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

This short suburban freeway connects Highway 10 north of Brampton to Highway 401 in Mississauga. The highway primarily serves as a commuter route between Brampton and Mississauga, although the highway does allow long-distance traffic from Orangeville and Owen Sound to bypass Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) through Brampton. Together with Highway 10, Highway 410 serves as the main access route to the Greater Toronto Area from the northwestern counties of Southern Ontario.

The route of Highway 410 through Brampton was originally envisioned in the late 1960s, when long-range transportation planning studies recommended the construction of a new controlled-access highway corridor between Toronto and Brampton. Interestingly, the highway which ultimately became Highway 410 was first proposed to be an extension of the Belfield Expressway (Highway 409), which was in the process of being designed between Highway 401 and Toronto International Airport in the late 1960s. Land surveys prepared for the new highway through Brampton during the late 1960s identified the route as the "Belfield Expressway". The first section of the proposed Belfield Expressway's right-of-way through Brampton was designated alongside Heart Lake Road between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7 (Queen Street). The highway right-of-way was first shown on a survey plan dated December 8, 1967. The right-of-way for the proposed Belfield Expressway extension through Brampton was designated as a King's Highway on January 4, 1968. A Controlled-Access Highway (CAH) designation was applied to the route effective March 19, 1968. A second section of the proposed Belfield Expressway was surveyed from Highway 7 (Queen Street) northerly to the north limits of the Town of Brampton near today's Vodden Street in 1969. The proposed highway right-of-way was shown on a survey plan dated August 21, 1969. The right-of-way was designated as a King's Highway on September 18, 1969, and a CAH designation was applied to the route effective November 25, 1969. In 1970, the Department of Highways of Ontario (DHO) completed an exhaustive multi-year travel demand study for Peel County. Another other things, the study concluded that the conceptual extension of the Belfield Expressway from the Toronto International Airport Entrance to Brampton via Malton would not be very effective in alleviating growing traffic congestion along parallel roads. Instead, the report recommended the construction of a brand new highway parallel to Highway 10 which would connect to Highway 401 and the proposed route of Highway 403 west of Toronto International Airport.

By early 1971, surveys for the proposed highway through Brampton ceased to make reference to the former Belfield Expressway name, and the new name "Brampton Expressway" was used in its place. The Highway 410 route number was assigned to the highway during 1971, and the first land survey making reference to the new Highway 410 route number was dated March 23, 1972. As per the recommendation of the 1970 travel demand study, a right-of-way on an entirely new alignment was designated for Highway 410, which roughly paralleled Highway 10 between Steeles Avenue and Highway 401. The proposed highway right-of-way was shown on a survey plan dated August 3, 1972. The right-of-way was designated as a King's Highway on October 11, 1972, and a CAH designation was applied to the route effective November 16, 1972. Although it was initially considered to be part of Highway 7, a new Brampton Truck Bypass was also acquired by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC) in 1974. This truck route followed Heart Lake Road from Highway 7 (Queen Street) to Bovaird Drive and then along Bovaird Drive from Heart Lake Road to Westervelt Corners (Highway 7 & Highway 10 Junction) north of Brampton. A Preliminary Assumption Plan was prepared for the acquisition of Highway 7 (New) on December 27, 1973. The plan was registered January 3, 1974, and was designated as a CAH by an Order-in-Council, effective April 24, 1974. Once this section of the Brampton Truck Bypass had been designated, the entire Highway 410 corridor had been protected for future construction between Highway 401 in Mississauga and Bovaird Drive in Brampton.

It was decided that Highway 410 would be built as a staged freeway, so that construction expenditures could be spaced out over an extended period of time. An undivided two-lane Highway 410 would be constructed first and would be expanded to a divided highway at a later date when traffic volumes warranted such improvements. A two-lane highway was deemed to be sufficient to serve as a truck bypass for Highway 10 in the meantime, until the new freeway was completed. Rather than construct Highway 410 north of Steeles Avenue immediately, the MTC instead assumed jurisdiction and control over the existing route of Heart Lake Road between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7 (Queen Street) as an interim measure in 1976-1977. It was also recognized that construction staging of the Highway 410 freeway would be aided greatly by having a parallel route to carry traffic during the lengthy construction period anticipated. Up until 1976, the route of Highway 410 merely existed on land surveys, and was not actually a constructed, traversable highway. This changed when an assumption plan was prepared by the MTC to acquire a section of Heart Lake Road as Highway 410 between Orenda Road and Highway 7. The assumption plan was prepared on October 7, 1976 and registered on November 4, 1976, which technically created the first traversable section of Highway 410. The balance of Heart Lake Road from Orenda Road to Steeles Avenue was shown on an assumption plan prepared by the MTC on May 25, 1977 and registered on June 3, 1977. The interim route of Highway 410 via Heart Lake Road was designated as a King's Highway by an Order-in-Council dated August 10, 1977. This interim route of Highway 410 via Heart Lake Road was ultimately bypassed during construction of the Highway 410 freeway in the 1980s. The province eventually transferred over jurisdiction of the redundant sections of Heart Lake Road to the City of Brampton, effective January 25, 1990.

