Bradford Bypass

Bradford Bypass
Bradford Bypass      Interchanges
Route information
Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length	16.2 km[1] (10.1 mi)
History	Proposed June 1978[note 1] Cancelled April 1986[note 2] Revised 1989[note 3] (as Bradford Bypass) Approved August 2002[6] Shelved October 2003[note 4] Revived May 18, 2017[10]
Major junctions
West end	Highway 400 near Bradford
Major intersections	County Road 4 (Yonge Street)
East end	Highway 404 near Keswick
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Divisions	Simcoe County York Region
Towns	Bradford West Gwillimbury, East Gwillimbury
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways Current Former 400-series

The Bradford Bypass, also known as the Highway 400–404 Link is a proposed east–west 400-series highway in the northern Greater Toronto Area of the Canadian province of Ontario. The approximately 16.2-kilometre (10.1 mi) route is currently undergoing planning and analysis under an environmental impact assessment (EA) by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and the Government of Ontario. If approved, a new four-lane controlled-access highway would be built between Highway 400 near Bradford in Simcoe County, and Highway 404 near Queensville in York Region. It would serve as a bypass to the north side of Bradford.

The corridor originated in 1978 as an eastern extension of Highway 89 along Ravenshoe Road. This proposal was cancelled in 1986 and collaborative studies were undertaken between the province and affected municipalities over the next several years. A refined proposal for a freeway along a more southerly route, referred to as the Bradford Bypass, was released in 1989, after which an EA began in 1993. The assessment was completed in 1997 and approved in 2002, after which it was announced that construction would begin by 2006 and be completed by 2010. However, following the 2003 Ontario general election, the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty shelved several highway proposals — including the Bradford Bypass — to the "beyond 2031" timeframe. After the 2018 Ontario general election, the new Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Doug Ford announced that the EA would be reviewed and updated. Funding was committed to the project in the 2021 budget, with early works construction beginning in early 2022. The highway is currently estimated to cost C$800 million.

The Bradford Bypass has been criticized for its potential environmental impacts, particularly to the Holland Marsh and surrounding wetlands draining into Lake Simcoe. While the route is endorsed by the municipalities surrounding it and through which it passes, critics note that the EA is outdated and that the highway would result in induced demand and encourage further reliance on personal vehicle usage.

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