The Main Street Tunnel, located in

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, is an underwater tunnel, carrying

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

Road 27 and the unsigned designation of Highway 7146 under the

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines t ...

. It is named as a part of East Main Street. The structure was built as a part of the

Welland By-Pass The Welland By-pass, completed in 1973, was a massive construction project on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada. A new channel long was constructed, providing a shorter, more direct alignment between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and by-pa ...

project. Its construction was relatively easy since, like the

Townline Tunnel The Townline Tunnel is an underwater tunnel in Welland, Ontario, Canada carrying Highway 58A as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway under the Welland Canal. The tunnel The Townline Tunnel is a two-cell reinforced concrete tunnel with a rect ...

, it was constructed at the same time as the channel above it and a simple

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A Pipeline transport, pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used ...

. The tunnel was officially opened on May 20, 1972.

Description

The tunnel links Highway 406 on the west side of the canal, which travels north to St. Catharines to Highway 140 on the east side, which travels south to

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after S ...

. Niagara Regional Road 27 also provides a connection from Welland eastward to

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

. The tunnel provides four lanes for traffic, two in each direction, separated by a full-height concrete wall. There is also a sidewalk for pedestrian use in the westbound section.

History

The Main Street Tunnel, like the nearby Townline Tunnel to the south, was constructed in the early 1970s as part of the Welland Bypass of the Welland Canal. It was built using a cut and cover technique, whereby the tunnel was excavated, the concrete poured, and the structure buried, on top of which the canal channel was built. This avoided costly boring beneath an active waterway; the structure cost C$11 million. This price was split 50–50 between

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

and the

St. Lawrence Seaway Authority The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), formerly known as the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, is a nonprofit Canadian Corporation established in 1998 by the government of Canada, in partnership with Seaway users and other stakeho ...

. The tunnel opened with a parade featuring the Welland Police pipe band and various officials on the morning of May 20, 1972.Tunnel Opening
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References

External links

{{Niagara Regional Roads Buildings and structures in Welland Transport in Welland Welland Canal Road tunnels in Ontario Tunnels completed in 1972