Ontario Highway 400A

Route description

The short highway features a narrow grass median for the majority of its length, and has a speed limit of 100 km/h. On average, the highway is used by approximately 11,900 vehicles daily. Highway 400A (now Highway 11) began as Highway 400 "exits" on a semi-directional ramp that crosses above via a flyover. Unusually, traffic to and from Highway 400 (often colloquially known as the Highway 400 extension north of the split) enters and exits at the right of the roadway, while traffic to and from former Highway 400A (now Highway 11) simply continues on the same roadway. This split interchange is also incomplete; drivers must either use the Forbes Road and Penetanguishene Road interchanges, or continue southbound into Barrie and exit and re-enter northbound at Duckworth Street in order to travel from southbound Highway 11 to northbound Highway 400 or from southbound Highway 400 to northbound Highway 11.{{Google maps

| access-date = May 28, 2011}}

After the interchange with Highway 400, the highway ascends, with grasslands to the east and an embankment to the west, then gently curves to the northeast. As it crosses Simcoe County Road 93 (Penetanguishene Road), formerly Highway 93, the former highway ended as it continued as Highway 11.{{cite map

History

Highway 400A formed the original routing of Highway 400 from 1950 to 1959. In 1950, the then-incomplete freeway was extended north through the city of Barrie to the junction of Highway 11 and Highway 93 in Crown Hill; the entirety of Highway 400 would open on Dominion Day in 1952.

In the late-1950s, the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway prompted the Department of Highways to extend the route north to Highway 12 and Highway 103 (both designated as branch routes of the TCH) in Coldwater, deemed the "Highway 400 Extension". As constructed the extension would branch off from existing highway by means of a partial interchange (since then, newer provincial construction guidelines would have mandated that the existing highway be realigned to flow directly into the extension, while providing an interchange to the section of highway that was bypassed). This extension opened as a super two on December 24, 1959, redirecting Highway 400 southwest of the Crown Hill junction. To remedy this situation, the 1.1 km gap between the original terminus and the new turnoff was internally designated as Highway 400A.{{cite book

| access-date = August 27, 2014}}{{Google maps

| access-date = August 27, 2014}}

Restructuring of the provincial highway system resulted in Highway 11 south of the Crown Hill interchange being transferred, or downloaded, to local municipalities on April 1, 1997. Highway 11 then absorbed the entirety of Highway 400A, as a result Highway 11's southern terminus was shifted to meet Highway 400 directly at the split interchange.

Construction began north of Barrie in April 2013 to replace the overpass at this split interchange.{{cite news

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160611021422/http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2014/12/08/massive-hwy-400hwy-11-split-project-reaches-milestone | archive-date = June 11, 2016 | access-date = May 18, 2016}} The new precast post-tensioned concrete structure, designed to accommodate future widening of the former Highway 400A, was completed in October 2015. The original overpass, built during the 1950s and rehabilitated in the 1990s, was demolished during an overnight closure on December 13, 2015. The overall cost of this project was C$8.5 million.{{cite news

| access-date = May 18, 2016}}{{cite news

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160810082843/http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/12/10/bridge-is-coming-down | archive-date = August 10, 2016 | access-date = May 18, 2016}}

Exit list

|access-date = May 26, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110706192209/http://www.raqsb.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/tvweb?OpenForm&Seq=5 |archive-date = July 6, 2011 |url-status = dead Penetanguishene Road – Barrie

References

;Sources

;Bibliography

• {{cite book

References

1. "Open 400 Link to Coldwater". The Toronto Star.
2. "Highway Transfers List". Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.