No timetable for fully connecting Highway 8 to Highway 401

Waiting for the highway system’s missing link From CTV Kitchener’s Max Wark: There’s still no timetable for connecting Highway 401 west of Kitchener directly to Highway 8.

If you’re driving between Waterloo Region and Toronto, you can go directly between Highway 401 and Highway 8 without having to mix with city traffic.

If you’re going in the other direction, maybe to Woodstock or from London, that isn’t the case. Those drivers have to get between the two highways via King Street East – a former highway itself, which has seen its traffic volumes increase significantly over the past 20 years as development has moved into the area.

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation publicized plans for a potential bypass as recently as 2011. The draft plans show one lane linking Highway 8 to the westbound lanes of the 401, and another connecting drivers coming from the west on the 401 to Highway 8.

A ministry spokesperson says the project is still on the books, although it is not currently considered a priority for funding.

The province’s specific plans for new transportation projects are laid out four years in advance. The latest plan, which runs through 2021, makes no mention of the connection.