Ontario Highway 404

A continuation of the municipal Don Valley Parkway (DVP) north of Highway 401, it connects Toronto with East Gwillimbury.

Metro initially planned extension of the DVP to Steeles Avenue, northward the province would continue the route which was inaugurated as Highway 404.

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.

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.

[2][3] A continuation of the municipal-controlled DVP, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) jurisdiction over the freeway begins as the opposing directions of travel diverge south of the Highway 401 interchange.

Alongside Highway 404 to the east is an industrial warehouse and commercial office area, while on the west is a suburban subdivision of North York.

At this point the freeway narrows and the central concrete barrier ends; a grass median taking its place between the opposing lanes.

The land-use density continues to drop, with the appearance of some open spaces and farms interspersed with industrial and commercial buildings.

[7] The route continues, passing east of the community of Queensville, where just a bit north Highway 404 will meet the future Bradford Bypass, as it eventually curves northeast and terminates at an at-grade intersection with Woodbine Avenue immediately south of Ravenshoe Road (York Regional Road 32).

This route was dropped when Metropolitan Toronto began planning for the northern extension of the DVP in 1957, as subdivisions encroached upon Woodbine Avenue north of Highway 401.

[11][12] Design work on Highway 404 started in 1973,[13] and construction began following the awarding of a C$6.9 million contract in March 1976.

[20] The section of Highway 404 north of Stouffville Road was the subject of considerable controversy when work began to clear the route on May 15, 1981 before the completion of an environmental impact assessment.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications was charged with violating the newly enacted Environmental Assessment Act, which it contested came into effect after construction of the extension had begun.

In the 1980s the province removed the separate sets of Fairview Mall Drive and Sheppard Avenue ramps in favour of an on/off-ramp that fed directly to the shopping centre and an extension of Fairview Mall Drive whose eastbound lanes run south to meet with Sheppard Avenue.

The completion of the route to Davis Drive was met with scorn as traffic in Newmarket rapidly increased as the bedroom community grew with the new highway access.

Municipal officials warned prior to the opening of the route that major traffic delays would be faced along Davis Drive.

Then-mayor Ray Twinney began an immediate push to widen Green Lane – at that time an unpaved rural route – into a bypass of the town.

[27] The province studied this and other options over the following years, before a formal announcement was made by Minister of Transportation Tony Clement on June 22, 1998, along with York Region chairman Bill Fisch.

[7] Ramps were added to connect Regional Road 73 (16th Avenue) with the segment of Highway 404 north of that junction, making it a full interchange.

[35] The MTO formally announced plans to alleviate traffic in Newmarket on August 28, 2000: a three contract project to widen and extend Highway 404.

The first contract added an additional lane in each direction in the grass median from Major Mackenzie Drive to Bloomington Road.

[7] The MTO formally announced plans to alleviate traffic in Newmarket on August 28, 2000: a three contract project to widen and extend Highway 404.

The first contract added an additional lane in each direction in the grass median from Major Mackenzie Drive to Bloomington Road.

[37][38] On May 16, 2006, the MTO announced plans to extend Highway 404 by 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Green Lane to Ravenshoe Road at the south end of Keswick.

The first contracts were awarded later that year for the construction of the northbound bridge over Green Lane,[39] followed by two structures over Mount Albert Road, west of Woodbine Avenue, begun in late 2008 and completed in 2009.

Aerial photograph of the Don Valley Parkway / Highway 404 / Highway 401 interchange
Highway 404 looking north just north of the Highway 401 / Don Valley Parkway interchange, showing the interchange with Sheppard Avenue , with Fairview Mall and Consumers Road office park on the west and east sides of the freeway, respectively.
Highway 404 at Stouffville Road
Facing south along Woodbine Avenue in 1965, with an intersection at Finch Avenue. By 1977, this was replaced by the six lane Highway 404 with a Parlo interchange with Finch.
A bird's-eye view of a large highway interchange under construction. Several bridges are complete, but nothing is paved, aside from one highway crossing horizontally, which detours between the bridges.
The Highway 401 / Don Valley Parkway interchange (which replaced an earlier interchange with Woodbine Avenue ) under construction in 1965. The northern leg of the junction would eventually be designated as Highway 404
Originally built as part of the Don Valley Parkway, the segment south of Sheppard Avenue became part of Highway 404 in 1977.
Looking north from Sheppard Avenue at Highway 404's divided cross-section; from left-to-right is the southbound collector lanes, southbound express lanes including HOV lane, on-ramp (from Highway 401), and northbound lanes
Highway 404 southbound, near the interchange with Steeles Avenue c. 2006 . The southbound HOV lane was completed, while construction was still underway on the northbound HOV lane.
Looking south at the interchange with 16th Avenue , with Buttonville Municipal Airport in southeast quadrant. The freeway configuration is after its 2002 widening, with a narrowed grass median that would be paved over during the route's 2023 expansion.