Ontario Highway 405

King's Highway 405, also known as Highway 405 and the General Brock Parkway, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) near St. Catharines with the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in the village of Queenston. It then crosses the bridge and continues through the international border with the United States, where it becomes Interstate 190.

Designated and under construction by 1960, the short freeway was opened to traffic on September 11, 1963. Since that time, an interchange was added in 1969 and another removed in 2004. On August 13, 2006, Highway 405 was dedicated the General Brock Parkway. The speed limit on Highway 405 is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), except approaching the border. As Highway 405 entirely lies within the Province of Ontario and is not subject to alternative, federal, administration, its entire length is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Route description

The primary purpose of Highway 405 is to connect the northern end of Interstate 190 in New York at the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge to the QEW, and as such it follows a somewhat direct path between the two.^[3][4] Throughout its length, the highway gently climbs the Niagara Escarpment, reaching the top east of Stanley Avenue before crossing the Niagara Gorge. The highway is surrounded by forest to either side for most of its length, and the only notable settlement is the village of Queenston.^[5]

Highway 405 begins by diverging from the QEW at St. Catharines. It continues north-east for 1.5 km, then gently curves south-easterly. The opposing lanes, initially separated by a wide gap, converge towards each other to form a 15-metre (49 ft) grass median.^[5][6] The highway dips into a shallow gully, widens to five lanes (three eastbound, two westbound), and then curves northeast to pass to the north of a hydroelectric reservoir.^[5] The opposing lanes converge, with an Ontario Tall Wall separating them, and pass beneath Niagara Regional Road 102 (Stanley Avenue). The freeway's lone interchange is with Stanley Avenue, and traffic continuing east must cross the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge into the United States. The additional lane provided along this section is for the queueing of trucks.^[7] After passing the top of the reservoir, the highway reaches the Canadian border plaza. It then passes over the Niagara Parkway and begins to cross the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge.^[5] The Highway 405 designation ends at the border with New York, where it becomes I-190.^[7]

History

Highway 405 was part of a network of divided highways envisioned by Thomas McQuesten in the mid-1930s to connect New York with Ontario.^[3] Though the Queen Elizabeth Way would cross the Niagara River by 1942 in Niagara Falls, Highway 405 and the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge would form the first direct freeway link between the neighbouring countries. Planning for both was underway by 1958, and construction began in 1960.^[8][9] The bridge was built at the same time as the freeway, though it opened several months earlier on November 1, 1962.^[10] Highway 405 was completed in August 1963^[11] and officially opened to the public on September 11, 1963.^[1]

During the 1969 construction season, an interchange with Stanley Avenue was built and opened to traffic.^[12] In 2004, the eastern end of the freeway was modified to permit the queueing of trucks at the border.^[7] This included the addition of one lane to the eastbound carriageway beginning at Stanley Avenue, as well as the gradual removal of the interchange with the Niagara Parkway; the westbound on-ramp from the Parkway remained open to traffic until December 4, 2006.^[13] The highway was named the General Brock Parkway on 13 October 2006 in honour of the War of 1812 hero, Major General Sir Isaac Brock, who died at the Battle of Queenston Heights.^[14][15]

Exit list

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 405, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.^[2] The entire route is located in the Regional Municipality of Niagara. All exits are unnumbered.

See also

References

External links

• COMPASS Traffic Cameras
• Highway 405 route