Ontario Highway 403

King’s Highway 403 is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It travels between Woodstock and Mississauga, branching off from and reuniting with Highway 401 at both ends. The section from Brantford to the then-still independent Town of Ancaster was opened to traffic on August 15, 1997.

About Ontario Highway 403 in brief

Summary Ontario Highway 403King’s Highway 403 is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It travels between Woodstock and Mississauga, branching off from and reuniting with Highway 401 at both ends. It is concurrent with the Queen Elizabeth Way for 22 km from Burlington to Oakville. The section from Brantford to the then-still independent Town of Ancaster was opened to traffic on August 15, 1997. It was formally dedicated as the Alexander Graham Bell Parkway on April 27, 2016. The majority of the highway is surrounded by suburban land use, except west of Ancasters, where it passes through agricultural land. The physical freeway continues north of Highway  401 as Highway 410 to Brampton. It ends at the Mississauga–Oakville boundary, but the physical highway continues north to Hamilton. The highway is the only urban area through this section of the route, except for the small town of Brantfords, which has a population of less than 1,000. It has a speed limit of 90 kmh, as opposed to 100  kmh on the rest of the road. It also has a reduced speed limit on the westbound lanes of the freeway, from 90 to 80 km/h (50 to 60 mph) The highway ends at a junction with Highway 401 on the outskirts of Woodstock, whereas the eastbound lanes merge into westbound Highway 401. The freeway continues straight into Hamilton and meet the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway before abruptly turning to the east and descending the Niagara Escarpment.

At the bottom of the escarpment the highway travels through a narrow, heavily developed corridor alongside former Highway 8. It passes beneath multiple bridges in a depressed trench, eventually curving north at a sharp corner and passing beneath more bridges. It returns to ground level alongside the Chedoke Creek, a now-channelized river from which the freeway may take its name. A divided segment of Highway 6 meets the freeway and continues concurrently with it through Hamilton; to the south, Highway 6 travels to Hamilton International Airport, Caledonia, and Jarvis at Highway 3. The concurrency with 6 ends at an interchange where Highway 4 departs north towards Guelph and Highway 6 departs south towards Jarvis. It continues straight for several kilometres and encounters the Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 407 at the Interchange 6 Interchange. Here it encounters the two interchanges with the two freeways again, but continues to avoid each other to avoid a 90-degree curve at 90 degrees to each other. It turns east to follow the north edge of the western edge of Mississauga while following the north and west along the edge of Peel–Peel Highway. It heads north for 5km and heads off from the QEW and heads north along the regional HighwayPeel, near the Ford Assembly Plant near the Halton–Pele boundary. It then ends at Highway 401, but it continues north for another 5km along the northern edge of Peel County.