Ontario Provincial Route 401 East, Exits 355 - 399 Thru Toronto

[@mdunlopgt2]

drove from Niagara to Kingston a few years back, hitting the Metro 401 around 1pm. I have been on before, but first time I had driven it, after driving many UK motorways and Californian Freeways such as I-5 and Hwy 101. Unreal. Both loved it and scared myself (and my wife) silly. Combin collector/express lanes with solid concrete walls and no room to maneuvre, plus under/over take any way you want and Quebec plate lorries. Insane, and fun. Thanks for the memories.

[@Maruluna]

Great Video! I travel on the 401 every day but never really appreciated it till now. Thanks!

[@FreewayBrent]

Thanks, man! It's been a dream of mine since my early teenager years to drive this freeway. It was definitely a driving experience that I'll never forget, and to have the entire freeway recorded in HD makes it all the better. I have other 401 videos to upload in the future from the entire province, including one that goes westbound from the 409 to 407 Express Toll Road.

[@CosmoPhotography]

Can't believe I missed this one of yours. Damn, it's been a while since I've been on this road. The last time was with my father many years ago when I was about 4 or 5, so needless to say the actual memory of this road is a bit hard to recall haha. Thanks for this!

[@Timeister]

Finally! a video of Toronto! ive been serching for a video like this for a while. nice job!

[@Freewayjim]

Great video, awesome freeway indeed, thanks for bringing it to us.

[@reachmeyogesh]

I am pretty amazed by the number of high-rise buildings on both side of the road throughout the length of this journey !!!

[@njam101]

Keep up the great work FreewayBrent! I always thought that large American cities would have had express/collector freeways like TO until I visited them over the last decade and realized that they don't really. I live in Northern Ontario where there are no freeways. It's amazing that this province has such diversity. There are communities up towards Hudson and James Bays that have no connecting roads and are fly-in only.

[@RedroomStudios]

nice one dude... I started out watching your LA freeway videos as I am travelling there later this month. Glad to see you have some TO freeway vids too - this is my part of the world!

[@Haeleus]

Had no idea you recorded in Toronto, good stuff.

[@Nexis4Jersey]

This freeway was my favorite one to ride along in Canada, it was so big!

[@EagleEye812]

This was the most impressive highway I've ever seen. I've only been there once, and we were stuck in near-standstill traffic for over two hours. And on the 401, that's a hell of a lot of cars! :p

[@AJonAir1]

I will be up there next month! To think I'll be driving on that...WOW!

[@FreewayBrent]

5 PM traffic was pretty brutal, although the average overall speeds were no worse than what I've seen in LA or the SF Bay Area. Still though, just seeing a whopping 20 lanes of traffic, all congested, is a visually stimulating sight that I'll never forget! Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video. There will be more 401 videos to come in the future.

[@adrianroam95]

@LouAu Be thankful you live in Toronto. In Vancouver the road network is so bad, it's a pain to get around anywhere.

[@marcoschagas3103]

Very nice, thank you!

[@ScenicMirage]

Reminds me of the New Jersey Turnpike just south of Newark. Except with less traffic.

[@cptswim]

@FreewayBrent I don't know if you know this already but I heard that if you are out of province (or have another licence plate besides Ontario), they won't bill you. I have an Alberta licence plate, and when I was going to school in Ontario, I used the 407 all the time. I didn't get a single bill in the mail! That was six years ago though. Love your videos!

[@FreewayBrent]

I'd say traffic is light at 3 a.m., but yes, relatively speaking for that hour, you'd only expect a dozen or so vehicles to pass you in the other direction, per minute. Just to see *any* traffic waves (15 to 25 vehicles per wave) at all at that hour is pretty crazy.

[@FreewayBrent]

@andrewdaniele: Well hey, with "accolades" like widest freeway and busiest freeway in the world, that was definitely enough to grab my attention when I was first "alerted' about it, several years back. It's quite a visually stimulating freeway, just to see all the lanes and vehicles utilizing those lanes at the same time!

[@FreewayBrent]

I'd say this is my favorite freeway, ANYWHERE!

