Conestoga Parkway
Encyclopedia
The Conestoga Parkway is a freeway in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
, in the Canadian
province of Ontario
. It runs northeast/southwest through the cities of Kitchener
and Waterloo
, and is connected to Highway 401 via the Highway 8
Freeport Diversion and King Street East.
of Highway 7
and Highway 8
enters the city of Kitchener as a controlled-access freeway from the west; it takes on the name Conestoga Parkway at the Trussler Road exit at the western edge of the city. The Parkway (and the multiplex) continues east until Highway 8
(as the Freeport Diversion) branches off toward the southeast via an interchange. At this point, the Conestoga Parkway turns northward and becomes Highway 7
.
At the Victoria Street exit, the Parkway sheds its Highway 7 designation and becomes Highway 85
(which had been known as Highway 86 until May 1, 2003). It continues through the city of Waterloo towards St. Jacobs
, where the freeway alignment ends and becomes Regional Road 85, or Arthur Street South.
While it is officially known as the Conestoga Parkway, it is often referred to by locals as the Conestoga Expressway or simply The Expressway. The name no longer appears on signage, however, and is little known outside the immediate area.
Note that the Parkway is merely a controlled-access portion of the various numbered highways, all of which continue for some distance as open-access highways beyond the freeway section. Thus, the freeway has the distinction of being one of the few Ontario-maintained freeways not numbered according to the 400-Series Highway
network, even though it is busier and wider than many rural 400-series highways, because the freeway upgrade has put together only parts of existing routes. The 400-series highways are intended to be full freeways for their entire length.
The speed limit on the Conestoga Parkway is 90 km/h (55 mph). It was previously 100 km/h, but was lowered due to collisions across the median. Highway 7/8 between Courtland Avenue and Fischer-Hallman Road has an abnormally narrow median, and overpasses are single structures with simple curbs as median dividers instead of the usual Jersey barrier or Ontario tall-wall
. The portion of Highway 7/8 (from Trussler Road to Wilmot Centre Road/Foundry Street) converted into a freeway in the 1990s does not have this deficiency, nor do the portions of the Parkway signed as Highways 7 and 85.
, to enter downtown Kitchener. The Conestoga east/north of this junction serves as a bypass of King Street.
At the time, the Conestoga Parkway and Highway 8 Freeport Diversion freeways were isolated from the 400-series highway network, as the Freeport Diversion ended at an at-grade Y-junction with King Street East
. Traffic from the Freeport Diversion was treated as the mainline traffic at this interchange and King East continued to a cloverleaf interchange with Highway 401.
A direct freeway connection between Highway 401 and the Conestoga was made possible when a new bypass (secretly designated as Highway 7187, and signed with Highway 8 and Highway 401 trailblazers) was opened in 1987; it featured a Y-junction with Highway 401 to serve traffic east of that junction. The cloverleaf interchange with the existing Highway 8
had several ramps realigned, and it continues to serve 401 traffic west of that junction.
In 1993, a four-lane extension to Baden
was opened, linking up with an existing undivided four-lane expressway at New Hamburg
.
Since the late 1990s, the Conestoga has undergone extensive reconstruction between Courtland Avenue and Lancaster Street, with the addition of an Ontario "tall-wall" concrete median barrier and high-mast lighting replacing the conventional mercury truss lights. The widening project resulted that stretch of the Parkway being expanded to at least six lanes by using the grass median, and eight lanes between Highway 8 and Victoria Street/Frederick Street by using the right-of-way afforded by the shoulders. In 2004, extensive improvements were completed around the former obsolete and bottlenecked "half-cloverleaf" junction with the freeway section of Highway 8, that links it to the 401. This included a new flyover semi-directional ramp from Conestoga westbound to Highway 8 eastbound, while the ramp in the opposite direction was realigned to allow it to carry two lanes of traffic at a higher speed.
