 Queen Elizabeth Way | |||||||
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 Queen Elizabeth Way highlighted in red | |||||||
| Route information | |||||||
| Maintained by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario | |||||||
| Length | 139.1 km[1] (86.4 mi) | ||||||
| History | Built: 1931 – October 14, 1956 | ||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||
| Fort Erie end | NY 955B inBuffalo, NY | ||||||
| Major intersections | |||||||
| Toronto end |  Highway 427 / Gardiner Expressway inToronto | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| Country | Canada | ||||||
| Province | Ontario | ||||||
| Highway system | |||||||
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TheQueen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a400-series highway in the Canadian province ofOntario linkingToronto with theNiagara Peninsula andBuffalo, New York. The highway begins at theCanada–United States border on thePeace Bridge inFort Erie and travels 139.1 kilometres (86.4 mi) around the western end ofLake Ontario, ending atHighway 427 as the physical highway continues as theGardiner Expressway intodowntown Toronto. The QEW is one of Ontario's busiest highways, with an average of close to 250,000 vehicles per day on some sections.
Major highway junctions are atHighway 420 inNiagara Falls,Highway 405 inNiagara-on-the-Lake,Highway 406 inSt. Catharines, theRed Hill Valley Parkway inHamilton,Highway 403 andHighway 407 inBurlington, Highway 403 at theOakville–Mississauga boundary, and Highway 427 inEtobicoke. Within theRegional Municipality of Halton the QEW is signedconcurrently with Highway 403. Thespeed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) throughout most of its length, with the exception being betweenHamilton andSt. Catharines where the posted limit was raised to 110 km/h (68 mph) on September 26, 2019 as part of the government's plan to raise the speed limits across the province.[2]
The history of the QEW dates back to 1931, when work began to widenthe Middle Road in a similar fashion to the nearbyDundas Highway andLakeshore Road as a relief project during theGreat Depression. Following the1934 provincial election, Ontario Minister of HighwaysThomas McQuesten and his deputy ministerRobert Melville Smith changed the design to be similar to theautobahns of Germany, dividing the opposite directions of travel and usinggrade-separated interchanges at major crossroads. When opened to traffic in 1937, it was the first intercity divided highway inNorth America and featured the longest stretch of consistent illumination in the world. While not a true freeway at the time, it was gradually upgraded, widened, and modernized beginning in the 1950s, more or less taking on its current form by 1975. Since then, various projects have continued to widen the route. In 1997, the provincial government turned over the responsibility for the section of the QEW between Highway 427 and theHumber River to the City of Toronto, which redesignated this segment as a westward extension of the Gardiner Expressway.
The Queen Elizabeth Way was named for the wife and royal consort ofKing George VI who would later become known asQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. It is sometimes referred to as the Queen E.[3]In 1939, the royal coupletoured Canada and the United States in part to bolster support for the United Kingdom in anticipation of war withNazi Germany, and also to mark George VI's coronation. The highway received its name to commemorate the visit; it was unveiled on June 7 as the King and Queen ceremonially opened the highway at a site near theHenley Bridge in St. Catharines. Originally, the highway featured stylized light standards with the letters "ER", theRoyal Cypher forElizabeth Regina, the Latin equivalent to "Queen Elizabeth." While mostly replaced with modern lighting masts like other Ontario highways, replicas of these stylized "ER" poles have been installed upon three bridges along the QEW: in Mississauga over theCredit River, in Oakville overBronte Creek, and in St. Catharines overTwelve Mile Creek. In addition Highway 420 in Niagara Falls and its extension, Falls Avenue, has these "ER" light standards installed since 2002, as a nod to this route being part of the original QEW upon its inauguration in 1940 until being bypassed by QEW's extension to Fort Erie in 1941.[4]
Themarkers identifying the QEW have always used blue lettering on a yellow background instead of the black-on-white scheme other provincial highway markers use. They originally showed the highway's full name only in small letters, with the large script letters "ER" placed where the highway number is on other signs. In 1955, these were changed to the current design, with the lettering "QEW."[5] Although the QEW has no posted highway number, it is considered to be part of the Province of Ontario's 400-series highway network.[6]The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario designates the QEW asHighway 451 for internal, administrative purposes.[7]
Amonument was originally in thehighway median at the Toronto terminus of the highway west of the Humber River bridges, dedicated to the 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and known as the "Lucky Lion." The column, with a crown at the top and a lion at the base, was designed byW. L. Somerville and sculptorsFrances Loring andFlorence Wyle for $12,000 (equivalent to $235,650 in 2023[8]). The monument was removed in 1972 in order to accommodate widening of the original QEW, and relocated in August 1975 to the nearby SirCasimir Gzowski Park along Lake Ontario, on the east side of the Humber River.[9]
The QEW is a 139 km (86 mi) route that travels from the Peace Bridge – which connects Fort Erie with Buffalo, New York – to Toronto, the economic hub of the province. It runs as afreeway circling the western lakehead of Lake Ontario, cutting through Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, and Mississauga en route.[10] A 22 km (14 mi) portion of the freeway in Burlington is signed concurrently withHighway 403.[1] Unlike other provincial highways in Ontario, the QEW is directionally signed using locations along the route as opposed tocardinal directions. Driving towards Toronto, the route is signed as "QEW Toronto" throughout its length. In the opposing direction, it is signed as "QEW Hamilton", "QEW Niagara", and "QEW Fort Erie" depending on the location.[5]
The Queen Elizabeth Way begins at theCanada–United States border on the three-lane undivided Peace Bridge, which connects withI-190 (viaNY 955B) in Buffalo, New York. A customs booth is located just west of the bridge, beyond which a toll is charged to Canada-bound drivers. West of there, access is provided to nearbyHighway 3 and theNiagara Parkway. Through customs, the four-lane freeway proper begins, immediately curving northwest. Within Fort Erie, interchanges provide access to and from the QEW at Central Avenue, Concession Road, Thompson Road, Gilmore Road, and Bowen Road. While there is some urban development at the beginning of the freeway, the majority of the first 25 km (16 mi) are within lowland forests. Numerous creeks flow through these forests, often flooding them. The Willoughby Marsh Conservation Area lies southwest of the freeway, approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Niagara Falls. After an interchange with Lyons Creek Road, the freeway turns northward.[10]
After crossing theWelland River, the original route of theWelland Canal, the freeway exits the forests and enters agricultural land surrounding the suburbs of Niagara Falls, which the highway enters north of the McLeod Road interchange. Within the city,Highway 420 meets the QEW at a large four-level junction and widens to six lanes. The opposing carriageways split at this interchange to accommodate the left-hand exit/entry of the flyover ramps accessing Highway 420, with the Toronto-bound traffic passing under these flyovers and a CN rail crossing. Exiting the northern fringe of Niagara Falls, the freeway again curves northwest and begins to descend through theNiagara Escarpment, aWorld Biosphere Reserve.Highway 405 merges with the QEW along the short rural stretch between Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. While there is no Toronto-bound access to Highway 405, Niagara-bound drivers can follow this short freeway to theLewiston–Queenston Bridge, which crosses the U.S. border intoLewiston, New York. The QEW continues west into St. Catharines.[10]
