Highway 427 (Ontario)
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| Image:Ontario 427.png | |
| Highway 427 | |
| Airport Expressway | |
| |
| Length: | 21.3 km (13.3 miles) |
|---|---|
| Formed: | 1972 |
| Direction: | North/South |
| From: | Toronto, Ontario |
| To: | Vaughan, Ontario |
| Major cities: | Toronto |
Highway 427 is Ontario's second busiest freeway by volume, and has no fewer than 12 lanes between the QEW/Gardiner and Highway 401, divided into an collector-express system similar to that of Highway 401. Notable about Highway 427 are its several multi-level interchanges; the junctions with QEW and Highway 401 were Ontario's first 4-level interchanges constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s while the interchanges with Highway 409 and Highway 407 are more recent and were completed in 1992 and 1995.
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[edit] History
Highway 427 was inaugurated in 1972 and incorporated two existing routes; the freeway portion of Highway 27 between the QEW and Highway 401 (the initial 401 and Highway 27 was the Toronto Bypass in the 1950s), and the Airport Expressway (that section of 427 is still known by the name since it opened in 1964) between the 401 and Toronto Pearson International Airport since the construction of the former Terminal 1 in the 1960s.
Since 1972, there has been no direct access from Highway 401 westbound to Highway 427 northbound and vice versa; that link is provided by Highway 409 instead. The Carlingview Drive was added into the interchange to serve local needs. The complicated 401-427 interchange also includes high-speed ramps between from Eglinton Avenue westbound to Highway 401 westbound, Highway 427, and Highway 27; those freeway-to-freeway connectors (which seem excessive even for an arterial road like Eglinton) were meant for the abandoned Richview Expressway project which was proposed to run eastward from that interchange, parallel to Eglinton. Plans to have Highway 403 run directly to the 401-427 interchange were scrapped and it was replaced by a collector-express setup on Highway 401 from 403's eventual eastern teminus (401-403-410 interchange) to 427.
By the mid-1980s the northern stretch from Highway 401 to Highway 7 was completed, replacing the former secondary route known as Indian Line, which also served as the Toronto/Peel boundary.
[edit] Collector-Express Setup
Highway 427's collector-express system between 401 and the QEW replaced the service roads that previously ran next to that routing (when it was previously known as Highway 27). To compensate, one unique feature of Highway 427's collector-express system is that its collector lanes have numerous RIRO onramps and offramps to serve residential traffic. The ramps connect to the two minor arterials, The West Mall Way and The East Mall Way, that run north-south parallel to Highway 427 from Eglinton Avenue to Evans Avenue (The West Mall Way's northern terminus is at Rathburn Road and one can continue to Eglinton via Renforth Drive). These RIRO ramps supplement the freeway's standard Parclo interchanges with several major arterials.
Unlike Highway 401 whose main collector-express system is also designed to increase the overall capacity of the road, Highway 427's collector-express system merely separates two streams of traffic, squeezing two parallel freeways into one corridor. The express lanes connect the QEW/Gardiner with 401 and exclusively lead to freeway-to-freeway ramps, while the collector lanes link up Highway 27 with Browns Line and have interchanges with local traffic. By contrast, on Highway 401, the collectors enjoy equal access to intersecting freeways as the express lanes do, so their use is not restricted to local traffic.
There are transfers between express and collector lanes; however 401/Airport to QEW/Gardiner traffic has grown far heavier, making the express lanes congested while the collectors are underused. A good example of this jam occurs on Highway 427 southbound at the collector-to-express transfer near Bloor Street, where the majority of commuters need to get to the express lanes in order to reach the QEW/Gardiner. There is little utility for the collectors south of that transfer since only a minority of motorists are headed for local traffic (The Queensway, Evans Avenue, Browns Line). Recent 427-QEW interchange improvements in 2001-2002 allowed southbound traffic in the collector lanes to access the Gardiner Expressway via a newly constructed loop ramp.