An observation which may seem odd for those new to the highway is the stark difference in the congested, inefficient exit for Highway 7/Victoria Street, when compared with the high-capacity but underused Wellington Street exit just north of it. Both exits are served by a collector-express system. This is due to the 'foresight' that Highway 7 would be redirected as a controlled-access highway
and attached to the existing Wellington Street interchange; these plans have languished for over 30 years and are still in the planning stages.
in Guelph bypasses the existing Highway 7/Victoria Street. The plans also call for a complex 4-level interchange with the Conestoga Parkway and Wellington Street, a rarity outside of the Greater Toronto Area
. Its $
25 million cost represents a quarter of the $100 million budget for the total project, with the high cost partly due to the difficulty in land acquisition to accommodate the flyover ramps.
In addition to the proposed Highway 7 freeway between Waterloo and Guelph, the MTO has long term plans to widen and reroute Highway 7/8 westward to Stratford
. How this will affect the village of Shakespeare
, which the open highway currently bisects, is a particular sticking point.
At this point, the divided freeway and Highway 85 (formerly Highway 86 until 2003) ends, and Arthur Street S. (Waterloo Regional Road 85) begins to St.Jacobs and Elmira.
Regional Municipality of Waterloo
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is a regional municipality located in Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of the cities of Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo, and the townships of Wellesley, Woolwich, Wilmot, and North Dumfries. It is often referred to as the Region of Waterloo or just...
, in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. It runs northeast/southwest through the cities of Kitchener
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
and Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
, and is connected to Highway 401 via the Highway 8
Ontario Highway 8
Provincial Highway 8 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its total length is 138.5 km, though it was once much longer, running farther east from Hamilton to Niagara Falls, before the Queen Elizabeth Way replaced its role.- History :Highway 8 is one of the...
Freeport Diversion and King Street East.
Route description
The multiplexConcurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
of Highway 7
Highway 7 (Ontario)
King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
and Highway 8
Highway 8 (Ontario)
Provincial Highway 8 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its total length is 138.5 km, though it was once much longer, running farther east from Hamilton to Niagara Falls, before the Queen Elizabeth Way replaced its role.- History :Highway 8 is one of the...
enters the city of Kitchener as a controlled-access freeway from the west; it takes on the name Conestoga Parkway at the Trussler Road exit at the western edge of the city. The Parkway (and the multiplex) continues east until Highway 8
Highway 8 (Ontario)
Provincial Highway 8 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its total length is 138.5 km, though it was once much longer, running farther east from Hamilton to Niagara Falls, before the Queen Elizabeth Way replaced its role.- History :Highway 8 is one of the...
(as the Freeport Diversion) branches off toward the southeast via an interchange. At this point, the Conestoga Parkway turns northward and becomes Highway 7
Highway 7 (Ontario)
King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
.
At the Victoria Street exit, the Parkway sheds its Highway 7 designation and becomes Highway 85
Highway 85 (Ontario)
King's Highway 85, commonly referred to as Highway 85, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway, which is mostly controlled-access, travels through the Regional Municipality of Waterloo along the Conestoga Parkway from its interchange with...
(which had been known as Highway 86 until May 1, 2003). It continues through the city of Waterloo towards St. Jacobs
St. Jacobs, Ontario
The community of St. Jacobs is located in southwest Ontario, just north of Waterloo in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region. It is a popular location for tourism, due to its Mennonite heritage and retail focus. The Conestogo River, which powered the village's original gristmill, runs through the...
, where the freeway alignment ends and becomes Regional Road 85, or Arthur Street South.
While it is officially known as the Conestoga Parkway, it is often referred to by locals as the Conestoga Expressway or simply The Expressway. The name no longer appears on signage, however, and is little known outside the immediate area.
Note that the Parkway is merely a controlled-access portion of the various numbered highways, all of which continue for some distance as open-access highways beyond the freeway section. Thus, the freeway has the distinction of being one of the few Ontario-maintained freeways not numbered according to the 400-Series Highway
400-series highways (Ontario)
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 System in the United States or the British Motorway...
network, even though it is busier and wider than many rural 400-series highways, because the freeway upgrade has put together only parts of existing routes. The 400-series highways are intended to be full freeways for their entire length.