As the Queen Elizabeth Way enters St. Catharines, it ascends theGarden City Skyway to cross theWelland Canal. This 2.2 km (1.4 mi) structure replaced thelift bridge south of it, one of two major bottlenecks prior to the early 1960s, and is one of two high-level skyways along the route. As the QEW was the first long distance freeway in North America, several modern engineering concepts were not considered in its original 1939 design, and although it was modernized in a recent reconstruction that concluded in 2011, further expansion of the highway is inhibited by the proximity of properties throughout most of its length. Consequently, most of the route beyond the Welland Canal is wedged betweenservice roads which provide access to and from the QEW as well as to local businesses and residences. After passing the Ontario Street (Regional Road 42) interchange, the freeway crosses Martindale Pond, which forms the mouth ofTwelve Mile Creek. West of the crossing is atrumpet interchange withHighway 406, which travels south toWelland, after which the QEW crosses out of St. Catharines and into the town ofLincoln at Fifteen Mile Creek, continuing with a six-lane cross-section.[11]
Throughout Lincoln, the QEW travels along the Lake Ontario shoreline through the NiagaraFruit Belt; numerous wineries line the south side of the freeway. Interchanges at Victoria Road (Regional Road 24) and Ontario Street (Regional Road 18) provide access to the communities ofVineland andBeamsville, respectively. The latter encroaches upon the south side of the QEW, interrupting the otherwise agricultural surroundings of the highway in Lincoln. Immediately east of the Bartlett Avenue interchange, the freeway entersGrimsby, where it becomes sandwiched between the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario. The route passes under three overpasses that have remained unchanged since the highway was built: Maple Avenue, Ontario Street, and Christie Street, all served by a singlediamond interchange. South of the Fifty Point Conservation Area, the freeway exits theNiagara Region and enters the city of Hamilton.[12]
Within Hamilton, the highway passes almost entirely within an industrial park, with interchanges at Fifty Road, Fruitland Road, and Centennial Parkway (formerlyHighway 20). The third of these is intertwined with theRed Hill Valley Parkway interchange (completed in 2009), at which point the freeway widens to eight lanes. From here, the freeway curves northwest onto Burlington Beach and begins to ascend theBurlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, the second high-level bridge along the route. As it crosses over the entrance toHamilton Harbour, the freeway enters theRegional Municipality of Halton and descends into the city of Burlington.[11]
After descending into Burlington, the QEW crosses North Shore Boulevard (formerHighway 2) and Fairview Street/Plains Road as it passes byMapleview Centre. Next to the Burlington Transmission Station, the QEW encounters the Freeman Interchange, originally opened in 1958 to allow construction of Highway 403 and reconfigured in the early 1990s to accommodate the western terminus of Highway 407.[13]The freeway turns to the east, becoming concurrent with Highway 403 through Burlington and Oakville. The two routes travel straight though a commercial office area.Service roads reappear through this stretch to serve businesses fronting the highway. The segment, which was expanded in 2011, is eight lanes wide, including onehigh-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV lanes) in each direction, which required the construction of a second structure overSixteen Mile Creek. In the eastern end of Oakville, the route curves northeast, passing theFord Motor Assembly Plant. Highway 403 then diverges north from the QEW while the QEW turns back to the east, entering Mississauga and thePeel Region.[10]
Within Mississauga, the freeway encounters its narrowestright-of-way, wedged between residential subdivisions on either side that prevent further expansion from its six-lane cross section. Between the interchanges with Winston Churchill Boulevard and Mississauga Road, the freeway is not illuminated. It crosses theCredit River valley, where a second bridge will soon be under construction. The segment east of the Credit River is being examined for expansion possibilities, but like the previous section, there is little room for more lanes without property acquisition. Some of the interchanges through Mississauga haveramp meters on the entrances onto the QEW, meaning only one vehicle is allowed to enter the on-ramp per each green light on a traffic signal, depending on the time of day, or the amount of traffic is on the highway at a certain time. After crossingEtobicoke Creek, which forms the boundary between Peel Region and Toronto, the route passes through a sprawling four-level interchange with Highway 427, as the freeway continues eastward as the municipalGardiner Expressway.[10]
The QEW formerly continued beyond the Highway 427 interchange to theOld Toronto city limits at theHumber River, although this section between wasdownloaded from provincial to municipal authorities on April 1, 1997 and became a westward extension of the Gardiner Expressway. Provincial control of the freeway ends shortly after an onramp from Highway 427; municipal ownership is evident from the use of different high-mast illumination poles that are shaded to reduce light pollution at the underpasses with Wickman Road and a railway line. East of that point the freeway retains its provincial-installed conventional lighting as it splits into a short collector-express system about ten lanes wide to serve the interchanges with Kipling Avenue and Islington Avenue. East of Grand Avenue, the municipality's shaded high-mast lighting has been erected as the freeway crosses Parklawn Avenue and aCN rail line followed by offramps toLake Shore Boulevard, then it curves as it passes the residential condominium towers ofThe Queensway – Humber Bay neighbourhood along the waterfront, theMr. Christie cookie factory (which later became a part ofMondelēz International) and theOntario Food Terminal on the north side, and then a tunnel leading to theHumber Loopstreecar right-of-way.[14]
As the freeway crosses the west bank of the Humber River this marks the QEW's old eastern terminus and the beginning of theMetro Toronto-constructed portion of the Gardiner. Coincidentally at the former eastern end of the QEW, the Metro-built Gardiner Expressway also assumed the provincialHighway 2 designation from Lake Shore Boulevard (from Lake Shore Boulevard's on-ramp to the Gardiner), until most of Highway 2 was decommissioned in 1998 leaving both Lake Shore and the Gardiner without a provincial route number. This old demarcation line was quite visible on the freeway as a change in pavement quality and the use of different guardrail and lighting (since the late 1960s the province used conventional truss poles originally fitted withmercury halide lamps before being replaced by high-pressure sodium lamps in the 1990s, while Metro installed had the distinctive cobra-neck 30-foot (9.1 m) poles with fluorescent tubes that were since swapped for orange low-pressure sodium lamps in 1978).[15] The Gardiner Expressway continues through downtown Toronto, and after crossing the Don River it ends at Lake Shore Boulevard (where it ceded the Highway 2 provincial routing back to Lake Shore until 1998), although a partial interchange connects to theDon Valley Parkway (DVP) which turns ninety degrees and heads northbound when it eventually meetsHighway 401.
