Drivers on Highway 401 in Eastern Ontario will soon be able to legally travel a little faster.
On July 12, the speed limit on Highway 401 will increase from 100 kilometres per hour to 110 kilometres per hour between the Québec boundary near Bainsville and Highway 416 near the town of Prescott.
Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria made the announcement on Wednesday, April 24. The speed limit will also increase to 110 kilometres per hour on other sections of four other controlled-access highways across the province.
All highway sections were selected based on their ability to safely accommodate higher speed limits. Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have a maximum speed limit of 110 kilometres per hour on controlled-access highways outside urban areas, while in British Columbia, the maximum speed limit is 120 kilometres per hour on many highways outside urban areas.
In Québec, the maximum speed on Autoroutes is 100 kilometres per hour, but the speed limit on other rural highways is frequently 90 kilometres per hour.
In 2019, the Ontario government launched consultations and a pilot program to explore opportunities to safely increase speed limits on select Ontario highways. In 2022, the government permanently increased the speed limit on six sections of provincial highways in southern Ontario as well as two sections in northern Ontario on a two-year trial basis. One of the highways where the speed limit was permanently increased to 110 kilometres per hour is Highway 417 between Ottawa and the Québec boundary near Pointe-Fortune.
Until 1975, Highways 400, 401, 417 and the Queen Elizabeth Way were posted at 70 miles per hour in the pre-metric years (113 kilometres per hour), before being reduced due to the energy crisis.
Stunt driving penalties in Ontario will continue to apply for vehicles traveling at 150 kilometres per hour or more. On the highway sections with increased speed limits, stunt driving penalties will apply at 40 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit.
