Veterans Memorial Parkway

Formerly Airport Road
Formerly Highway 100

Route information

Maintained by City of London

Length:

9.2 km (5.7 mi)

History:

Opened in 1977 as a two-lane expressway

Widened in 2006 to a modern, at-grade expressway

Major junctions

South end:

Highway 401

Hamilton Road, Dundas Street, Oxford Street

North end:

Huron Street

(To be extended to Clarke Road)

Location

Major cities:

London

Highway system

Roads in Ontario

Ontario municipal expressways (in alphabetical order)
← Red Hill Valley Parkway	Veterans Memorial Parkway	W.R. Allen Road →

Opened in 1977 as a two-lane expressway

Huron Street

Roads in Ontario

The Veterans Memorial Parkway (VMP, known as "Veterans" by locals) is a 9.2 km (5.7 mi) expressway located in London, Ontario. The expressway was previously known as King's Highway 100 from 1977 until 1994 and as Airport Road from 1977 to September 2006. It is currently an at-grade, four-lane expressway. Long term plans / proposals for the route include north and south extensions of the road and grade separated interchanges along its entire length, converting it to a freeway.

In the late 1960s, the highway was conceived by the Ontario government as a freeway bypass that would run along the eastern and northern parts of London. The road would connect to Highway 401 in the south and join up with Highway 402 in the west. This plan, however, never came to fruition due to city council's reluctance to fund an urban freeway.

Instead as a compromise, the City of London and the province decided that the proposed road would be constructed as a two-lane highway from Highway 401 north to Oxford Street. Designed as a super two, the design included a 250-metre-wide (820 ft) right-of-way so that an additional carriageway could be built in the future. As well, the road would be designated as Highway 100 and named Airport Road. The road featured traffic lights at intersections, with available land to build interchanges if warranted. The Hanlon Parkway (also known as Highway 6 North) in Guelph was built around the same time and had similar features as Airport Road, including the same overpass contractors for their trumpet interchanges with Highway 401, and at-grade intersections, although the Hanlon was opened as a four-lane divided road. Construction on Airport Road began in early 1975, with its official opening in 1977.

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Wikipedia