As automobile use in southern Ontario grew in the early 20th century, road design and construction advanced significantly. A major issue faced by planners was the improvement of the routes connecting Toronto and Hamilton, which were consistently overburdened by the growing traffic levels.[16]Following frequent erosion of the formermacadamizedLakeshore Road,[17]a cement road known as theToronto–Hamilton Highway was proposed in January 1914.[18]The highway was designed to run along the lake shore, instead ofDundas Street to the north, because the numerous hills encountered along Dundas would have increased costs without improving accessibility. Middle Road, a dirt lane named because of its position between the two, was not considered since Lakeshore and Dundas were both overcrowded and in need of serious repairs.[19] Construction began on November 8, 1914, but dragged on throughout theongoing war.[16][20]It was formally opened on November 24, 1917,[17] 5.5 m (18 ft) wide and nearly 64 km (40 mi) long. It was the first concrete road in Ontario, as well as one of the longest stretches of concrete road between two cities in the world.[21] Though many minor improvements in alignment were made, the original highway was without modern bridges for the crossings of the Credit River and Bronte, Etobicoke, and Mimico Creeks.[22]Modern concrete arch bridges for all crossings except Bronte Creek were completed in 1919.[23]
Over the next decade, vehicle usage increased substantially, and by 1920 Lakeshore Road was again highly congested on weekends.[24]In response, the Department of Highways examined improving another road between Toronto and Hamilton. The road was to be more than twice the width of Lakeshore Road at 12 m (39 ft) and would carry two lanes of traffic in either direction.[25]Construction on what was then known as theQueen StreetExtension inEtobicoke Township west of today'sKipling Avenue (bypassing a northern jog in Queen Street) to connect with the eastern end ofThe Middle Road across theEtobicoke Creek began in early 1931 as a Great Depression relief project.[26][27]
Before the highway could be completed,Thomas McQuesten was appointed the new minister of the Department of Highways, with Robert Melville Smith as deputy minister, following the1934 provincial elections.[28]Smith, inspired by the German autobahns—new "dual-lanedivided highways"—modified the design for Ontario roads,[29]and McQuesten ordered that the Middle Road be converted into this new form of highway.[30][31][32]A 40 m (130 ft)right-of-way was purchased along the Middle Road and construction began to convert the existing sections to a divided highway. Work also began on Canada's first interchange atHighway 10 (Hurontario Street).[25]
By the end of 1937, the Middle Road was open between Toronto and Burlington. When it opened, it was the first intercity divided highway in North America[Note 1]and boasted the longest continuous stretch of illumination in the world until the Second World War.[33][34]
McQuesten also foresaw the financial opportunities that came with cross-border tourism and opening the "Ontario frontier" to Americans. In 1937, construction began on a new dual highway from Hamilton to Niagara Falls (first known as theHamilton-Niagara Falls Highway) along the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment. This route was intended to connect with the Middle Road on the opposing shore of Lake Ontario.[35] Work began at the end of March tograde the route betweenStoney Creek andJordan. The Hamilton-Niagara Falls Highway connected to the Middle Road via a trumpet junction known as the Burlington Interchange.[36][37]
The prospect of removing hundreds of acres of farmland did not sit well with many, especially farmers in the path of the new highway. Rumours spread the prices paid for land were to be well below market value, and local protests erupted throughout the summer. However, the purpose of the new highway was to replace the congested, winding and hilly route ofHighway 8 along the escarpment; several groups of collisions that summer gradually persuaded the public to support the new highway. By the autumn, 340 acres (140 ha) of fruitland were cleared to make way for the route.[38]
Over the next two years, numerous bridges andcloverleaf interchanges along the new highway were constructed. In addition, a large traffic circle was built in Stoney Creek to connect with Highway 20. The majority of this structural work was completed by June 1939. However, despite being opened to traffic between Stoney Creek and Jordan, the majority of the new route was gravelled. Over a ten-week period in the late spring and early summer of 1940, 58 km (36 mi) were paved, completing the four-lane highway between Hamilton and Niagara Falls.
