The QEW through Burlington is getting HOV lanes and four years of construction

The stretch of the QEW that bottlenecks daily between Guelph Line and Northshore Boulevard is being widened, and the work will take four years. Roughly 5.7 kilometres of highway gets an HOV lane in each direction, and the Ministry of Transportation has awarded the contract to Alliance Verdi Civil Inc.

The widening for the new lanes runs from east of Brant Street to south of Fairview Street. Five structures are being rehabilitated at the same time: the Brant Street overpass, the CNR overhead above the Fort Erie bound lanes, the CNR overhead at the ramp to Fairview Street, the Fairview Street overpass, and the CNR structure north of Fairview. The Fort Erie bound lanes, the ramps and the interchange mainline are all in the contract, along with upgrades to lighting, electrical and traffic management systems.

For drivers, the part that lands first is the nighttime lane closures, which can be expected throughout construction. This section is already one of the busiest in the area, and with weekend Burlington Skyway closures happening regularly, congestion here is a standing condition rather than a construction-season one.