Queen Elizabeth Way
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The Queen Elizabeth Way (commonly referred to as the QEW, Q, QE, or Queen-E) is a vital freeway linking Buffalo, New York and the Niagara Peninsula with Toronto and its western suburbs. The freeway starts at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ontario and continues 139 km through Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga before ending at the junction of Highway 427 and the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. The QEW is one of Ontario's busier highways with over 200,000 average trips per day. The QEW is not referred to by any route number. Many falsely think of the QEW as Ontario's hidden Highway 1. This is not true. In fact, although never signed, the QEW does have the secret designation of Highway 451 and is considered part of the 400-Series Highway network. In planning documents in the 1940s, the QEW was also referred to as Highway 402.
Major freeway junctions are located at Highway 420, Highway 405, Highway 406, Highway 403 in Burlington, Highway 407, Highway 403 in Oakville and Highway 427. A section of QEW through Halton Region (exits 101 through 123) is concurrently signed with Highway 403.
The Queen Elizabeth Way originally started as a divided-highway upgrade of the Middle Road through what is now Halton and Peel Region.
The highway was not named for Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Elizabeth II, but for the Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother) who was married to King George VI. In 1939 King George and Queen Elizabeth made a tour of Canada to celebrate his coronation and make themselves known to their Canadian subjects.
The signs identifying the highway originally showed its full name only in small letters, with large script letters ER (for Elizabeth Regina, or Queen Elizabeth in Latin) where the highway number would go on other signs. In 1955 these were replaced by QEW signs similar to Ontario's usual "King's Highway" signs, but with blue lettering on a yellow background instead of the usual black on white. Because the highway curves sharply around the end of Lake Ontario, its directions are not signed with compass points as usual in Canada, but with destination cities, such as QEW Toronto. The MTO is quite consistant with how directions are signed. QEW Toronto is used consistantly for traffic that heads towards Toronto, regardless of its final destination. In the opposite direction, different names are used. Between Toronto and Hamilton, it is signed QEW Hamilton. Between Hamilton and Niagara Falls, it is signed QEW Niagara. Finally, between Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, it is signed QEW Fort Erie.
Various upgrades during the 1940s and 1950s brought the Queen Elizabeth Way up to modern freeway standards between Toronto and Hamilton, and later over its entire length. The Queen Elizabeth Way was extended further south to Fort Erie after World War II, leaving the QEW's original route to the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls as a branch which later became Highway 420. High-level bridges were constructed at Hamilton Harbour (the James N. Allan Skyway Bridge, originally Burlington Bay Skyway) and the Welland Canal in St. Catharines (the Garden City Skyway) in the 1960s to allow free movement of traffic without the need to stop for drawbridges; tolls on these bridges were eventually removed. The QEW is also well known for its vintage highway architecture, which is slowly being replaced as the highway is upgraded through St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. An original 1936 rail overpass at Sandplant Hill in Niagara Falls is to be replaced in 2005, as is the 1937-vintage Martindale Road overpass in St. Catharines.
The QEW formerly continued beyond Highway 427 to the old Toronto city limit at the Humber River; this section was downloaded from provincial to municipal ownership in 1997, and became part of the Gardiner Expressway. A monument was originally located at the highway's Toronto terminus, dedicated to the 1940 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and consisted of a column with a crown at the top and a lion at the base. The monument was later moved in order to accommodate widening of the original QEW, and is now located in the nearby Sir Casimir Gzowski Park along Lake Ontario, on the east side of the Humber River.
Today, the QEW is a full four- to eight-lane freeway running through the heart of Ontario's tourist region. Construction is currently underway to widen the highway from four to six lanes through all of St. Catharines and Niagara Falls as well as a full eight to ten-lane widening though Halton Region. Due to increased traffic volumes and environmental issues throughout the Niagara Region, plans are underway to construct a Mid-Peninsula Bypass of the QEW, running from Fort Erie though Welland ending in Burlington at Highway 407.
