| Queen Elizabeth Way |
Article Index for Queen Elizabeth |
Website Links For Queen |
Information AboutQueen Elizabeth Way |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT QUEEN ELIZABETH WAY | |
| 400-series highways in ontario | |
| queen elizabeth way | |
| roads in hamilton, ontario | |
| transportation in niagara region, ontario | |
|
The Queen Elizabeth Way (commonly referred to as the '''QEW''', '''Q''', '''QE''', or '''Queen-E''') is a vital 400-Series Freeway in Ontario , Canada . It links Buffalo, New York , USA 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. 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) has been concurrently signed with Highway 403 since 2002. The Queen Elizabeth Way originally started as a divided-highway upgrade of the Middle Road through what is now Halton and Peel Region in 1939. At the time, the Middle Road was one of the first examples of a divided highway anywhere in the world, and it was the forerunner to the current Superhighway . 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. NAME AND SIGNAGE The QEW is not referred to by any route number, and many falsely think of it as Ontario's hidden Highway 1. However, although never signed, the QEW does have the secret designation of Highway 451, which is ironic given that it is the oldest member of the 400-Series Highway network ''and'' has the highest highway King's Highway number. (In planning documents in the 1940s, the QEW was also referred to as Highway 402, although that number has since been given to Another of Ontario's 400-series highways.) The Ministry Of Transportation Of Ontario (MTO) uses the Highway 451 designation internally to track highway contracts and maintenance. The number "451" was chosen presumably because, at the time, it was unlikely that so many 400-Series highways would be built that MTO would go through numbers 400-450. In addition, no Highway 51 existed at the time, and the only Highway 51 was a short connector road between Highway 3 and Rondeau Provincial Park located in Chatham-Kent so there is no concern over the number being assigned to a 400-Series "upgrade" highway (like Highway 410 or Highway 427). 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. Confused tourists from the U.S. believed that "ER" was named for Eleanor Roosevelt , the President's wife at the time. 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 (trailblazer shields, indicating routes "to" QEW, switch the colors to yellow on blue). Because the highway curves sharply around the end of Lake Ontario , its directions are not signed with compass points as usual with other 400-series highways, but with destination cities, such as ''QEW Toronto''. The MTO is quite consistent with how directions are signed. ''QEW Toronto'' is used consistently for traffic that heads towards Toronto, regardless of its final destination. On the other hand, different names are used in the opposite direction. The highway is signed ''QEW Hamilton'' between Toronto and Hamilton; ''QEW Niagara'' between Hamilton and Niagara Falls; and, finally, ''QEW Fort Erie'' between Niagara Falls and Fort Erie. HAMILTON-NIAGARA SECTION 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 spur which later became Highway 420 after reconstruction in 1972. In 1960, the original section of the QEW west of Guelph Line was relocated on a new alignment known as the ''Freeman Diversion'' which improved access to the proposed Burlington Skyway and allowed the ''Freeman Interchange'' (a "semi-directional T" interchange) to be constructed with the future Highway 403. The old bypassed segment was renamed Plains Road and the new QEW branched off from it in a Y-junction partial interchange. High-level bridges were constructed at Hamilton Harbour (the Burlington Bay James N. Allan 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 halfway through being removed (the process is gradual to maintain rail traffic), and will be completely replaced soon, and the 1937-vintage Martindale Road overpass in St. Catharines is due to be replaced in 2007 . To meet growing demand, the Burlington Skyway was twinned in the year 1985. Concurrently, the QEW from Burlington Street to Highway 403 (Burlington) was reconstructed with 8 lanes, a variable lighting system, state-of-the-art changeable message signs and traffic cameras, and modern Parclo Interchange s with Northshore Boulevard and Fairview Street. In the early to late 1990s, the Freeman Interchange was reconfigured to accommodate Highway 407 , and an interchange was added at Brant Street. In 2000-2001, QEW was widened to 6 lanes from Brant Street to Guelph Line and access to Plains Road was removed. In 2004-2005, the Guelph Line interchange was reconstructed. As part of the Red Hill Valley Parkway currently under construction, the Burlington Street and Centenial Parkway interchanges have been reconstructed, including Collector Lanes on the south (Niagara-bound) side of the highway. MISSISSAUGA-TORONTO SECTION The QEW was called the Middle Road from 1936 to 1939 as a highway connecting Hamilton with Toronto. The QEW formerly continued beyond Highway 427 to the old Toronto city limits 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 the late 1960s 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. The late 1960s widening project coincided with the construction of the complex interchange with Highway 427 (formerly Highway 27) and resulted in an 8 to 10 lane QEW stretching to the Humber River, with a short Collector-express system serving Kipling Avenue and Islington Avenue. This section has changed little since it was downloaded to Toronto. TODAY 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 Mid-Peninsula Highway to bypass the QEW, running from Fort Erie through Welland ending in Burlington at Highway 407 . LANE CONFIGURATIONS FROM FORT ERIE TO TORONTO INTERCHANGES FROM FORT ERIE TO TORONTO FORMER INTERCHANGES (ON SECTION REDESIGNATED IN 1998)
TRIVIA
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|