Highway 420 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara Veterans Memorial Highway | ||||
 Highway 420 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario | ||||
| Length | 3.3 km[1] (2.1 mi) | |||
| History | November 1, 1941 (as Queen Elizabeth Way) 1972 (as Highway 420) | |||
| Highway 420 | ||||
| West end |  Regional Road 98 (Montrose Road) | |||
| Major intersections |  Queen Elizabeth Way | |||
| East end |  Regional Road 102 (Stanley Avenue) | |||
| Niagara Regional Road 420 | ||||
| West end | Regional Road 102 (Stanley Avenue) | |||
| East end |   NY 384 / NY 104 at the Rainbow Bridge to United States | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | Ontario | |||
| Major cities | Niagara Falls | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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King's Highway 420, commonly referred to as Highway 420, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) with downtown Niagara Falls. It continues east as a limited-access expressway named Niagara Regional Road 420 to connect with the Rainbow Bridge international crossing between Canada and the United States over the Niagara River; this was part of Highway 420 until 1998. West of the QEW, the freeway ends at an at-grade intersection with Montrose Road (Niagara Regional Road 98). The highway has a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), making it the only 400-series highway to have a speed limit less than 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) for its entirety.
Originally constructed as a divided four-lane road with two roundabouts, the route of Highway 420 formed part of the QEW in 1940 initially as the southeastern terminus, but after the QEW extension from Niagara Falls to Fort Erie opened in 1941, this bypassed highway became a spur route designated as the Rainbow Bridge Approach. It was assigned a unique route number as part of the 400-series after being upgraded into a freeway in 1972, including construction of a large interchange with the QEW. In 1998, the section of Highway 420 east of Stanley Avenue was transferred to the responsibility of the Regional Municipality of Niagara and redesignated as Regional Road 420.
- ^ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (2012). "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) counts". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2016.