| Contents |
Lane Configurations from Fort Erie to Toronto
| Section | Travel Lanes |
|---|---|
| Peace Bridge to Mountain Road (Niagara Road 101) | 2 Lanes per Direction |
| Mountain Road to Highway 405 | 2 Lanes per Direction 1 additional lane per direction currently under construction |
| Highway 405 to Niagara Street (Niagara Road 48)/Service Road | 3 Lanes per Direction |
| Niagara Street/Service Road to Highway 406 | 2 Lanes per Direction 1 additional lane per direction currently under construction |
| Highway 406 to Woodward Avenue | 3 Lanes per Direction |
| Woodward Avenue to North Shore Boulevard/Eastport Drive | 4 Lanes per Direction |
| North Shore Boulevard/Eastport Drive to Highway 403 West/Highway 407 | 3 Lanes per Direction |
| Highway 403 West/Highway 407 to Third Line | 3 Lanes per Direction 2 additional lanes per direction currently under construction |
| Third Line to Highway 403 East | 3 Lanes per Direction 1 additional lane per direction currently under construction |
| Highway 403 East to Highway 427 | 3 Lanes per Direction |
Interchanges from Fort Erie to Toronto
| Municipality | Exit Number | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Erie | 0 | Goderich Street (Niagara Road 3) (Toronto-bound), Central Avenue (Niagara Road 134) (Fort Erie-bound) |
| Fort Erie | 1 | Concession Road (Toronto-bound) |
| Fort Erie | 2 | Thompson Road South (Toronto-bound), Bertie Street/Central Avenue (Fort Erie-bound) |
| Fort Erie | 5 | Gilmore Road (Niagara Road 19) |
| Fort Erie | 7 | Bowen Road (Niagara Road 21) |
| Fort Erie - Niagara Falls Boundary | 12 | Netherby Road (Niagara Road 25) |
| Niagara Falls | 16 | Sodom Road (Niagara Road 116) |
| Niagara Falls | 21 | Lyons Creek Road (Niagara Road 47) |
| Niagara Falls | 27 | McLeod Road (Niagara Road 49) |
| Niagara Falls | 30 | Highway 420/Lundy's Lane (Niagara Road 20)/Dorchester Road |
| Niagara Falls | 32 | Thorold Stone Road (Niagara Road 57) |
| Niagara Falls | 34 | Mountain Road (Niagara Road 101) |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake | 37 | Highway 405 (Niagara-bound only) |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake | 38 | Niagara Road 55/Glendale Avenue (Niagara Road 89) |
| St. Catharines | 44 | Niagara Street (Niagara Road 48)/Service Road |
| St. Catharines | 46 | Lake Street |
| St. Catharines | 47 | Ontario Street (Niagara Road 42) |
| St. Catharines | 48 | Martindale Road (Niagara Road 38) (Toronto-bound only) |
| St. Catharines | 49 | Highway 406, North Service Road (Toronto-bound only) |
| St. Catharines | 51 | Seventh Street (Niagara Road 34) |
| Lincoln | 55 | Jordan Road (Niagara Road 26) |
| Lincoln | 57 | Victoria Avenue (Niagara Road 24) |
| Lincoln | 64 | Ontario Street (Niagara Road 18) |
| Grimsby | 68 | Bartlett Avenue (Niagara Road 14) |
| Grimsby | 71 | Christie Street (Niagara Road 12)/Ontario Street/Maple Avenue |
| Grimsby | 74 | Casablanca Boulevard (Niagara Road 10) |
| Hamilton | 78 | Fifty Road (Hamilton Road 50) |
| Hamilton | 83 | Fruitland Road (Hamilton Road 55) |
| Hamilton | 88 | Centennial Parkway (Hamilton Road 20), Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway (under construction) |
| Hamilton | 89 | Burlington Street |
| Hamilton | 90 | Woodward Avenue (Niagara-bound only) |
| Hamilton | 93 | Eastport Drive (Toronto-bound only) |
| Burlington | 97 | North Shore Boulevard, Eastport Drive |
| Burlington | 99 | Plains Road/Fairview Street (Toronto-bound only) |
| Burlington | 100 | Highway 403/Highway 407 |
| Burlington | 101 | Brant Street (Hamilton-bound only) |
| Burlington | 102 | Guelph Line (Halton Road 1) |
| Burlington | 105 | Walkers Line |
| Burlington | 107 | Appleby Line |
| Burlington - Oakville Boundary | 109 | Burloak Drive |
| Oakville | 110 | Service Road (Hamilton-bound only) |
| Oakville | 111 | Bronte Road (Halton Road 25) |
| Oakville | 113 | Third Line |
| Oakville | 116 | Dorval Drive |
| Oakville | 117 | Kerr Street (Hamilton-bound only) |
| Oakville | 118 | Trafalgar Road (Halton Road 3) |
| Oakville | 119 | Royal Windsor Drive (Toronto-bound only) |
| Oakville | 123 | Ford Drive, Highway 403 (Toronto-bound only) |
| Oakville - Mississauga Boundary | 124 | Winston Churchill Boulevard (Peel Road 19) |
| Mississauga | 126 | Erin Mills Parkway/Southdown Road |
| Mississauga | 130 | Mississauga Road |
| Mississauga | 132 | Hurontario Street |
| Mississauga | 134 | Cawthra Road (Peel Road 17) |
| Mississauga | 136 | Dixie Road (Peel Road 4) |
| Toronto | 138 | Evans Avenue/The West Mall |
| Toronto | 139 | Highway 427, Browns Line (Hamilton-bound only) |
Former Interchanges (on section redesignated in 1998)
- See Gardiner Expressway listing
External links
- Ontario Ministry of Transportation (http://www.mto.gov.on.ca)
- Live QEW Traffic Cameras through Hamilton, Halton Region and Peel Region (http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/compass/camera/burlington/camhome.htm)
- Live QEW Traffic Cameras through St. Catharines and Niagara Falls (http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/compass/camera/gcs/camhome.htm)Template:ONT 400 Hwys