34]

On May 16, 2006, the MTO announced plans to extend Highway 404 by 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Green Lane to Ravenshoe Road at the south end of Keswick. The first contracts were awarded later that year for the construction of the northbound bridge over Green Lane,[35] followed by two structures over Mount Albert Road, west of Woodbine Avenue, begun in late 2008 and completed in 2009.[36][37] By April 2011, the extension had been cleared and graded.[38] Completion was originally scheduled for December 15, 2012 with landscaping work to continue the following spring.[39][40] However, due to soil conditions and utility relocation issues, the project was delayed by nearly two years. The C$99 million extension opened on September 17, 2014.[41]