Located on the Hamilton mountain, atop the Niagara Escarpment, the freeway was named after the former Progressive Conservative MP and first black Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lincoln Alexander in July 1997, despite him never holding a driver's license.

Although planning for the Red Hill Creek Expressway began in 1963, construction did not begin until 1991, by which point the project had become a contentious issue.

[1][5] Beyond the Upper Ottawa Street crossing, residential developments are confined to the north side of the Linc as it curves southward, descending towards the top of the Red Hill Valley.

Immediately east of there, the Mud Street interchange branches off as the route curves northward and becomes the Red Hill Valley Parkway, which descends the escarpment towards the QEW.

Despite this, plans for both The Linc as well as the Red Hill Valley Parkway appeared simultaneously in 1963, when Hamilton City Council approved the 'Hamilton Area Transportation Study' which included the Highway 53 Freeway as one of five proposed expressways.

Construction began immediately on structures to carry three routes (two road and one rail) over the future Red Hill Valley Parkway.

[6][7] However, the election of the NDP government in September 1990 — with representatives who had all been vocally opposed to the expressway since the late 1970s winning all six Hamilton-area seats — provincial funding was pulled from the north–south portion of the project in December.

Despite this, construction began on the east–west expressway in 1991 under a 50/50 cost-sharing agreement while the City of Hamilton attempted to sue the provincial government for the reinstatement of funding for the north–south portion.

On June 5, 1999, an extension to connect with Mud Street was opened, designed to fit within the future interchange with the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

[3] This issue, which became a serious bottleneck when traffic on the new expressway greatly exceeded expectations, was remedied beginning in 2001 with the construction of two flyovers to replace the problematic movements and the removal of the under-utilized connection from eastbound Mohawk Road to westbound Highway 403.

[16][17] In June 2014, the City of Hamilton modified the eastern terminus of the Linc from west of Dartnall Road to the interchange with the Red Hill Valley Parkway and Mud Street.