Ontario Highway 404

Highway 404 marker
Highway 404
Map
Highway 404 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length50.1 km[1] (31.1 mi)
Existed1977–present
Major junctions
South end  Highway 401 / Don Valley ParkwayToronto
Major intersections 407 ETRMarkham
 Regional Road 7 (Highway 7) – Richmond Hill, Markham
North end Regional Road 8 (Woodbine Avenue) – East Gwillimbury
Location
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
Highway system
Highway 403 Highway 405

King's Highway 404 (pronounced "four-oh-four"), also known as Highway 404 and colloquially as the 404, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. A continuation of the municipal Don Valley Parkway (DVP) north of Highway 401, it connects Toronto with East Gwillimbury. The 50.1-kilometre (31.1 mi) controlled-access freeway also connects with Highway 407 in Markham, which formed the northeastern ring road of the Greater Toronto Area until the opening of Highway 412 in 2016. Highway 404 provides access to the eastern edge of Richmond Hill, Aurora and Newmarket and the western edge of Whitchurch-Stouffville, in addition to the southern edge of Keswick.

Metro Toronto (Metro) completed the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) to Sheppard Avenue in 1966. Metro initially planned extension of the DVP to Steeles Avenue, northward the province would continue the route which was inaugurated as Highway 404. However, the province ending up decided that their new highway would also run south of Steeles, incorporating the existing segment of the Metro-built DVP between Sheppard and Highway 401. The first section south of Steeles opened in 1977, over what was formerly Woodbine Avenue. Over the next twelve years, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) undertook a continuous construction program to extend the highway to Davis Drive in Newmarket. This was completed on October 24, 1989. The route has undergone a periodic series of smaller extensions and widening in the years since, now travelling a further 15.5 km (9.6 mi) north to Woodbine Avenue near Ravenshoe Road in the town of East Gwillimbury. Future proposals may one day result in an extension to southeast of Beaverton.

Highway 404 is one of several freeways in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) with High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes; the southbound lane was one of the initial projects in the province and opened on December 13, 2005. The northbound lane opened on July 23, 2007.

  1. ^ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2008). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) Counts". Government of Ontario. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2011.