Ontario Highway 400 Photographs - Page 8 - History of Ontario's Kings Highways

Above - Old Major Mackenzie Drive Bridge on Hwy 400 in Vaughan, shortly before being demolished on October 5, 2003. This is the same bridge which is shown under construction in the 1949 Photo on Page 1. Note the new Major Mackenzie Bridge in the background. Photo courtesy of Lance Dutchak - © 2003.

Left - Old Major Mackenzie Drive Bridge on Hwy 400 in Vaughan, shortly before its demolition on October 5, 2003.
(Photograph taken on October 1, 2003 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Looking east across the old Major Mackenzie Drive Bridge on Hwy 400. Note the new span at left.
(Photograph taken on October 1, 2003 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Close-up of the steel handrails on the eastern side of the old Major Mackenzie Drive Bridge on Hwy 400.
(Photograph taken on October 1, 2003 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Aerial view of the reconstructed Major Mackenzie Drive Interchange on Hwy 400 in Vaughan, facing south towards Toronto.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Mark Mirrlees)

Left - Aerial view of the Major Mackenzie Drive Interchange at Hwy 400 in Vaughan, facing southeast.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Mark Mirrlees)

Right - Aerial view of Hwy 400 at the Teston Road Overpass in Vaughan, facing north towards Barrie. A new interchange was completed at Teston Road in August 2009 to service the rapidly-expanding cities of York Region.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Aerial view of Hwy 400 at the Teston Road Overpass in Vaughan, facing southwest. Since I took this photo in mid-2004, nearly all of the vacant land adjacent to Hwy 400 on the south side of Teston Road has been developed.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Aerial view of Hwy 400 facing south towards the Teston Road Overpass in Vaughan.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Aerial view of the Southbound King City Service Centre on Hwy 400 near Teston Road.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Aerial view of the Northbound King City Service Centre on Hwy 400 near King-Vaughan Road.
(Photograph taken on May 30, 2004 - © Mark Mirrlees)

Left - Facing north along Hwy 400 towards the King-Vaughan Road Overpass. Structure completed in 1961.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Eastern side of the Humber River Bridge on Hwy 400 in King Township. This concrete barrel arch culvert was completed in 1946, and was actually the first structure built on Hwy 400. The western (upstream) side of this culvert was badly damaged during Hurricane Hazel in October 1954, when the flooded Humber River overwhelmed the culvert and eroded away part of the fill supporting the highway. As a result of the storm damage, the western side of the culvert was completely rebuilt in 1955. However, the eastern (downstream) side of the culvert remains more or less unmodified from its original 1940s design.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing south along Hwy 400 towards Toronto from the King Road Overpass. The King Road Interchange was completely rebuilt in 2009-2010. The original four-ramp partial cloverleaf was replaced with a standard "A4 Parclo" interchange. The original King Road Overpass was also removed during this project, in order to accommodate additional through lanes on Hwy 400. The additional lanes will be built as part of a subsequent highway widening contract.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - View of the southwestern quadrant of the King Road Interchange. Preliminary grading is underway to construct a new directional ramp from eastbound King Road to southbound Hwy 400. This new ramp will eliminate the need for Toronto-bound traffic to turn left from eastbound King Road to access the ramp to Hwy 400 South.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Concrete rigid frame bridge over Hwy 400 at King Road. Structure completed in 1950.
(Photograph taken on April 10, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Looking northwest towards the King Road Overpass on Hwy 400.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Northern side of the King Road Overpass on Hwy 400. The old bridge was replaced by a wider structure during the King Road Interchange reconstruction project. The old bridge shown here was demolished on February 21, 2010.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Ontario coat-of-arms embossed into the concrete wing wall of the King Road Overpass. This decorative motif was employed on most freeway overpasses built in Ontario between 1947 and 1953. In recognition of the historical and cultural significance of Hwy 400, the coat-of-arms motif will be reinstated on the new King Road Overpass when it is completed in 2010. This is the first time that a recreation of the historic coat-of-arms motif has been incorporated into a replacement freeway structure.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Facing north along Hwy 400 towards Barrie from the King Road Overpass.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Old MTO Carpool Lot in the southeast quadrant of the King Road Interchange. The old MTO Carpool Lot occupies the site of the former King City Service Centre, which was demolished in the 1970s and relocated to a new site several kilometres to the south. The reconstruction of the King Road Interchange in 2009-2010 forced the relocation of the MTO Carpool Lot to the northeast quadrant of the interchange.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Northeast quadrant of the King Road Interchange, showing the preliminary grading for the new ramp from westbound King Road to northbound Hwy 400. The MTO Carpool Lot was relocated to the north side of King Road in late 2009.
(Photograph taken on April 11, 2009 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing north along Hwy 400 approaching the King Road Interchange. Note the newly-completed directional ramp in the southwest quadrant at left. The advance construction of this ramp was necessary so that Hwy 400 traffic could be detoured through the ramp during the demolition of the old King Road Overpass.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Ground-mounted exit sign for King Road on northbound Hwy 400. Ground-mounted signs are becoming rather rare on the southernmost portion of Hwy 400, as the MTO slowly converts the highway's guide signs to overhead truss-mounted exit signs.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - New King Road Overpass as seen from the northbound Hwy 400 exit ramp. The old 1950 concrete rigid frame overpass can be seen in the background.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Old King Road Overpass, two days before the structure was demolished. The approaches have been pulled back in preparation for the bridge removal stage.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - With the approach fill removed, the angled wing walls of the King Road Overpass and the T-beam behind the bridge abutment have been uncovered.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Old and new King Road Overpasses side by side. Once the old 1950 structure is removed, the second half of the new structure will be completed in its place.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - The old 1950 structure was initially designed to cross over a four-lane freeway with a depressed grass median. The grass median was backfilled in 1971 in order to permit the construction of one additional freeway lane per direction, so the bridge now crosses over six lanes of traffic (three lanes per direction). The new King Road Overpass on Hwy 400 has room for additional lanes on the freeway below. One of the new lanes on Hwy 400 will be a High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Carpool Lane.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Approaching the Old King Road Overpass on southbound Hwy 400, two days before the structure was demolished.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Demolition equipment is lined up along the shoulder of Hwy 400 in preparation for the removal of the old King Road Overpass. As with most other recent Ontario bridge replacement projects, the old structure will be demolished in a single night.
(Photograph taken on February 19, 2010 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - Sideroad 16 Underpass on Hwy 400 in King Township. Structure completed in 1947.
(Photograph taken on April 10, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Facing west towards the Sideroad 16 Underpass on Hwy 400 in King Township. The eastern side of this bridge was extended in the 1990s as part of a shoulder reconstruction and widening project.
(Photograph taken on April 10, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Left - View of Lloydtown-Aurora Road Interchange and Overpass. The old cloverleaf ramp in the southwest quadrant (shown here in the foreground) was removed in the late 1980s.
(Photograph taken on April 10, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)

Right - Lloydtown-Aurora Road Overpass on Hwy 400 in King Township. Structure completed in 1950.
(Photograph taken on April 10, 2005 - © Cameron Bevers)