The Hanlon Expressway or Hanlon Parkway is a limited controlled-access expressway connecting Highway 401 with the city of Guelph in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route travels in a generally north–south direction on the city's west side. It is signed as Highway 6 for its entire length; from Wellington Street to Woodlawn Road it is concurrent with Highway 7. The speed limit alternates between 70 and 80 km/h (45 and 50 mph).
Between Highway 401 and Guelph, the Hanlon Expressway took over the Highway 6 routing from Brock Road (now Wellington Road 46). After years of planning and engineering, the route was built between 1972 and 1975. Originally designed to be a freeway, it was instead completed largely as a super-4 expressway with at-grade intersections since budget limitations precluded the construction of interchanges and overpasses, apart from an interchange at its southern terminus with Highway 401. Several decades later, several additional interchanges have been built; Wellington Street West (Highway 7 and former Highway 24) which was completed in 2001, Laird Road which opened in 2013, and Wellington County Road 34 which was opened in 2025. There are also two railway crossings near the northern terminus, though both are for spur lines.
Route description
thumb|left|Wellington Street interchange facing east. [[Ontario Highway 7|Highway 7 and former Highway 24 travel into the distance; Highway 6 travels south (right); former Highway 24 travels west (down); and Highway 6 and 7 travel north (left).]]
thumb|right|The Hanlon Expressway features at-grade intersections, with the exception of the Wellington Street and Laird Road interchanges, .
The Hanlon Expressway begins at a trumpet interchange with Highway 401 (from Highway 401 the on-ramps sign the Hanlon as "Highway 6 North", whereas the other section of Highway 6 along Brock Road is signed as "Highway 6 South"). The Hanlon Expressway cuts through several farms northward before curving slightly westward to follow along the west side of the right-of-way of Hanlon Road. The Hanlon is graded and landscaped similarly to a rural freeway, with broad flat shoulders and an open median.
It enters Guelph at Maltby Road, skirting the outskirts of urban development. At the Laird Road interchange, opened in late 2013, the expressway encounters the Hanlon Creek Business Park.
As it progresses into residential subdivisions, the Hanlon Expressway encounters an at-grade intersection, with Downey Road travelling to the west and Kortright Road West to the east. Continuing north, the route crosses to the east side of the Hanlon Road right-of-way as it intersects Stone Road West to the west of the Stone Road Mall. Before crossing the Speed River, the expressway meets College Avenue West, an at-grade intersection at the southwest corner of Centennial Park Arena.
The Hanlon Expressway crosses the Speed River as it swerves to the west and meets Wellington Street,
At the time, the Highway 6 routing from Highway 401 to Guelph followed Brock Road which passed through the centre of the city. With the rapid suburban expansion of Guelph in the 1950s and 1960s, a revised transportation plan was conceived to handle the increasing traffic load. The Guelph Area Transportation Study was completed in 1967, and recommended a new controlled-access highway to allow through-traffic on Highway 6 to bypass the city. Route planning, engineering and design began on October 2, 1967 and was subsequently completed in 1969.
Construction began between Waterloo Avenue and Stone Road in 1970;
this section opened on June 28, 1972.
That section, as well as the final section south to Highway 401 were opened on November 7, 1975. With the Hanlon assuming the Highway 6 routing, Brock Road north of Highway 401 was downloaded to municipal authorities where it was designated as Wellington Road 46.
For the next quarter century, the Hanlon remained as a limited controlled-access expressway as the right-of-way for grade separations and interchanges remained vacant.
Upgrades
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) has planned to upgrade the route to a freeway since at least 1994, when an environmental assessment (EA) for the expressway north of the Speed River was completed, in preparation for the construction of the Wellington Street interchange.
it opened in July 2001, connecting Wellington Street west of the expressway with the Silvercreek Parkway into downtown Guelph. The interchange cost C$13.2 million and opened a year later than expected due to a design flaw that resulted in several months of delay and a lawsuit against the MTO resulting in a budget overrun of C$3.2 million.
and was fully opened on November 29, 2013, in a public ceremony attended by local officials as well as Guelph MPP Liz Sandals.
A full interchange was constructed between Wellington County Road 34 and Maltby Road which opened in 2025. The intersections with both roads were then closed, with Wellington County Road 34 now crossing the expressway via a new overpass, while Maltby Road terminates at a cul-de-sac on both sides of the expressway.
Future
As initially envisioned, the Hanlon Expressway will be upgraded to a controlled-access highway by removing all remaining at-grade intersections and improving the highway to 400-series standards.
Confirmed projects will transform the route into a freeway between Highway 401 and Wellington Street. A partial-access diamond interchange will be built at Downey Road / Kortright Road West, with ramps from the northbound lanes and to the southbound lanes and the crossroad run beneath the expressway.
The lack of ramps on the north side is due to the proximity of Stone Road to the north, where a full interchange will be constructed. A service road will be constructed along the west side of the expressway connecting Downey Road and Stone Road to provide better access to the YMCA,
which previous controversial plans had neglected. At College Road, an underpass will be built.
The Government of Ontario has announced plans to build a new Highway 7 freeway bypass joining the current northern terminus of the Hanlon Expressway to the Conestoga Parkway in Kitchener. In line with this project, the entire Hanlon Expressway will be fully upgraded to 400-series freeway standards. Long-term plans call for Highway 6 to be rerouted along a potential extension of the Hanlon south of Highway 401 to meet the four lane segment of Highway 6 south of Freelton. This would bypass the congested two-lane section of Highway 6 (also known as Brock Road) in Wellington County from Puslinch to Morriston which runs through several small towns where it lacks sufficient right-of-way for widening.