[edit] Recent developments
 
| This article or section contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available. |
There is talk of expanding this route further north from Vaughan, to at least Highway 89, and possibly as far north as Barrie, as a parallel bypass of the existing Highway 400 whose traffic levels are expected to outstrip expansion capacity in the next 20 years. No firm plans for the 427 an extension have been put forward yet, but current plans will likely extend the road to Rutherford Road or possibly Major Mackenzie Drive.
[edit] Volume Information (2005)
- Highest Volume: 311,400 AADT from Burnhamthorpe Road to Rathburn Road
- Lowest Volume: 44,700 AADT from Coules Court to QEW
[edit] Lane Configurations from South to North
| Section | Travel Lanes |
|---|---|
| Evans Avenue to Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway | 2 Lanes per Direction |
| Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway to Dundas Street | 7 Lanes per Direction (4 express, 3 local) |
| Dundas Street to Burnhamthorpe Road | 6 Lanes per Direction (3 express, 3 local) |
| Burnhamthorpe Road to Highway 401 | 7 Lanes per Direction (4 express, 3 local) |
| Highway 401 to Dixon Road/Airport Road/Toronto Pearson International Airport | 5 Lanes per Direction |
| Dixon Road/Airport Road/Toronto Pearson International Airport to Rexdale Boulevard/Derry Road | 3 Lanes per Direction |
| Rexdale Boulevard/Derry Road to Finch Avenue | 3 Lanes Southbound, 2 Lanes Northbound |
| Finch Avenue to Highway 407 | 2 Lanes per Direction |
| Highway 407 to Highway 7 (York Road 7) | 2 Lanes Southbound, 3 Lanes Northbound |
[edit] Interchanges from South to North
| Municipality | Kilometre Post* | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 0 | Image:QEW.PNG Queen Elizabeth Way/Gardiner Expressway |
| Toronto | 1 | The Queensway |
| Toronto | 2 | Dundas Street (Formerly Image:Ontario 5.png Highway 5) |
| Toronto | 4 | Burnhamthorpe Road |
| Toronto | 5 | Rathburn Road |
| Toronto | 7 | Eglinton Avenue/Image:Ontario 27.png Highway 27/Image:Ontario 401.png Highway 401 |
| Toronto - Mississauga Boundary | 12 | Dixon Road/Airport Road/Toronto Pearson International Airport |
| Toronto - Mississauga Boundary | 13 | Image:Ontario 409.png Highway 409 |
| Toronto - Mississauga Boundary | 16 | Rexdale Boulevard/Derry Road |
| Toronto - Mississauga Boundary | 18 | Finch Avenue |
| Vaughan | 20 |  Highway 407
|
| Vaughan | 22 | Former Image:Ontario 7.png Highway 7 (York Road 7) |
- No exit numbers are posted on Highway 427, although they may be when the highway is extended.
[edit] Proposed Interchanges from South to North (exit numbers assumed)
| Municipality | Kilometre Post* | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Vaughan | 24 | Langstaff Road (York Road 72) |
| Vaughan | 26 | Rutherford Road (York Road 73) |
| Vaughan | 28 | Major Mackenzie Drive (York Road 25) |
| Vaughan | 33 | Kirby Sideroad |
| King | 37 | King Road (York Road 11) |
| King | 43 | 17th Sideroad |
| King - New Tecumseth Boundary | 50 | Highway 9 |
| New Tecumseth | 56 | New Tecumseth 5th Line |
| New Tecumseth | 60 | New Tecumseth 8th Line (Simcoe County Road 1) |
| New Tecumseth | 63 | Bradford Bypass (proposed freeway) |
[edit] Reference
| 400-series highways of Ontario | |||
| 400 | 401 | 402 | 403 | 404 | 405 | 406 | 407 ETR | 409 | 410 | 416 | 417 | 420 | 427 | QEW | |||
| Proposed: 424 | |||
| Ontario Provincial Highways | List of Ontario expressways | |||
</center>pt:Highway 427
