King's Highway 417, commonly referred to as Highway 417 and as the Queensway through Ottawa, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It connects Ottawa with Montreal via A-40, and is the backbone of the highway system in the National Capital Region. Within Ottawa, it forms part of the Queensway west from Highway 7 to Ottawa Road 174. Highway 417 extends from the Quebec boundary (east of Hawkesbury) to Arnprior, where it continues westward as Highway 17. Aside from the urban section through Ottawa, Highway 417 passes through farmland that dominates much of the fertile Ottawa Valley. It is part of the Trans-Canada Highway, which connects Quebec with Manitoba.
Within Ottawa, the Queensway was built as part of a grand plan for the city between 1957 and 1966, and later reconstructed to its present form throughout the 1980s. The eastern section, from Gloucester to the Quebec border, opened in 1975 in preparation for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Sections west of Ottawa have been under construction since the mid-1970s, with the section bypassing Arnprior opening on November 29, 2012 and another stretch in December 2016.
The speed limit is , except between Highway 416 and Ottawa Road 174, where the speed limit is . The route is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO).
Route description Highway 417 is a long, controlled-access, divided highway (freeway) that traverses the lower Ottawa Valley and upper St. Lawrence Valley, bypassing the generally two-lane Highway 17 and providing a high-speed connection between Montreal and Ottawa via A-40. The freeway has also gradually been extended northwest from Ottawa alongside the old highway to its current terminus in Arnprior. Highway 417 currently has 42 interchanges from the Quebec border to Arnprior, with more planned as the highway is extended westward. Unlike other highways in Ontario and most of North America, exits are numbered from east to west. While a significant portion of Highway 417 is a rural four lane freeway divided by a grass median, the section within urban Ottawa is a busy commuter route as wide as ten lanes.
The portion of the route from the Highway 7 interchange east to The Split – a large four-way interchange between Highway 417, Ottawa Regional Road 174 and the Aviation Parkway – is known formally as the Queensway, although no indication of this name appears on any signage. The Queensway name continues along Ottawa Road174 from the split with Highway 417 east to Trim Road.
Quebec to Ottawa
Highway 417 begins at the border between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, east of which the four lane freeway continues as Autoroute 40. The route proceeds west, south of the former alignment of Highway 17, which it has served to replace. It passes through a forested and agricultural landscape en route to Ottawa, serving the communities of Hawkesbury, Vankleek Hill, Casselman, Limoges and Vars. After approximately , the route curves southwest while ramps provide access from the westbound lanes to Prescott and Russell County Road 17 and from County Road17 to the eastbound lanes of Highway 417. County Road17 was formerly part of Highway17 until it was decommissioned as a provincial highway in 1998. The route later meets the southern terminus of Highway 34 at Exit 27. Continuing southwest, the route meanders along the boundary between The Nation and North Glengarry, eventually encountering the northern terminus of Highway 138 — a highway built to connect Highway 417 with Highway 401 and Cornwall — east of Casselman. At this point, the freeway enters The Nation, then diverges from the boundary.
After crossing a Via Rail line, the route dips south of Casselman, then curves to the west at Exit 66 (County Road 7). It roughly parallels the Via Rail line several kilometres north of the freeway, though significant deviations bypass the communities of Benoit and Limoges; the latter is served by Exit 79 (County Road 5). Near Limoges is the Larose Forest, a man-made forest planted between 1928 and 1980 over the Bourget Desert, itself created as the result of clear cutting in the 19th century. At Exit 88, Highway 417 enters the City of Ottawa, though the surroundings remain unchanged and the highway remains largely rural until Exit 109 (Hunt Club Road), near Ramsayville.
North of Ramsayville, the route jogs abruptly to the west as it crosses Greens Creek and enters the suburbs of Ottawa; an interchange with Innes Road divides the countryside to the south and east from the city to the north and west. The highway merges with Ottawa Regional Road 174 (also known as The Queensway) at a large, two-level interchange known locally as The Split, curving to the west and into downtown Ottawa. This reunites Highway 417 with the former Highway 17, that portion which was renamed as Regional Road 174. The interchange also provides access to Aviation Parkway from westbound Highway 417 and from the parkway to eastbound Highway 417. West of this junction, Highway 417 assumes the route name of the Queensway.
Queensway
Within Ottawa, the Queensway extends from Orleans in the east and passes just south of downtown through central Ottawa to Kanata in the west as an urban freeway. Two major interchanges anchor either end of this section: in the east, Highway 417 diverges south towards Montreal at The Split, while the Queensway continues east as Ottawa Regional Road 174 and Aviation Parkway branches north; in the west, Highway 416 travels south to Highway 401, a main freeway connecting Detroit via Toronto with Montreal. The core section of the Queensway is eight lanes wide, four per carriageway.
