Queen Elizabeth Way

King's Highway QEW in Ontario, Canada
Queen Elizabeth Way
map
Basic data
Operator:	Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Start of the street:	Fort Erie ( 42 ° 54 ′  N , 78 ° 55 ′  W )
End of street:	Toronto ( 43 ° 37 ′  N , 79 ° 33 ′  W )
Overall length:	139 km
Region :	Niagara Hamilton Halton Peel Toronto
The Sky Bridge at Hamilton Harbor
Course of the road Niagara Niagara River ( Peace Bridge ) Fort Erie Niagara Falls O to Niagara Falls (USA) Niagara-on-the-Lake O to Queenston Welland Canal Garden City Skyway St. Catharines S to Welland Lincoln Grimsby Hamilton Hamilton Lake Ontario (Sky Bridge) Halton Burlington W to Woodstock , O to Oakville Joint routing with Oakville End of the common route with O to Toronto Peel Mississauga Toronto Toronto N to Toronto Pearson International Airport , O to Toronto Continue on  Gardiner Expressway  Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap map

Memorial to the inauguration of the QEW

The Queen Elizabeth Way , commonly known by the abbreviation QEW , is a highway in the Canadian province of Ontario . It runs from the border with the United States on the Niagara River near Fort Erie in the provincial capital Toronto and has a total length of 139 km, most of which run along the shores of Lake Ontario. He walks all the way in the golden horseshoe . The highway was named after Queen Elizabeth , the wife of King George VI. and mother of Queen Elizabeth II , (also known as Queen-Mum ). In contrast to the other highways in Ontario, there was no numbering here in honor of Queen Elizabeth.

Routing

The southern end of the highway is at the Peace Bridge over the Niagara River . This bridge is located at the mouth of the river in Lake Erie , there is a fee to use the bridge. The highway begins immediately after the Canadian customs authorities. It is developed as a freeway along the entire route. The highway initially runs through Fort Erie in a westerly direction and swings to the northwest at the local airport . The QEW runs the first 20 km through the plains of Ontario to Niagara Falls . In this city is the Canadian part of the Niagara Falls of the same name . East of the Canadian city is the city of Niagara Falls (New York) on the territory of the United States . The waterfalls and the United States can be reached via Highway 420 , which branches off from the QEW to the east. 7 km further branches off Highway 405 , which also leads to Lewiston in the United States . The route now leads to a 2.2 km long bridge structure, the Garden City Skyway. This crosses the Welland Canal with a height of 40 m. To the west of the canal is the city of St. Catharines , which is traversed north of the city center. The city lies on the shores of Lake Ontario , which the route to Hamilton follows. The QEW runs along the northern outskirts. In a bay in Lake Ontario, Burlington Bay, is the port of Hamilton; the bay is separated from the rest of the lake by a natural sandbank. This section over the sandbank is also designed as a skyway so that correspondingly large transport ships can pass under the carriageway at the entrance to the port. The route is now in Burlington , with a major motorway junction to the west of the city. At this junction Highway 403 joins the QEW coming from the west, which swings to the northeast. At the same time, the extension of the previous direction of the QEW to the north-west forms Highway 407 , the toll north bypass of Toronto. The QEW and Highway 403 now run together through Oakville . North of this city the two highways separate again, Highway 403 leads to the northwest, the QEW to the northeast through Mississauga . Highway 427 begins in the northeast of this city and leads to Toronto Pearson International Airport . The city limits of Toronto are reached and the Queen Elizabeth Way ends with the route being continued under municipal administration as the Gardiner Expressway , until 1997 this highway also had the QEW designation.

history

The precursor of the Queen Elizabeth Way was built as a coastal road as early as the 1910s. Inspired by the construction of the German autobahn , the QEW was planned as a new type of construction in the 1930s. As with the motorways, separate lanes were provided by a median. The access roads to the highway were no longer at the same level and road junctions were replaced by structures (bridges).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. Retrieved January 28, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Toronto – Hamilton Highway Proposed . In: The Toronto World , January 22, 1914, p. 14. Retrieved January 29, 2013. 
3. ↑ Hopes to Improve Roads . In: The Gazette , February 18, 1936, p. 14. Retrieved January 29, 2013. 

Web links

Commons : Queen Elizabeth Way  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Ontario Highways at AsphaltPlanet. Approx