That year, a new grade-separated route for the highway through Etobicoke, (west of Toronto) bypassing the former Middle Road alignment (which later becameThe Queensway) opened to the highway's terminus atLake Shore Boulevard.[39]
It soon came time to name the new highway, and an upcoming visit by KingGeorge VI andQueen Elizabeth proved to be the focal point for a dedication ceremony. On June 7, 1939, the two royal family members drove along both the newly connected Toronto-Hamilton and Hamilton-Niagara Falls highways and passed through a light beam near the Henley Bridge in St. Catharines.[40] This caused twoUnion Jacks to swing out, revealing a sign which readThe Queen Elizabeth Way.[41]
However, the ceremony only named the segment of the highway between St. Catharines and Niagara Falls asThe Queen Elizabeth Way. The remainder of the road was still known by various names, including theToronto–Burlington/Hamilton Highway andThe New Middle Road Highway.[41] On August 23, 1940, McQuesten cut a ribbon at the Henley Bridge in St. Catharines and officially declared the Queen Elizabeth Way open between Toronto and Niagara Falls, at which point the entire route was given theQueen Elizabeth Way name.[42] Over a ten-week period in the late spring and early summer of 1940, 58 km (36 mi) were paved, completing the four-lane highway between Hamilton and Niagara Falls.
Construction on an extension towards Fort Erie, which became known as theQEW Extension, was underway, but the ongoing war delayed its completion. As an interim measure, the unpaved highway was opened during the summer of 1941. Bypassed by the new QEW extension to Fort Erie in 1941, the Niagara Falls bridge approach became a spur route that was no longer part of the QEW so it was officially named theRainbow Bridge Approach for the next three decades (until upgraded and designated as Highway 420 in 1972). Two lanes of pavement were laid in 1946, but the four-lane highway was not fully paved until 1956, with the portion from Niagara Falls to Fort Erie being the last to be fully paved. The entire route – from Toronto's Humber River all the way to Fort Erie, all named as the QEW – was officially opened on October 14 of that year, completing the envisioned highway 25 years after work had begun.[43]
Despite some modern infrastructure, including traffic circles, interchanges, and some grade-separations, the majority of the new superhighway was not controlled-access. This meant exiting farmers and homeowners along several segments that were onceconcession roads were permitted to build driveways onto the road. In addition, the majority of the crossroads encountered along the route were at-grade intersections. This, combined with the ever-increasing number of automobiles, traffic jams, accidents, and deteriorating pavement, led the Department of Highways to state it had begun "salvaging" the QEW in its 1953 annual report.[44]
The first new interchange opened atDixie Road in 1953, beginning a seven-year program to make the Hamilton–Toronto section into a full-fledged freeway.[45]Over the next three years, the route was improved west to Highway 10 (Hurontario Street). This work was completed in early 1956.Service roads were installed and 13 intersections eliminated, resulting in a 50% reduction of the accident rate along that section.[46]In Toronto, work began in 1955 to construct theGardiner Expressway, which would tie in with the end of the QEW.[47] The first section of the Gardiner, connecting the QEW to Jameson Avenue, was officially opened byMetropolitan Toronto chairmanFred Gardiner and PremierLeslie Frost on August 8, 1958.[48]Work was also underway on the Toronto Bypass, involving the upgrade ofHighway 27 to a freeway between the QEW and the newHighway 401. Construction began in 1953,[49]and included an reconstruction of the cloverleaf interchange with the QEW with larger loop ramps. This interchange would become one of the worstbottlenecks in the province only a decade after its completion, according to Highways MinisterCharles MacNaughton.[50]
On September 11, 1957, construction began to widen the QEW to six lanes between Highway 27 and the Humber River. It was completed by December 1958,[51]as were interchanges with Mississauga Road and Kerr Street.[52]Service roads allowed engineers to separate local access from the highway and avoid space-consuming interchanges in many places.[44] Therefore, interchanges were only opened at Bronte Road (thenHighway 25), Kerr Street, Royal Windsor Drive (thenHighway 122), Southdown Road (now Erin Mills Parkway north of the interchange), Mississauga Road, Hurontario Street (then still Highway 10), Cawthra Road, Dixie Road, and Highway 27.
Two major projects were ongoing near Burlington at this point. On April 29, 1952, theW.E. Fitzgerald struck the two-lanelift bridge at the entrance to Hamilton Harbour.[53]Damage to the crossing resulted in the QEW's closure until a temporary bridge was erected. To remedy what was becoming a major delay and hazard, the Department of Highways began planning a high-level bridge to cross the shipping channel. Immediately west of the Guelph Line interchange, construction also began to improve access to the new bridge with theFreeman Diversion, a new routing of the QEW that would bypass the existingMiddle Road section which passed through the community of Freeman that was becoming increasingly built-up, then connect to a newthree-way junction (theFreeman Interchange) with the proposedChedoke Expressway, and continue to the existingBurlington Interchange which would retain the underpass forMiddle Road but be reconfigured to accept traffic primarily from theDiversion. Work on the new bridge andDiversion proceeded over the next six years.[54]
The Freeman Diversion opened to traffic in August 1958,[55]with the old alignment becoming an eastward extension of Plains Road (still directly accessible via asplit west of Guelph Line).[10] Premier Frost opened the 2,700-metre-long (8,900 ft), four-lane skyway two months later on October 30. Although the skyway greatly reduced traffic delays, it was not without controversy due to its height, cost, tolling, and most especially its name. Residents in Burlington demanded it be named the Burlington Skyway, while Hamilton residents countered with the Hamilton Skyway. As a compromise, the Thomas B. McQuesten Skyway was proposed. However, the provincial government had the final say in the matter, and opted to name it the Burlington Bay Skyway. Tolls were collected beginning on November 10.[54]
