King's Highway 405, also known as Highway 405 and the General Brock Parkway, is a

400-Series Highway The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway S ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

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 ...

connecting the

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...

(QEW) near St. Catharines with the

Lewiston–Queenston Bridge The Lewiston–Queenston Bridge, also known as the Queenston–Lewiston Bridge, is an arch bridge that crosses the Niagara River gorge just south of the Niagara Escarpment. The bridge was officially opened on November 1, 1962. It is an internatio ...

in the village of

Queenston Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the eponym ...

. It then crosses the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...

, where it encounters the

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political border ...

with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and continues into

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

as Interstate 190 (I-190). Designated and under construction by 1960, the short

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

was opened to traffic on September 11, 1963. On August 13, 2006, Highway 405 was dedicated the General Brock Parkway. The entire length of Highway 405 is patrolled by the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

(OPP).

Route description

Highway 405 serves to connect the northern end of I-190 in

at the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge with the QEW, and therefore it follows a somewhat direct path between the two. Throughout its length, the highway gently climbs the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that runs predominantly east–west from New York through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff ove ...

, reaching the top east of Stanley Avenue before crossing the

Niagara Gorge Niagara Gorge is an long canyon carved by the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends downriver at the edge ...

. The highway is surrounded by forest to either side for most of its length, and the only settlement near it is the village of Queenston. As Highway 405 entirely lies within the Province of Ontario and is not subject to federal administration, its entire length is patrolled by the OPP. Highway 405 begins by diverging from the QEW at

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontari ...

. It continues north-east for , then gently curves south-easterly. The opposing lanes, initially separated by a wide gap, converge towards each other to form a grass median. The highway dips into a shallow gully, widens to five lanes (three eastbound, two westbound), and then curves northeast to pass north of a hydroelectric reservoir for the

Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations are two hydroelectric generating stations in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Sir Adam Beck Generating Station I, Sir Adam Beck Generating Station II and the Sir Adam Beck Pump Generating Station are ...

. 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 eastbound lane provided along this section is for the queueing of trucks. After passing the reservoir, the highway reaches the Canada Border Services plaza. It then passes over the

Niagara Parkway The Niagara Parkway, formerly known as Niagara Boulevard and historically as the Niagara Road, is a scenic road in the province of Ontario that travels on the Canadian side of the Niagara River from the town of Fort Erie to Niagara-on-the-Lake ...

and heads onto the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge over the Niagara River. The Highway 405 designation ends at the border with the

, where it continues as I-190 towards

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

History

Highway 405 was part of a network of

divided highways A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

envisioned by Thomas McQuesten in the mid-1930s to connect New York with Ontario. Though the Queen Elizabeth Way would cross the

by 1942 in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...

, 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. The bridge was built at the same time as the freeway, though it opened several months earlier on November 1, 1962. Highway 405 was completed in August 1963 and officially opened to the public on September 11, 1963. In 1969, an interchange with Stanley Avenue was built and opened to traffic. In 2004, the eastern end of the freeway was modified to permit the queueing of trucks at the border, with the addition of one lane to the eastbound

carriageway A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of tra ...

beginning at Stanley Avenue. The reconstruction of the toll plaza resulted in the gradual removal of the interchange with the Niagara Parkway, with the westbound off-ramp to the Parkway remaining open to traffic until December 4, 2006, thereafter westbound motorists have to head west to the Stanley Avenue exit and take Portage Road in order to reach the Parkway. The highway was named the General Brock Parkway on October 13, 2006 in honour of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

hero, Major General Sir

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he com ...

, who died at the

Battle of Queenston Heights The Battle of Queenston Heights was the first major battle in the War of 1812. Resulting in a British victory, it took place on 13 October 1812 near Queenston, Upper Canada (now Ontario). The battle was fought between United States regulars w ...

Exit list

References

External links

COMPASS Traffic Cameras
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Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links