Stoney Creek to St. Catharines stretch of QEW to stay 110 km/h

What was previously a pilot project has now become reality for the stretch of the QEW between St. Catharines and Stoney. The speed limit will be permanently 110 km/h.

While it was originally announced by Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney on March 29, today (April 22) is the day it comes into effect.

While that stretch of the QEW was one of three sections of highway in Ontario that were part of the two-year pilot project that began September 2019, it was decided in September 2021 that the Ministry had insufficient data due to the lower traffic count caused by the pandemic.

However, when announcing it as the permanent speed for those three stretches of Ontario highway at the end of March, Mulroney added three more portions of highway to the new 110 km/h speed limit.

Starting today, these are the six sections of Ontario highways where 110 km/h speed limits will be made permanent:

• Queen Elizabeth Way –  from Hamilton to St. Catharines
• Highway 401 – from Windsor to Tilbury
• Highway 402 – from London to Sarnia
• Highway 404 – Newmarket to Woodbine
• Highway 417 – from Ottawa to the Quebec border
• Highway 417 – Kanata to Arnpior

The province says there hasn’t been a bump in accidents during the pilot period. Mulroney explained, “…there was no impact, no increase in collisions so we believe that what we’re doing is responsible, we can increase speed limits in a safe manner.”

“We will certainly explore extending it to other sections of highways across the province,” she added.