Elsewhere, in St. Catharines, planning was already advanced on a second skyway to cross the Welland Canal. The Homer Lift Bridge, a longstanding feature along Highway 8, was another point where the QEW narrowed to two lanes and traffic faced regular delays. Construction began in July 1960 and progressed over the following three years. Tentatively known as the Homer Skyway, the name that was almost unanimously chosen by St. Catharines residents would be Garden City Skyway.[56] .[54][57] The $20 million (in $1963, 195,000,000 adjusted for inflation) structure was officially opened by PremierJohn Robarts on November 15, 1963. However, traffic had already been flowing on the 2,200-metre-long (7,200 ft) bridge since October 18.[58]As with the Burlington Bay Skyway, tolls were collected on the Garden City Skyway. The collection of tolls on both skyways continued until December 28, 1973.[59]
On September 15, 1960, the Shook's Hill interchange, a rotary junction or grade-separated traffic circle (the only example in Ontario, although this interchange type is common in theUnited Kingdom), was completed at what is nowErin Mills Parkway. It was opened to traffic the following day, and completed the program to make the QEW a freeway between Burlington and Toronto.[60][61]
A project to reconstruct the intersection with Brant Street into an interchange was completed 1964 and made the QEW a freeway between Hamilton and Toronto.[62]
By 1963, work was underway to improve the Niagara Falls–Hamilton stretch of the QEW into a controlled-access highway.[63]At the end of 1966, the QEW was six lanes wide through Mississauga and Toronto, as well as between the Freeman Interchange and east of Brant Street.[64]This six-laning was extended west from Ninth Line to Kerr Street by 1968. The remaining section of four-lane highway along the Burlington to Toronto stretch, between Brant Street and Kerr Street, was reconstructed beginning in 1970 and completed by 1972.[65][66]
The late 1960s and early 1970s also saw the complete reconstruction of three important interchanges: the Rainbow Bridge Approach (later Highway 420) in Niagara Falls, Highway 20 (Centennial Parkway) in Hamilton, and Highway 27 in Toronto. The former two were traffic circles in place since the QEW was opened in 1940; the third was a large cloverleaf interchange that had become outdated with the expansion of Highway 27 to twelve lanes throughout the 1960s. The connections with the Rainbow Bridge Approach and with Highway 27 required new massive high-speed interchanges to accommodate freeway-to-freeway traffic movements.[44][47]
The four-level junction with Highway 27 was built over 48.5 ha (120 acres) and required the construction of 19 bridges and the equivalent of 42 km (26 mi) of two-lane roadway, as well as the temporary diversion of QEW traffic to an overpass that would eventually be used forThe Queensway. Construction began in September 1968,[67] although preliminary work had been ongoing since 1966;[64]the interchange opened to traffic on November 14, 1969. Between the recently expanded Highway 27 (which would be renumbered as Highway 427 on December 4, 1971) and Lake Shore Boulevard, the QEW was also expanded to 8–10 lanes which included a short collector-express system between Kipling Avenue and Royal York Road.[67][68]
Construction of the four-level interchange between the QEW and Rainbow Bridge Approach began in 1971, removing the two traffic circles along the approach at the QEW and Dorchester Road.[69]The interchange between the QEW and Lundy's Lane (Highway 20) was also removed; instead, the new interchange provided access to Montrose Road.[70]The work was completed by April 1972, at which point the Rainbow Bridge Approach was designated as Highway 420.[71]
Planning for the removal of the Stoney Creek traffic circle was completed by 1970,[65] and reconstruction began in 1974.[72]This involved the removal of a rail line which crossed through the circle, and was the demise of one of two major features along the route.[44][47] The new interchange opened in 1978,[73]completing the transformation of the QEW into a controlled-access highway.[72]
During the late 1970s, construction was carried out on several new interchanges between Hamilton and Toronto. New interchanges at Dorval Drive and Trafalgar Road replaced the one at Kerr Street. In Mississauga, work commenced at Cawthra Road, while in Burlington a new interchange was built at Appleby Line.[74][75]
Now functioning as a freeway, the QEW was already overburdened by the ever-increasing number of vehicles. The Burlington Bay Skyway, which was built to bypassHamilton Harbour and thePort of Hamilton, was the lone four-lane link on the route between Hamilton and Toronto. It was initially designed to handle 50,000 vehicles daily, but by 1973 there were 60,000 vehicles crossing it. Preliminary work on a second parallel structure began a decade later in 1983.[76] In July of that year, Transportation MinisterJames Snow broke ground for the new bridge.[56] Construction was carried out over two years, and the twinned structure was opened on October 11, 1985.[59] It was named the James N. Allan Skyway, in honour ofJames Allan, Minister of Highways during construction of the original skyway. The new name was not well received by locals, and debate erupted once again whilst the original bridge was closed and repaired for several years.[56] It reopened on August 22, 1988,[59] with Toronto-bound traffic crossing the original bridge. The twin structure was renamed the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, though it is commonly referred to as simply the Burlington Skyway.[56]
Alongside the twinning of the skyway to eight lanes, the QEW was widened to at least six lanes from the Freeman Interchange to Centennial Parkway. A variable lighting system,changeable message signs and traffic cameras were added to create a newtraffic-management system called COMPASS. Modern interchanges were constructed for Fairview Street/Plains Road (steel tub girder bridges replaced the 1937-built structure originally used for theBurlington Interchange[77]) and Northshore Boulevard (then Highway 2) including a collector lane for Niagara-bound traffic and on/off-ramps to Eastport Drive. Eastport Drive was built at the same time to relieve traffic onBeach Boulevard. This work was completed between late 1984 and 1990.[78][79]
