Ontario increasing speed limit to 110km/h on sections of 400-series Highways

Ontario’s road laws will soon catch up to speeding drivers as the province moves to bump speed limits up to 110km/h on some highways.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced the change on Wednesday. According to the Toronto Star, certain sections of 400-series highways and Highway 69 (heh, nice) will get a speed limit bump as early as this summer.

Starting July 16th, Highways 401, 403, 406 and 416 will see the speed change. New signs will mark the increased speed limit.

Changes are expected at the following locations:

Highway 401

• Extending existing 110km/h zone at Tilbury east by seven kilometres.
• 35km from Highway 35/115 interchange to Cobourg.
• 44km from Colborne to Belleville.
• 66km from Belleville to Kingston.
• 107km from Highway 16 to Quebec boundary.

Highway 403

• 26km from Woodstock to Brantford.
• 14.5km from Brantford to Hamilton.

Highway 406

• 13km from Thorold to Welland.

Highway 416

• 70km from the 401 to Ottawa.

Highway 69

• 60km from Sudbury to the French River.

Sarkaria said that “most” Ontario highways were designed to safely accommodate speed limits of 110km/h. The government tested higher speeds on six sections of highways in 2022, and Sarkaria said data from those changes shows the highways can safely accommodate the higher speeds.

Of course, if you spend much time on Ontario highways, you likely already know people love to whip along at 110km/h or even faster — it’ll be interesting to see if the higher speed limit encourages drivers to speed even more.

Source: Toronto Star