The freeway is elevated on a berm along some central portions of the route, providing views of downtown and the Gatineau Hills to the north. This section was constructed along a former Canadian National Railway (CN) railbed. The route bisects central Ottawa with downtown and the Parliament Buildings to the north of the highway, and residential neighbourhoods, including The Glebe, to the south. Towards the Richmond Road interchange, the original western terminus of the Queensway, both sides of the freeway are lined by residential subdivisions as the highway transitions back to a suburban setting.
Between Eagleson/March Road and Moodie Drive in the west and between Blair Road and Place d'Orléans Drive in the east, a bus-only shoulder is used by OCTranspo's Transitway rapid-transit network. Several closely spaced exits serve the downtown core of Ottawa, including Nicholas Street, Bronson Avenue and Metcalfe Street; the former was once designated as various provincial highways, most recently Highway 31.
West of Highway 416 to Arnprior West of the interchange with Highway 416, the freeway enters the suburb of Kanata and travels through it in an east–west direction. At Exit 145, the route encounters the eastern terminus of Highway 7, which travels southwest to Peterborough and the Greater Toronto Area and provides an alternative route to Highway 401. Highway 417 makes a broad 90-degree curve to the north to meet with the midpoint of the Carp Bypass at the former Highway 44 (now Ottawa Regional Road 49); at Highway 7, the setting changes from suburban to rural.
The Carp Bypass was built in the mid-1960s as a bypass of the existing Highway 17, which meandered through the communities of Carp, Kinburn and Antrim; the former highway is now Donald B. Munro Drive, and lies to the east of Highway 417. The bypass was built as a two lane road with full control of access, avoiding existing properties and easily facilitating the upgrade to a freeway. North of Antrim, Highway 417 travels in a straight line parallel to old Highway 17 as far as Arnprior, where it curves to cross the Madawaska River. The divided freeway currently ends west of Campbell Drive, northwest of the town; it narrows to two lanes. Highway 417 officially ends and becomes Highway 17, which continus west to North Bay, Greater Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and eventually to the Manitoba border.
History
Queensway
Highway 417 was initially constructed as a connection between the existing Queensway and Autoroute 40 in Quebec, the latter being constructed in advance of Expo 1967 and opening December 17, 1966. However, the designation has since been applied to the Queensway west of the interchange between the two freeways.
Construction of the Queensway was driven by the Greber Plan, which was produced by Jacques Gréber under the direction of Prime Minister Mackenzie King in the late 1940s. Although Gréber had been corresponding with King as early as 1936, World War II halted any plans from reaching fruition at that time. Following the war, Gréber was again contacted and his expertise requested. He arrived on October 2, 1945 and began working almost immediately. The Greber Plan, as it came to be known, was released in 1950 and presented to the House of Commons on May 22, 1951. The plan called for the complete reorganization of Ottawa's road and rail network, and included amongst the numerous parkways was an east to west expressway along what was then a Canadian National Railway line.
With the rail lines removed, construction of the new expressway got underway in 1957 when Queen Elizabeth visited Ottawa to open the first session of the 23rd Parliament. On October 15, the Queen detonated dynamite charges from the Hurdman Bridge, which now overlooks the highway as it crosses the Rideau River, and formally dedicated the new project as the Queensway. At the ceremony, premier Leslie Frost indicated that the entire project would cost C$31 million and emphasized the importance of the link to the Trans-Canada Highway.
The Queensway was constructed in four phases, each opening independently: phase one, from Alta Vista Drive (now Riverside Drive) east to Highway 17 (Montreal Road); phase two, from Highway 7 and Highway 15 (Richmond Road) to Carling Avenue; phase three, from Carling Avenue to O'Connor Street; and, phase four, from O'Connor Street to Alta Vista Drive, crossing the Rideau Canal and Rideau River. Phase one opened to traffic on November 25, 1960, extending up to the Rideau River. On the western side of Ottawa, phase two opened a year later in October, 1961. The central section presented the greatest challenge, as an embankment was built to create grade-separations. In addition, the structures over the Rideau Canal and river required several years of construction. On May 15, 1964, the majority of the third phase was ceremonially opened, completing the Carling Avenue interchange and extending the freeway as far as Bronson Avenue. Several months later, on September 17 the short but complicated section east to O'Connor Street was opened. This left only phase four, the central section of the Queensway, which was opened in three segments. On November 26, 1965, the structures over the Rideau Canal were opened to traffic. At the same time, the westbound lanes of the Queensway were extended to Concord Street, located west of the Nicholas Street interchange. The interchange opened on January 1, 1966, allowing travel in both directions over the canal. The final segment, linking the two section of the Queensway, was placed into service on October 28, 1966. Following this, the Highway 17 designation was applied along the Queensway and the old routing renumbered as Highway 17B.
New freeway
Planning was underway on a new freeway, Highway 417, that would run east of Ottawa from the Queensway, connecting with A-40 to provide a high-speed route to Montreal. Highway 17, closely following the shore of the Ottawa River as it meanders towards Pointe-Fortune, was dangerous, narrow, and accident prone, earning it the nickname of "the killer strip". The awarding of the 1976 Summer Olympics to Montreal on May 12, 1970