Commuters travelling between Tilbury and Windsor will be getting to their destinations a little faster starting next month.
The Ontario government announced on Tuesday that the speed limit on six sections of provincial highways will be permanently increased from 100 km/h to 110 km/h beginning on April 22.
This includes the 40 km stretch of Highway 401 between Windsor and Tilbury, as well as the 90 km of Highway 402 between London and Sarnia.
“Our government continues to find new ways to make life easier and more convenient for families and businesses that depend on highways to get where they need to go,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation, in a news release. “With road safety top of mind, these sections have been carefully selected based on their ability to accommodate higher speed limits.”
The province initially launched a pilot project in 2019, which raised the speed limit by 10 km/h on select 400 series highways. A government survey was then conducted to gauge public support for the speed limit change. According to the province, 80 per cent of the survey’s 8,300 respondents supported the speed limit increase, and 82 per cent said they support raising speed limits on more sections of 400–series highways.
The other four highways that will see speed limit increases in southern Ontario are Queen Elizabeth Way from Hamilton to St. Catharines, Highway 417 from Ottawa to the Ontario/Quebec Border, Highway 404 from Newmarket to Woodbine, and Highway 417 from Kanata to Arnprior.
There are currently six other provinces in Canada that have set their speed limits in excess of 100 km/h on select segments of certain highways.