With the expanded capacity of the Burlington Skyway, and the unanticipated traffic volumes on Highway 403, the Freeman Interchange was now faced with a capacity problem.[80] To resolve this, the renamed Ministry of Transportation began planning for the missing link of Highway 403 between Burlington and Mississauga that would run parallel to the QEW;[81] this right-of-way would be sold to the407 ETR consortium in 1995 and built as part of that route.[82]
Work began in August 1991 to reconfigure the directional-T interchange to modern standards, which included realigning the QEW carriageways as mainline traffic, and adding a fourth leg for the future Burlington-Mississauga link. Due to land and cost constraints of the reconstruction, this necessitated replacing the directional ramp with a lower-capacity loop ramp for the movement from Toronto-bound QEW to the Brantford-bound Highway 403 (as some traffic was expected to be diverted away from the Burlington Skyway to the under-constructionLincoln M. Alexander Parkway and plannedRed Creek Expressway). The rebuilt Freeman Interchange was partially opened on October 23, 1993 to serve the existing QEW and Highway 403 segments; the first sod for what would open as Highway 407 was turned that day.[83] The completed ramps (the first to be built were cast-in-place post-tensioned bridges to cross Highway 403 westbound, followed in 2000 by precast girder bridges to pass over the North Service Road[77][84]) connecting to the future Burlington-Mississauga freeway sat unused until that segment finally opened on July 30, 2001, as part of Highway 407 ETR.[85]
Budgetary restraints in the 1990s forced the provincial government to sell off or download many highways to lower levels of government, or, in the case of Highway 407, to a private consortium.[86]As part of recommendations, the QEW east of Highway 427 to the Humber River was transferred to the responsibility of Metro Toronto. The transfer took place on April 1, 1997.[15]The city subsequently renamed it as part of the Gardiner Expressway.[87] After the provincial downloading andAmalgamation of Toronto, this stretch of former QEW has remained largely unchanged though some segments have received a mix of high mast and low masts with shaded high pressure sodium lamps (similar to theDon Valley Parkway), while the old steel guardrail in the median was replaced by an Ontario "tall-wall" concrete barrier in 2007. Worn-out bilingual provincial signage have received unilingual replacements, while billboards which the province had long prohibited have been erected in proximity of the now-municipal freeway. At the partial interchange with Kipling Avenue, the offramp from the westbound collectors initially only led to Kipling Avenue North, but the City of Toronto changed it to a signalized junction in 2005 so that motorists exiting the freeway could access both directions of Kipling Avenue.[15]
The Shook's Hill rotary interchange (originally opened in 1960) with Erin Mills Parkway and Southdown Road, was completely reconstructed to a conventionalparclo A4 from May 1999 to 2001.[88]The nearby Hurontario Street interchange, originally a cloverleaf junction, was reconfigured to a five-ramp parclo by 2010.[89]
TheRed Hill Valley Parkway, which opened on November 16, 2007, added a significant new interchange to the QEW.[90]The ramp to the southbound parkway did not open until December 2008.[91]The nearby interchange toBurlington Street had its 1958-built overpass replaced to accommodate the widening of the QEW to eight lanes, which included a collector lane on the Niagara-bound QEW to avoid weaving that otherwise would have resulted from the close proximity to the Red Hill Valley Parkway junction.[92] Construction was completed in 2009.[93]
From 1998 to 2003, the QEW between Brant Street and Guelph Line was expanded from four to eight lanes,[94] necessitating the removal of the underusedFreeman Diversionsplit including the Niagara-bound carriageway's left-hand exit to Plains Road, so the Toronto-bound carriageway could be shifted next to the Niagara-bound carriageway where the opposing directions would be separated by a concrete median barrier and high mast lighting. This complemented the replacement of the existing railway grade separation (where each carriageway had its own underpass in order to accommodate the Plains Road off-ramp) with a new single structure wide enough to accommodate both directions of the expanded freeway. Plains Road was redirected to the existing service road (Queensway Drive/Harvester Road) that meets Guelph Line at an intersection just south of Guelph Line's interchange with the QEW. The interchange with Guelph Line (originally a full cloverleaf when built, with the northern half modified to a diamond in the mid-1960s[95][96]) was reconfigured to modern Parlo A4 that exclusively served QEW traffic after the ramps to Plains Road were removed, which was completed in 2006.[97]
Starting in 2007, the highway was widened to permit an additional HOV lane in either direction between Guelph Line and Trafalgar Road, which involved twinning the Bronte Creek and Sixteen Mile Creek Bridges following by rehabilitating the original structures.[98]These lanes were opened to traffic on November 29, 2010.[99]
Work began in 2005 to widen the QEW from four to six lanes through St. Catharines from Highway 406 to the Garden City Skyway.[100]This segment whose original design dated back to 1939, saw several interchanges improved and numerous structures replaced, although the widened Henley Bridge kept its classic architecture while existing service roads and local properties beside the freeway were largely retained. Work was completed on August 26, 2011, at a cost of $186 million.[101][102]
In the late 2000s, for the section between the Freeman Interchange to North Shore Boulevard, an additional lane was added for Niagara-bound traffic, while the widening of the structure crossing Fairview Street/Plains Road enabled the loop ramp from Fairview Street to be reinstated; this onramp was originally opened in 1985 and closed off in 2001 when Highway 407 ETR opened after concerns from the city over cyclists' safety.[103] As part of the future widening of the QEW, the existing cast-in-place concrete bridges for the North Shore Boulevard underpass were joined by two precast box girder structures on either side in 2021.[104]