[@secordman]

The 401 (an expressway we call it here) is a nightmare at the best of times. There's a rule up here in Canada. Move to the middle lane and coast at 90 km/hr. Everyone is afraid to deal with merging here. This road was space age in the early 70's, yet became overloaded by the 80's. The "basketweave" is just east of Hwy 400 which is exit 359. The lanes westbound are always logjammed west of Hwy 400. Too much traffic coming south from the 400 and the collectors and express merging shortly after

[@njam101]

One thing that you could add and mention in this 401 video is the "Basketweave." It is often mentioned in traffic reports for the 401.

[@FreewayBrent]

I actually live in California, and filmed all of my Ontario 400-series videos in the summer. However, I was really hoping for a mobile-friendly version of the MTO's website for live traffic speeds, which I wasn't able to find, unfortunately. At least I would've been able to know just how slow my real time travel was going to take, along freeways like the 401, 427, Don Mills and Gardiner.

[@FreewayBrent]

Ha, that's a new one. Nah, I've just always had an appreciation for road infrastructure, and, especially in my newer videos, I try to present them in a way that's interactive...teaching the viewer a thing or two about the roadway and geography being featured, while adding in a catchy tune (I've been known to hit up a few clubs, once every now and then, and love dance music).

[@FreewayBrent]

Heck, so was I. I finally decided that I'd be the one to do it. :-) And yup, all the way from San Francisco to record this monster of a freeway. Up next, Ontario Highway's 400 & 427. There's also a Kitchener/Waterloo freeway tour that I haven't uploaded yet, and some other 401 videos. Also, a lot of Quebec videos that I have yet to even look at.

[@Jacob1986]

awesome videos Brent, where are your from?! I live by the 401 its a crazy highway, the problem in Toronto is that there are not enough highways to handle the traffic. There were many plans to build more highways into the city that got scrapped by environmentalists and by politicians. In my opinion it would be better for the environment to have the cars moving steadily rather than sitting in traffic. I personally hate driving into Toronto it's very tiring. Toronto and Ontario still need learning

[@FreewayBrent]

Unfortunately, no. :-( I really regret not doing a night time video of the Gardiner Expressway at night, but at least my daytime video will always be available.

[@FreewayBrent]

The song artist and title's are listed at the very end of my videos, just for future reference. :-)

[@StukInBuf]

This appears to be more hectic urban traffic than what you can find on the 1 & 9, or the nearby NJ Turnpike, in the Elizabeth and Newark area.

[@FreewayBrent]

Oh, wow. I forgot to delete this video. I uploaded a *much improved* video of the 401 last October. Features customized highway signs, improved annotations and a much better camcorder. Feel free to check it out, by clicking the link below. North America's Busiest Freeway: Eastbound Ontario Highway 401 thru Toronto, KM 344 To Km 375

[@mtp160788]

Hey freeway brent, did you find toronto to be very busy especially on the 401? if so were you surprised, Thanks.

[@FreewayBrent]

@madbengalsfan85: I both agree and disagree. I don't think there's another freeway quite like the 401, anywhere on the planet (some people compare the 401 to the NJ Turnpike or the I-90/I-94 duplex in Chicago, but both of those freeways don't have the number of lanes or traffic volumes that the 401 carries). However, at the same time, the views of the Midtown and Downtown skyline thru the Downtown Connector in Atlanta are almost unbeatable!

[@FreewayBrent]

@adrianroam95: I would say so, considering the design standards are generally replica's of each other. Ontario, in particular, is one of the most innovative transportation planning agencies on the planet.

[@FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: Are you a wikipedia editor? Either way, I don't mind, but we'll have to get in contact beforehand; I'd like to polish up the annotations on that video, first, before it's linked to another site like wikipedia.

[@RedroomStudios]

@cptswim I think things may have changed since then so that the 407 can bill out of province drivers. not sure though. I try to avoid using that highway as the tolls are insanely expensive!

