page_title: Ontario Highway 403
section_title: Bridging the gaps
hierarchical_section_title: Ontario Highway 403 / History / Bridging the gaps
caption_attribution_description: English: Eastbound on Highway 403 near the Grand River, west of Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
context_page_description: King's Highway 403, or simply Highway 403, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that travels between Woodstock and Mississauga, branching off from and reuniting with Highway 401 at both ends and travelling south of it through Hamilton and Mississauga. It is concurrent with the Queen Elizabeth Way for 22 km from Burlington to Oakville. Although the Highway 403 designation was first applied in 1963 to a short stub of freeway branching off the QEW, the entire route was not completed until August 15, 1997, when the section from Brantford to the then-still independent Town of Ancaster was opened to traffic. The section of Highway 403 between Woodstock and Burlington was formally dedicated as the Alexander Graham Bell Parkway on April 27, 2016.
  The majority of Highway 403 is surrounded by suburban land use, except west of Ancaster, where it passes through agricultural land; Brantford is the only urban area through this section. In Hamilton, Highway 403 descends the Niagara Escarpment, then wraps around the northern side of Hamilton Harbour to encounter the QEW.
context_section_description: In 1975, construction began on a westward extension of the Brantford Bypass, from Highway 2 (Paris Road) to Rest Acres Road, which would become Highway 24. This work consisted of the twin bridges over the Grand River and an interchange at Rest Acres Road. The Canadian National Railway underpass west of Highway 2 was built by the railway.
  By the beginning of 1978, this work was completed.
  Work resumed west of Highway 24 during the spring of 1982 to connect with Highway 401 near Woodstock to relieve the high traffic volumes along Highway 2.
  This included interchanges at Brant County Road 25 and Highway 53.
  A section from Highway 24 to County Road 25 was opened in November 1984,
  followed by the section west of there to Highway 53 one year later.
  Construction of the gap between Highway 53 and Highway 401 began in late 1985,
  followed by the Highway 401 overpass for the westbound lanes, which began in 1987.
  Transportation minister Ed Fulton ceremoniously opened the new freeway connection on September 26, 1988, completing the Woodstock to Brantford link.
  Highway 403 was briefly left with three discontinuous sections: Woodstock–Brantford, Ancaster–Burlington, and Oakville–Mississauga.  Between Brantford and Ancaster, traffic was defaulted onto Highway 2, a four-lane road with numerous private driveways and at-grade intersections. On March 24, 1987, Chris Ward, MPP for Wentworth North officially announced that construction of the missing link between Brantford and Ancaster would begin in 1989.
  Construction did not actually begin until the summer of 1990. It included interchanges at Garden Avenue, Highway 52 and Highway 2.
  A continuous construction program was carried out over the next seven years, with the link opening on August 15, 1997.
  Highway 2, which was the only parallel route before the completion of Highway 403, was subsequently downloaded to regional jurisdiction.
caption: Highway 403 eastbound at the Grand River bridge near Brantford. The stretch between Woodstock and Hamilton was rehabilitated in 2011, which included installing central guardrails and paved shoulders.
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