 Highway 418 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Durham Link | ||||
 Highway 418 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byMinistry of Transportation of Ontario | ||||
| Length | 9.2 km[1][2] (5.7 mi) | |||
| History |
| |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  Highway 401 inClarington | |||
| Major intersections |  Regional Highway 2 Regional Road 4 | |||
| North end |  Highway 407 in Clarington | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Ontario | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
King's Highway 418, or simplyHighway 418, is acontrolled-access highway and formertolled highway in theCanadian province ofOntario. The400-series highway is 9.2 km (5.7 mi) long, travelling through theRegional Municipality of Durham to connectHighway 401 with the eastern extension ofHighway 407. The freeway is located entirely within theMunicipality of Clarington near Durham Regional Road 34 (Courtice Road).
The route number was confirmed by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) alongsideHighway 412 on February 6, 2015.[4] Prior to this, it was known as theEast Durham Link.[5] Highway 418 opened on December 9, 2019, alongside the extension of Highway 407 to Highways35 and115.[3] On April 5, 2022, Highway 418 became toll-free.[6]
Highway 418 is a 9.2-kilometre (5.7 mi) four-lane highway extending from Highway 401 to Highway 407. The entire length of the route lies between Hancock Road and Rundle Road, east ofCourtice. At the southern end, the route begins at athree-way interchange with Highway 401, from which it proceeds north. It then interchanges with formerHighway 2.[7]
North of former Highway 2, the route swerves eastward and crosses Solina Road. Just before apartial interchange with Taunton Road, the highway again swerves slightly eastward to the former alignment of Rundle Road. Immediately north of Taunton Road, the route ends at an interchange with Highway 407, which is a toll route;ETC cameras are present there.[7]
Highway 418 is the second of two freeways connecting the eastern extension of Highway 407 with Highway 401; the other isHighway 412, located to the west inWhitby. The two routes, known then as the East Durham Link and West Durham Link, first appeared as part of the June 2007 "Technically Recommended Route",[8] which was submitted as part of theenvironmental assessment (EA) for the extension, but had been announced earlier that year on March 7 by theGovernment of Canada as part of an investment inGreater Toronto Area infrastructure.[9]The EA report was released on August 17, 2009, and included detailed plans for the configuration of the interchanges along the new freeway. The report also sought approval for the 6 lanes anticipated to be required by 2031.[7]
On February 6, 2015, it was announced by the MTO that the East Durham Link would be designated Highway 418.[4] On March 23, 2015, aC$1.2 billion contract was awarded for the second phase of the Highway 407 east project, which included construction of Highway 418.[10] It was split into 2 phases, 2A and 2B. Phase 2A, which included the portion of the highway north of Taunton Road, was finished by December 2017 and opened on January 2, 2018.[11] The portion that opened would be temporarily signed as part of Highway 407.[12] The section of Highway 407 east of Enfield Road was temporarily closed on September 9, 2019, to reconfigure the ramps at the Taunton Road interchange in preparation for the opening of the remainder of the highway.[13] The highway fully opened on December 9, 2019.[3]
On February 18, 2022, the Government of Ontario announced that Highway 418 would become toll-free from April 5, 2022, together with Highway 412.[6]
Highway 418 used the sameelectronic tolling system as Highways 407 and 412 and is part of the same provincially tolled section of highway as Highways 412 and 407 East.[14] The toll rate that applied to a specific trip was determined by the time at which a vehicle entered the highway and from 2021 to 2022 ranged from 19 to 30 ¢/km (31 to 48 ¢/mi) for vehicles that weighed less than 5 tonnes (light vehicles).[15] Heavy vehicles (those weighing more than 5 tonnes) were split into two categories: Heavy single units, which were tolled approximately twice the light vehicle rate, and heavy multi-units, which are tolled approximately three times the light vehicle rate.[16] People using the highway may have used the 407 ETRtransponders, which are still used throughout Highway 407,[14] and light vehicles paid an additionalvideo toll without a transponder.[15] Heavy vehicles were legally required to have a transponder and may have been charged under the Highway Traffic Act if they did not.[17] There was also a flat toll, which was $1 during off-peak and $2 during peak periods for light vehicles.[17] Highway 418 became permanently free-of-charge on April 5, 2022.[6]
The following are the exits listed in the 407 East Environmental Assessment Report. Lengths are approximated with Google Maps. The entire route lies within Clarington in the Regional Municipality of Durham.[1][7]
| Location | km | mi | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarington | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | Highway 401 –Toronto,Kingston | Highway 401 exit 426 |
| 2.8 | 1.7 | 3 | Regional Highway 2 | ||
| 8.2 | 5.1 | 8 | Regional Road 4 (Taunton Road) | Northbound exit and southbound entrance only[13] | |
| 9.2 | 5.7 | — | Highway 407 –Toronto,Peterborough | Highway 407 exit 135 | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
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An eastern extension of Ontario Hwy. 407 and a new toll road to connect the lengthened highway to nearby Hwy. 401 opened Dec. 9 on the outskirts of Toronto.
A technically recommended route was presented for...Two north-south links (highway / transitway) connecting Highway 401 to the proposed extension of Highway 407