In Oakville, improvements are being made to the Highway 403/QEW/Ford Drive interchange. Since 2017, traffic using the existing loop ramp in the NE corner to access Highway 403/QEW was directed onto a new overpass instead of sharing the existing overpass with westbound Highway 403 traffic. From November 2016 to 2020, the 1970s-era bridges carrying QEW traffic across Ford Drive and the eastbound ramp to Highway 403 were demolished and replaced by new wider structures which can accommodate future HOV lanes and high-mast lighting.[105][106][107] At the present Highway 403 only connects to the QEW west of the interchange, but a new set of flyover ramps are being proposed from Highway 403 to the QEW east of that junction using the existing right-of-way which would allow for a direct freeway connection from Milton to south Mississauga.[108]
There are also plans to twin the bridge spanning the Credit River in Mississauga. A second bridge will be built alongside the existing structure, which will then be repaired while traffic is shifted to the new bridge. In November 2019 theFord government announced that the historic bridge would be demolished and replaced,[109]but changed course due to public opposition on December 18 by restricting project bids to those that would rehabilitate the structure.[110]
Construction of Ontario's firstdiverging diamond interchange, at Glendale Avenue, began in January 2021.[111]The new interchange, which includes a dedicated ramp to Airport Road, opened to traffic on September 26, 2022.[112]
A stretch of the QEW from east of Cawthra Road to the west of Etobicoke Creek is to be widened with the removal of the adjacent service roads, with the centerpiece of the project involving reconfiguring the Dixie Road interchange to a five-ramp parclo and replacing the aging Dixie Road overpass. Construction commenced in May 2022 with an anticipated completion date in July 2026.[113]
In November 2023, the municipal and provincial governments announced a tentative deal which will see responsibility for the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway transferred to the provincial government, with the two highways to be maintained as provincial highways. For the foreseeable future, the downloaded QEW segment east of Highway 427 will remain signed as part of the Gardiner.[114][115]
On December 7, 2015, Ontario's Transportation Ministry announced it was working on a plan to create permanenthigh-occupancy toll lanes (HOT) on a 16.5-kilometre (10.3 mi) stretch, in both ways, between Trafalgar Road in Oakville and Guelph Line in Burlington starting on September 15, 2016.[116] This would require vehicles with a single occupant to purchase a permit for such use. (A portion of Highway 427 would also have HOT lanes.) Vehicles classified as environmentally-friendly and denoted with a green license plate would not be required to pay when using the HOT lanes.[117] Prices for the permits had not yet been determined for this plan, described as a pilot project, said Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca during a press conference.[118]
The following table lists the exits along the QEW. Exits are numbered from Fort Erie to Toronto.The following table lists the major junctions along Queen Elizabeth Way, as noted by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario.[1]
| Division | Location | km[1] | mi | Exit[10] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara River Canada–United States border | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |  I-190 –Buffalo | Fort Erie terminus; access viaNY 955B | |
| Peace Bridge (toll) | ||||||
| Niagara | Fort Erie | |||||
| 0.2 | 0.12 | — |  Regional Road 124 (Central Avenue) / Duty Free Way | Last Fort Erie-bound exit before U.S.A.; no exit number; no access from Central Avenue to Peace Bridge; Duty Free Way not signed Toronto-bound | ||
| 1.1 | 0.68 | 1 | Concession Road | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance; access via Bertie Street; formerlyRegional Road 126 | ||
| 2.1 | 1.3 | 2 |   Regional Road 122 (Thompson Road) toHighway 3 / Bertie Street | Toronto-bound to Regional Road 122 south (Thompson Road) exit; Regional Road 122 north (Thompson Road) to Fort Erie-bound entrance | ||
| 4.6 | 2.9 | 5 |  Regional Road 19 (Gilmore Road) | |||
| 6.7 | 4.2 | 7 |  Regional Road 21 (Bowen Road) –Stevensville | |||
| Fort Erie–Niagara Falls boundary | 12.2 | 7.6 | 12 |  Regional Road 25 (Netherby Road) –Stevensville,Welland | ||
| Niagara Falls | 15.5 | 9.6 | 16 |  Regional Road 116 (Sodom Road) –Chippawa,Stevensville,Crystal Beach | ||
| 22.1 | 13.7 | 21 |  Regional Road 47 (Lyons Creek Road) –Welland | |||
| 26.6 | 16.5 | 27 |  Regional Road 49 (McLeod Road) | |||
| 29.5 | 18.3 | 30 |   Highway 420 –The Falls,Niagara Falls U.S.A. Regional Road 20 (Lundy's Lane) / Dorchester Road | Signed as exits 30A (Highway 420) and 30B (Lundy's Lane) Fort Erie-bound; Lundy's Lane formerlyHighway 20; Dorchester Road formerlyRegional Road 104; toNiagara Health – Niagara Falls Site | ||
| 31.5 | 19.6 | 32 |  Regional Road 57 (Thorold Stone Road) –Thorold | |||
| 34.0 | 21.1 | 34 |  Regional Road 101 (Mountain Road) | |||
| Niagara-on-the-Lake | 36.5 | 22.7 | 37 |  Highway 405 east –Queenston,Lewiston U.S.A. | Fort Erie-bound exit and Toronto-bound entrance; toI-190 | |
| 37.8 | 23.5 | 38 |  Regional Road 89 (Glendale Avenue) –Niagara-on-the-Lake | Ontario's firstdiverging diamond interchange (DDI); toRegional Road 55 (formerlyHighway 55) andRegional Road 81 (formerlyHighway 8) | ||
| Welland Canal | 39.7– 41.8 | 24.7– 26.0 | Garden City Skyway | |||
| Niagara | St. Catharines | 43.9 | 27.3 | 44 |  Regional Road 48 (Niagara Street) / Service Road | |
| 45.6 | 28.3 | 46 |  Regional Road 44 (Lake Street) | |||
| 46.9 | 29.1 | 47 |  Regional Road 42 (Ontario Street) | |||
| 47.4 | 29.5 | Henley Bridge overTwelve Mile Creek | ||||
| 47.7 | 29.6 | 48 |  Regional Road 38 (Martindale Road) | Toronto-bound exit; Fort Erie-bound entrance via Regional Road 40 | ||
| 48.4 | 30.1 | 49 |  Highway 406 south –Thorold,Welland,Port Colborne | ToNiagara Health – St. Catharines Site | ||
