Garden City Skyway

Highway bridge across the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada

Garden City Skyway

Coordinates| 43°10′02″N 79°11′43″W﻿ / ﻿43.16731°N 79.19520°W﻿ / 43.16731; -79.19520
Carries| 6 lanes of  Queen Elizabeth Way
Crosses| Welland Canal
Locale| St. Catharines, Ontario
Other name(s)| Bridge 4A, "The Skyway"
Maintained by| Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Characteristics
Design| steel
Total length| 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi)
Width| 30 metres (98 ft)
History
Opened| October 18, 1963
Statistics
Daily traffic| 169,100 (2016)[1]
Toll| 1963-1973
Location

The Garden City Skyway is a major high-level bridge located in St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, that allows the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) to cross the Welland Canal without the interruption of a lift bridge. Six lanes of traffic are carried across the bridge, which is 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi)[2] in length and 40 metres (130 ft) at its tallest point.

It is the tallest and largest single structure along the entire QEW; the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, which is also part of the QEW, is actually two separate and smaller four-lane bridges. Among all the bridges spanning the present Welland Canal, the Skyway is numbered Bridge 4A (the Homer Lift Bridge is Bridge 4). When the Garden City Skyway is closed due to a traffic accident or weather conditions, traffic is diverted to cross the canal at the Homer Lift Bridge.

In 2025, another QEW bridge is planned to be built adjacent to the existing Skyway, twinning it.

## History

[edit]

The Garden City Skyway in September 1963, soon before opening. The old bridge lay to the left, raised for a passing ship. Traffic is queued on both sides, a frequent occurrence each summer until the skyway was built.

Construction began in January 1960, with the main span crossing the Welland Canal hoisted into place in July of that same year. The bridge was open to traffic on October 18, 1963. During construction, the bridge was referred to as the Homer Skyway, taking its name from the lift bridge that the new skyway was to replace. Upon dedication, the bridge was officially named the Garden City Skyway, using the nickname of St. Catharines, "Canada's Garden City." Tolls were charged on the bridge until 1973.

The construction work included an Ontario "tall-wall" concrete median barrier, new bridge parapets, and the installation of shaded high-pressure sodium lights using the existing truss poles.

In 2015, the high-pressure sodium lights on the bridge were replaced with bright white LED lights on the existing truss poles.

## Diversion

[edit]

When the Garden City Skyway is closed due to a traffic accident or weather conditions, traffic is diverted along frontage roads (Dieppe Road, Dunkirk Road, Glendale Avenue, Queenston Road, Taylor Road and York Road) to cross the canal at the Homer Lift Bridge, re-connecting to the QEW on the opposite side.

## Proposed expansion

[edit]

Since the early 2010s, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has been working on plans to build an additional bridge next to the Skyway, twinning it.[3] Reasons for twinning the bridge include high traffic demand, road safety (the existing bridge lacks shoulders on both sides) and structural concerns as a result of the age of the existing bridge.[3]

The second bridge would be around 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) in length, and be constructed north of the existing Skyway for Toronto-bound traffic, while the existing bridge would be used by vehicles heading toward Niagara.[4] Once open, the existing Skyway bridge would be refurbished and rehabilitated.[5]

As of May 2022[update], construction is estimated to start in 2025 and take around 4 years to complete.[3] The preferred route was announced in 2013.[4] 25 properties were purchased by the Ministry of Transportation to facilitate the planned twinning.[6]

## See also

[edit]

* Transport portal
* Engineering portal
* Ontario portal
* Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway
* Burgoyne Bridge
* Queen Elizabeth Way
* Welland Canal
* List of bridges in Canada
* List of longest bridges

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Provincial Highways Traffic Volumes 2016" (PDF). Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Highway Standards Branch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
2. ^ "QEW | Garden City Skyway". Archived from the original on 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
3. ^ a b c Walter, Karena (2022-05-04). "MTO aiming for Garden City Skyway twinning in 2025". stcatharinesstandard.com. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
4. ^ a b "Twinning skyway plans move forward". St. Catharine's Standard. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
5. ^ "QEW Garden City Skyway – Bridge Twinning Project". Infrastructure Ontario. Retrieved 2023-04-18. "Upon completion of the bridge, traffic from the existing bridge will be temporarily switched onto the newly constructed bridge to allow for rehabilitation of the existing Garden City Skyway bridge (under a separate contract)."
6. ^ Walter, Karena. "'Bittersweet': Niagara family business losing home of 34 years to Skyway twinning". St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Garden City Skyway.

Crossings of the Welland Canal

| Upstream
Homer Bridge,
Glendale Avenue,
Canboro Road (Former Hwy 20),
Main Street Tunnel
| Garden City Skyway
| Downstream
Carlton Street,
Lakeshore Road

|
|

City of St. Catharines

Transportation|

* Burgoyne Bridge
* Bruce Trail
* Garden City Skyway
* Great Western Railway (defunct)
* Laura Secord Legacy Trail
* Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway (defunct)
* Ontario Highway 8
* Ontario Highway 406
* Queen Elizabeth Way
* St. Catharines station
* Waterfront Trail
* Welland Canal

Communities|

* Downtown St. Catharines
* Grantham Township
* Merritton
* Port Dalhousie

Places|

* Armoury
* St. Catharines Library
* British Methodist Episcopal Church
* Brown Homestead
* Congregation B'nai Israel
* Hotel Dieu Shaver
* Kilt and Clover
* Lakeside Park Carousel
* Merritton Tunnel
* Morningstar Mill
* Montebello Park
* Pen Centre
* Shickluna Shipyard
* St. Catharines General Hospital
* Welland House Hotel

Education|

* Brock University
* Denis Morris Catholic High School
* District School Board of Niagara
* DSBN Academy
* Eden High School
* Governor Simcoe Secondary School
* Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School
* Laura Secord Secondary School
* Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine campus
* Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School
* St. Francis Catholic Secondary School

Sports|

* Niagara IceDogs
* Meridian Centre
* Garden City Arena Complex (defunct)