QEW was built over and required the construction of 19 bridges and the equivalent of of two-lane roadway. Construction began in September 1968, although preliminary work had been ongoing since 1966; the interchange opened to traffic on November14, 1969. The junction with Highway401 remains the largest interchange in Canada as it sprawls over and required the construction of 28 bridges and the equivalent of of two-lane roadway, being built around the existing Richview Memorial Cemetery, and including connections to Eglinton Avenue (ultimately meant for the proposed but never-built municipal Richview Expressway). The interchange with the QEW was opened to traffic on November14, 1969, while the Highway401 junction required several more years of construction staging, fully opening on December4, 1971 (though portions were opened in the weeks prior to that), just prior to Highway27's renumbering as Highway427. The rest of the route was rebuilt prior to the completion of these interchanges. The completed project resulted in the creation of Highway427 between the QEW and Dixon/Airport Road, north of which traffic was defaulted onto Indian Line. The entire existing Airport Expressway was removed to make way for the new interchange with Highway401, but its replacement in the form of the Highway427 extension (also known as the Airport Expressway) still included direct access to the airport. An off-ramp from westbound Highway401 to Carlingview Drive was temporarily signed as "Airport Expressway", since Carlingview Drive had a temporary on-ramp to northbound Highway427 near the Renforth Drive Underpass but that on-ramp was closed in the early 1970s. Direct access from westbound Highway401 to northbound Highway427 would be restored a few years later once Highway 409 opened. Extensions beyond Highway 401 (1976–1994) Ultimately, it was planned to extend Highway427 north along Indian Line (although a stretch of that road would be retained to maintain access to driveways) to the future Highway407, where ramps would direct northbound traffic onto Highway27. An extension north of Dixon/Airport Roads began in 1976 as part of the work to build Highway409, and it included the construction of the interchange between the two freeways. By the beginning of 1980, this work was completed, and construction was progressing on the section north to Rexdale Boulevard, which opened by the end of the year. In 1982, construction began on the next section of Highway427, which would extend it to south of Albion Road (which was reached via the northernmost stretch of Indian Line) north of