The first grading contract for the proposed interchange at Highway 401 and Highway 410 was awarded in 1973. The first construction contract for the route of Highway 410 itself was tendered in 1976. This newly-built section of Highway 410 was essentially an extension of Heart Lake Road from Steeles Avenue to Derry Road. Construction was completed on this new section of Highway 410 between Derry Road and Steeles Avenue in the Fall of 1977. A second construction contract got underway in 1977, which extended the new highway southerly from Derry Road to Highway 401. This work also included the construction of an east-west distributor road, known as Industrial Access Road (today's Courtneypark Drive). This second construction contract between Derry Road and Highway 401 was completed in late 1978, and included ramp access to and from Highway 401 East. The new undivided two-lane highway carried one lane of traffic in each direction. Highway 410 was strategically designed so that a new twin roadway for the ultimate southbound freeway lanes could be constructed at a later date. All major intersections along Highway 410 north of the Highway 401 Interchange were initially controlled by traffic signals. The two-lane pavement briefly flared out to a four-lane pavement with turning lanes through major intersections. This was done to improve traffic flow along Highway 410 until such time as grade-separated freeway interchanges could be constructed. Construction began on the first grade separation along Highway 410 at Industrial Access Road in 1979. The traffic signals at Highway 410 and Industrial Access Road were removed once the grade separation was completed in 1980.

Construction of the freeway section of Highway 410 through Brampton started in 1982, with the construction of culverts and storm sewers in the Orenda Road area. A contract for the construction of a partial interchange and grade separation at Clark Boulevard was awarded in 1983, and two other contracts got underway in 1984 for new grade separations at the CN Railway, Orenda Road and Highway 7 East (Queen Street). A subsequent construction contract in 1985 resulted in the construction of a grade separation at Glidden Road and the completion of the northbound lanes of the new freeway between a point just north of Steeles Avenue and Vodden Street. The northbound freeway lanes temporarily carried two-way traffic on Highway 410 for several years, until the southbound lanes were completed during a later construction stage. Construction began on a new grade separation and temporary connection to Bovaird Drive (Highway 7 West) in 1985 and a new grade separation and temporary connection at Williams Parkway in 1986. A grade separation was also constructed at the Franceschini Access Road. The two northbound lanes of Highway 410 were constructed between Vodden Street and Bovaird Drive under the Williams Parkway project. The new northbound roadway was temporarily staged to carry traffic in both directions on the two-lane road until the southbound lanes of Highway 410 were built during a subsequent contract. In 1988, construction started on the southbound lanes of Highway 410 between Bovaird Drive and Steeles Avenue, along with a grade separation at Vodden Street, which was completed in 1989. As part of this work, the partially-built interchanges at Clark Boulevard, Highway 7 East (Queen Street) and Williams Parkway were completed and the traffic signals removed at all of the temporary connections. This construction work in 1988-1989 essentially completed Highway 410 through the urbanized portion of Brampton north of Steeles Avenue. Two contracts were awarded in 1987 for the construction of grade separations and full interchanges at Derry Road and Steeles Avenue. Work began on twinning the existing route of Highway 410 from Highway 401 to a point just north of Steeles Avenue in 1988. Three new southbound lanes were constructed beside the original two-lane Highway 410. The original two-lane roadway was then converted to carry northbound traffic only and was also widened by one additional lane. Construction began on three new ramps at the Highway 401 & Highway 410 Interchange in 1988. The old loop ramp from southbound Highway 410 to eastbound Highway 401 was removed and replaced by a high-level flyover. Two new ramp connections to and from Highway 401 West were also built under this contract. All three new ramps opened to traffic in 1990. A partial interchange was built at Courtneypark Drive (formerly Industrial Access Road) in 1989. The traffic signals at the northern terminus of Highway 410 at the Bovaird Drive Connector were removed during an interchange reconfiguration project in 1995. This final project paved the way for the future extension of Highway 410 north of Bovaird Drive, which was already in the planning stages by the mid-1990s.

Until 2007, 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 allowed through traffic arriving in Brampton on Highway 10 to bypass Brampton entirely. In addition, the new highway extension greatly reduced traffic congestion along Heart Lake Road and other adjacent roads. 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.

Over the past several years, planning has been underway to widen Highway 410 to accommodate the growing traffic volumes on this important highway corridor. In 2010, a 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 began in 2011 on this 10 km section of freeway. Construction was officially started on this ambitious highway expansion project on September 9, 2014. The reconstruction and expansion of Highway 410 from Highway 401 to Queen Street was completed in the Fall of 2018.

Highway 410 varies in width from four to 13 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 were introduced on Highway 410 in early 2011. The exits are 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 interchange numbers along Highway 410.