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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 exit replaced the local needs at the exit. 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. 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, connecting 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. Recent developments 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. Volume Information (2005) Lane Configurations from South to North Interchanges from South to North Proposed Interchanges from South to North (exit numbers assumed) Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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