 Regional Road 39 (3rd Street / North Service Road) | Toronto-bound exit; Fort Erie-bound entrance via Regional Road 40 | |||||
| 50.4 | 31.3 | 51 |  Regional Road 34 (Seventh Street) | |||
| Lincoln | 54.7 | 34.0 | 55 |  Regional Road 26 (Jordan Road) –Jordan Station | ||
| 57.6 | 35.8 | 57 |  Regional Road 24 (Victoria Avenue) –Vineland | |||
| 64.3 | 40.0 | 64 |  Regional Road 18 (Ontario Street) –Beamsville | |||
| Grimsby | 68.1 | 42.3 | 68 |  Regional Road 14 (Bartlett Avenue) | ToWest Lincoln Memorial Hospital | |
| 70.6 | 43.9 | 71 |  Regional Road 12 (Christie Street) / Maple Avenue / Ontario Street | |||
| 74.2 | 46.1 | 74 |  Regional Road 10 (Casablanca Boulevard) | |||
| Hamilton | 77.8 | 48.3 | 78 | Fifty Road | Formerly Regional Road 450 | |
| 82.9 | 51.5 | 83 | Fruitland Road | Formerly Regional Road 455 | ||
| 88.1– 88.6 | 54.7– 55.1 | 88 | City Road 20 south (Centennial Parkway) | FormerlyHighway 20 south | ||
| 89 |   Red Hill Valley Parkway | ToJohn C. Munro Hamilton International Airport | ||||
| 89.8 | 55.8 | 90 | Nikola Tesla Boulevard, Woodward Avenue | Woodward Avenue not signed Toronto-bound | ||
| 93.8 | 58.3 | 93 | Eastport Drive (Highway 7189 north) | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance | ||
| Burlington Bay | 93.8– 96.0 | 58.3– 59.7 | Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway | |||
| Halton | Burlington | 97.1 | 60.3 | 97 | North Shore Boulevard, Eastport Drive | FormerlyHighway 2; toJoseph Brant Hospital |
| 99.5 | 61.8 | 99 | Plains Road, Fairview Street | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance; eastbound exit and westbound entrance from Highway 403; westbound exit and eastbound entrance from 407 ETR | ||
| 100.5 | 62.4 | 100 |  Highway 403 west –Hamilton (Downtown),Brantford | Beginning of Highway 403 concurrency; toJohn C. Munro Hamilton International Airport | ||
 407 ETR east | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance;toll highway | |||||
| 101.3 | 62.9 | 101 |  Regional Road 18 (Brant Street) | No Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance; eastbound exit and westbound access to Highway 403 west | ||
| 103.2 | 64.1 | 102 |  Regional Road 1 (Guelph Line) | |||
| 105.2 | 65.4 | 105 | Walkers Line | |||
| 107.3 | 66.7 | 107 |  Regional Road 20 (Appleby Line) | |||
| Burlington–Oakville boundary | 109.3 | 67.9 | 109 |  Regional Road 21 (Burloak Drive) | ||
| Oakville | 110.9 | 68.9 | 110 | Service Road | Fort Erie-bound exit only. Access removed in 2008 to accommodate widening of the QEW for HOV Lanes | |
| 111.3 | 69.2 | 111 |  Regional Road 25 (Bronte Road) –Milton | |||
| 113.4 | 70.5 | 113 | Third Line | ToOakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital | ||
| 116.5 | 72.4 | 116 |  Regional Road 17 (Dorval Drive) | |||
| Kerr Street | Fort Erie-bound exit only | |||||
| 118.6 | 73.7 | 118 |  Regional Road 3 (Trafalgar Road) | |||
| 120.0 | 74.6 | 119 | Royal Windsor Drive | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance; formerlyHighway 122 | ||
| 123.1 | 76.5 | 123 |  Regional Road 13 (Ford Drive) | |||
 Via Highway 401 viaHighway 403 east –Toronto | End of Highway 403 concurrency; Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance | |||||
| Halton–Peel boundary | Oakville–Mississauga boundary | 124.5 | 77.4 | 124 |  Peel Regional Road 19 (Winston Churchill Boulevard) | Unsigned concurrency withHalton Regional Road 19 |
| Peel | Mississauga | 126.6 | 78.7 | 126 |  Regional Road 1 (Erin Mills Parkway) / Southdown Road | Southdown Road was formerlyHighway 122 |
| 130.7 | 81.2 | 130 | Mississauga Road | |||
| 132.7 | 82.5 | 132 | Hurontario Street | FormerlyHighway 10 | ||
| 134.9 | 83.8 | 134 |  Regional Road 17 (Cawthra Road) | |||
| 136.7 | 84.9 | 136 |  Regional Road 4 (Dixie Road) | Fort Erie-bound exit and Toronto-bound entrance | ||
| Toronto | 138.5 | 86.1 | 138 | Evans Avenue, West Mall,Brown's Line | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance | |
| 139.1 | 86.4 | 139 |  Queen Elizabeth Way ends Gardiner Expressway begins Highway 427 north toHighway 401 –Pearson Airport | Toronto terminus; freeway and exit numbers continue as the Gardiner Expressway | ||
| Brown's Line, Sherway Gardens Road | Toronto-bound entrance and Fort Erie-bound exit (westbound exit and eastbound entrance from Gardiner Expressway) | |||||
| 141.0 | 87.6 | 141 | Kipling Avenue | Fort Erie-bound exit originally only to Kipling Avenue North until municipality changed it to signalized junction in 2005 allowing access to both directions; Toronto-bound exit to Kipling Avenue via Evans Avenue | ||
| 142.1 | 88.3 | 142 | Islington Avenue | Signed as exits 142A (south) and 142B (north); no Fort Erie-bound entrance from northbound Islington Avenue; Fort Erie-bound exit to southbound Islington Avenue via St. Lawrence Avenue | ||
| 144.3 | 89.7 | 144 | Park Lawn Road | Toronto-bound exit and Fort Erie-bound entrance | ||
| 144.9 | 90.0 | 145 | Lake Shore Boulevard Gardiner Expressway east –Downtown Toronto | Fort Erie-bound exit and Toronto-bound entrance; formerlyHighway 2 west; former Queen Elizabeth Way Toronto terminus; Gardiner Expressway (former Highway 2 east) continues | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| ||||||
As the principal travel route between Toronto and Buffalo, whenever sports teams from the two cities face each other (particularly theSabres andMaple Leafs in the National Hockey League) the game is calledThe Battle of the QEW.[119] This name has also been used to describeCFL games between longtime arch-rivals theToronto Argonauts andHamilton Tiger-Cats.
...the freeway concept was promoted by Hamiltonian Thomas B. McQuesten, then the highway minister. What would become The Queen Elizabeth Way was already under construction, but McQuesten changed it into a dual-lane divided highway, based on Germany's new autobahns.[permanent dead link]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The construction of the [Shook's Hill] interchange will complete the facilities necessary for the complete control of access of the Queen Elizabeth Way between the Humber River and Highway 25
Rae also announced yesterday that the province will ask for private-sector proposals to design and construct the Burlington–Oakville link of Highway 403 as part of Highway 407.
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