Ontario Highway 410 History - The King's Highways of Ontario

This short suburban freeway connects Brampton to Highway 401 in Mississauga. The highway primarily serves as a commuter route, although it does allow long-distance traffic from Orangeville and Owen Sound to bypass Highway 10 through Downtown Brampton. The route of Highway 410 was originally envisioned in the late 1960s, when long-range transportation planning studies recommended the construction of a new highway corridor between Toronto and Brampton. Although Highway 410 was designated as a controlled access highway as early as 1974, the first stage of the highway wasn't completed until 1978. The new highway generally followed the route of Heart Lake Road. When Highway 410 first opened to traffic in 1978, it was a two-lane highway with at-grade intersections. The route was quickly upgraded to a freeway during the 1980s. Until recently, Highway 410 ended at Bovaird Drive (Formerly Highway 7 West). All traffic continuing north beyond Bovaird Drive was diverted onto Heart Lake Road, which was a mostly rural collector road incapable of carrying large volumes of heavy traffic. In 2004, work began on a multi-year project to extend Highway 410 north from Bovaird Drive towards Highway 10 near Snelgrove. The new Highway 410 extension will allow through traffic arriving in Brampton on Highway 10 to bypass Brampton entirely. In addition, the new highway extension will greatly reduce traffic congestion along the adjacent Heart Lake Road. In September 2007, the northbound lanes of Highway 410 were opened to traffic from Bovaird Drive to Mayfield Road, even though the southbound traffic lanes were still incomplete. The southbound lanes were opened to traffic several weeks later. The final phase of the Highway 410 Extension from Mayfield Road to Highway 10 was officially opened to traffic on November 16, 2009.

Planning is now underway to widen Highway 410 to accommodate the growing traffic volumes on this important highway corridor. In 2010, the preliminary design report was completed, which recommended the addition of two lanes per direction on Highway 410 from Highway 401 to Queen Street. One lane in each direction will be designated as a High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Carpool Lane. Detailed Design will begin in 2011 on this 10 km section of freeway.

Highway 410 varies in width from six to eight through lanes, depending on the road segment. Due to Highway 410's short length, there are no Service Centres located along the highway. However, services are readily available at all interchanges. The speed limit on Highway 410 is generally 100 km/h (60 mph), although lower speed limits of 90 km/h and 80 km/h are in place on the new section of Highway 410 between Mayfield Road and Highway 10. Exit numbers will be introduced on Highway 410 in early 2011. The exits will be numbered based on their distance from the Highway 401 Interchange in Mississauga. Approximate distances along the highway can therefore be calculated by subtracting one exit number from another. For example, the distance from Hurontario Street (Exit #21) to Highway 407 ETR (Exit #5) is 16 km (21 - 5 = 16). Please visit the Highway 410 Mileage Chart page for a list of proposed interchange numbers along Highway 410.