[@ting280]

it's only busy cuz there's a lot of houses over here, a lot of jobs over there, and the highway shrinks where all the houses are. goes from 8 lane collecter/express to 3 lane single highway and bottlenecks down from port union in pickering to maybe around thickson in whitby from maybe 3pm to around 6:30-7pm. around 5 to about 6:30 it's a parking lot

[@FreewayBrent]

Nah, not the 407. I didn't want a bill to be sent to my house, knowing that I wouldn't be able to pay it for 3 months (since I wasn't going to be there). The 400, on the other hand, I uploaded it to KZbin about a month ago, but I still haven't gotten around to annotating it. Maybe I should do that today. :-)

[@FreewayBrent]

Indeed, it's quite an overwhelming freeway to witness, in terms of width and traffic, but it's certainly unique with it's comprehensive express/collector lane setup. Did you check out my I-40 Tijeras Canyon video that I recently posted?

[@VideoWatcherthe8th]

I hate that 427 to 409 section. It fucking narrows from 18 lanes to 8 lanes.

[@adrianroam95]

hey FreewayBrent would you say that Canada's freeways look pretty close to those of the states?

[@heroheroic]

Very busy

[@sc0tte1-416]

I have no idea why I'm watching these, I get stuck on this highway every day and I hate it lol. It looks like you picked a good time (around 10 am?) because it's usually gridlock even though it's like 12-14 lanes across lol.

[@guyanese92100]

You guys think the 401 is wide?, check out the 400 between highway 401 and Rutherford rd.

[@loopync]

It says exits 355 to 399 but I didn't see any exits before 359. What about 355, 356, 357, 358? Of course I'm looking for exit 357 which doesn't show. Thanks though.

[@int3ll3r0n]

Hey Brent, I know the speed limit is a stupid 100 km/h, but during this video, what would you say your average speed was?

[@JMMT7022801]

Nice! Is this the Hamilton, York area of Toronto?

[@FreewayBrent]

Wow, I need to delete this video. Please watch my video release of the 401 freeway, from 2 months ago. Should be the most recent video. This video you watched is WAY outdated.

[@zainerreyyan105]

This is Toronto or from Etobicoke to Pickering so this was passing Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough & then Pickering

[@madbengalsfan85]

This beats the Downtown Connector in Atlanta

[@FreewayBrent]

No prob. :-)

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

7:32 Some of these cars from the express should have use the collectors.

[@RedroomStudios]

@cristoretornebiblia because if everyone used the collector it would be a giant traffic jam. Also if you are just driving through the city you can use the express and not have to deal with cars coming on and off in front of you. Thats a very basic answer... in reality people just change back and forth from the collectors for no reason depending what lane they might be in. Or sometimes if there is an accident blocking one set of lanes, the other lets traffic keep moving.

[@adrianroam95]

@likethepear what, lougheed hwy isn't crazy at all, what are you on about? it's just a normal arterial road

[@bvivian]

welcome to stop n' go toronto

[@mihirpanchal5754]

Damn looks a lot like the freeways of LA

[@int3ll3r0n]

Wow... Does the OPP care?

[@mtp160788]

lougheed is a side road in toronto

[@vaughanweather]

It's not as exciting as your Grape Vine and Tejon Pass video but instead this video is just a little overwhelming. The other side of the freeway is barely visible, the east bound lanes take up the full screen.

[@FreewayBrent]

Ha, not exactly. There's FreewayJim, who probably has the best freeway vids on the internet. There's also ScrewdUpClick2000, who focuses on Texas.

[@adrianroam95]

@mrlidoro we don't have an interstate system lolz

[@Merche74]

I do this drive everyday but I get off at exit 404 at Salem in Ajax...let me tell you trafiic if brutal going to work and coming back

[@staceydiedrick4871]

cool

[@jwcs69]

soundtrack anyone?

[@calzac100]

That Speed In Video Is 1

[@qwertyuiopz123]

lol no one ever follows the speed limit

[@VideoWatcherthe8th]

A couple of (somewhat erroneous) Americanisms you put in, me being native to Ontario: - You call Highway [number] the erroneous Ontario Route [number]. I believe you derived this from the US State Route system, eh? - Ontario people almost never use the term "Freeway". They'd rather use "Highway". US people love to say "Freeway" for this type of road.

[@CZiemer100]

Avril, ich komme. Carsten

[@mrlidoro]

Canadian Interstate system is joke as Canadian Country & people