the existing section leading from the Quebec boundary. The final segment of the new route, connecting the section east of Ramsayville with the Queensway, was opened to traffic on December 2, 1975. The cost of the entire eastern segment was $77 million ($ in dollars). The Trans-Canada Highway designation was not applied to this section of Highway417 until Highway17 was decommissioned as a provincial route in 1998. Extensions and expansions Meanwhile, to the west of Ottawa, planning got underway on a continuation of the Queensway. This extension was designed to connect with the Carp Bypass – a portion of Highway 17 designed to bypass the old meandering route (now known as Donald B. Munro Drive) through Carp, Marathon and Antrim that opened November 9, 1965 – with an interchange and connection to Highway 7. Prior to the completion of this section of freeway, Highway 17 followed Carling Avenue and March Road from Ottawa to west of Carp. Construction began in the west end of Ottawa in 1967. On October 31, 1969, a short extension to Moodie Drive was completed, including the realignment of that road for continuity north and south of Highway 417. The following year, the freeway was extended to March Road. Construction halted at the eastern edge of Kanata for several years while a study was conducted into the merits of building the highway in a trench through the established city. During this time, construction began in 1974 on the future Queensway and Highway 7 interchange. Work also began on the two lane connections to Highway 7 as well as to the Highway 17 and Highway 44 junction west of Carp at the same time. Upon the completion of the Ottawa–Quebec section of freeway, the Queensway was designated as Highway 417 west of The Split. With the completion of the Kanata study during early 1976, work began to build the route through the city-centre in a depressed-grade; as a result all the crossings through that section pass over the freeway. By early 1978, the western extension was opened to traffic, providing four lanes between Richmond Road and Highway 7 / 417. The two legs beyond the interchange were initially constructed as two-lane undivided roads, and remained as such for over a decade. Throughout the 1980s, work on Highway 417 shifted from extensions to expansions. Within Ottawa, the initially four lane route, separated by a wide grass median, was