The speed limit on the Conestoga Parkway is 90 km/h (55 mph). It was previously 100 km/h, but was lowered due to collisions across the median. Highway 7/8 between Courtland Avenue and Fischer-Hallman Road has an abnormally narrow median, and overpasses are single structures with simple curbs as median dividers instead of the usual Jersey barrier or Ontario tall-wall
Jersey barrier
A Jersey barrier or Jersey wall is a modular concrete barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to both minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing crossover in the case of head-on accidents....
. The portion of Highway 7/8 (from Trussler Road to Wilmot Centre Road/Foundry Street) converted into a freeway in the 1990s does not have this deficiency, nor do the portions of the Parkway signed as Highways 7 and 85.
History
The parkway is one of the busiest roads in the region. It was completed as a four-lane freeway in the late 1960s, with the exception of the short eight-lane collector-express system serving Highway 7/Victoria Street and Wellington Street. The interchange between Highway 8 and the Conestoga Parkway was opened in 1970. Mainline traffic on Highway 8 could continue under the Conestoga, where the route defaults to King StreetKing Street, Kitchener, Ontario
Waterloo Regional Road 15, or King Street is the major north-south arterial road in Kitchener, Ontario, as well as Waterloo, Ontario. In both Kitchener and Waterloo, King Street divides the city into the east and west sides...
, to enter downtown Kitchener. The Conestoga east/north of this junction serves as a bypass of King Street.
At the time, the Conestoga Parkway and Highway 8 Freeport Diversion freeways were isolated from the 400-series highway network, as the Freeport Diversion ended at an at-grade Y-junction with King Street East
King Street, Kitchener, Ontario
Waterloo Regional Road 15, or King Street is the major north-south arterial road in Kitchener, Ontario, as well as Waterloo, Ontario. In both Kitchener and Waterloo, King Street divides the city into the east and west sides...
. Traffic from the Freeport Diversion was treated as the mainline traffic at this interchange and King East continued to a cloverleaf interchange with Highway 401.
A direct freeway connection between Highway 401 and the Conestoga was made possible when a new bypass (secretly designated as Highway 7187, and signed with Highway 8 and Highway 401 trailblazers) was opened in 1987; it featured a Y-junction with Highway 401 to serve traffic east of that junction. The cloverleaf interchange with the existing Highway 8
King Street, Kitchener, Ontario
Waterloo Regional Road 15, or King Street is the major north-south arterial road in Kitchener, Ontario, as well as Waterloo, Ontario. In both Kitchener and Waterloo, King Street divides the city into the east and west sides...
had several ramps realigned, and it continues to serve 401 traffic west of that junction.
In 1993, a four-lane extension to Baden
Baden, Ontario
Baden is a community in Township of Wilmot, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It has a population of less than 1000 and was named after Baden-Baden in Germany...
was opened, linking up with an existing undivided four-lane expressway at New Hamburg
New Hamburg, Ontario
New Hamburg is a community of approximately 8,739 in Wilmot Township, a rural township of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario...
.
Since the late 1990s, the Conestoga has undergone extensive reconstruction between Courtland Avenue and Lancaster Street, with the addition of an Ontario "tall-wall" concrete median barrier and high-mast lighting replacing the conventional mercury truss lights. The widening project resulted that stretch of the Parkway being expanded to at least six lanes by using the grass median, and eight lanes between Highway 8 and Victoria Street/Frederick Street by using the right-of-way afforded by the shoulders. In 2004, extensive improvements were completed around the former obsolete and bottlenecked "half-cloverleaf" junction with the freeway section of Highway 8, that links it to the 401. This included a new flyover semi-directional ramp from Conestoga westbound to Highway 8 eastbound, while the ramp in the opposite direction was realigned to allow it to carry two lanes of traffic at a higher speed.
An observation which may seem odd for those new to the highway is the stark difference in the congested, inefficient exit for Highway 7/Victoria Street, when compared with the high-capacity but underused Wellington Street exit just north of it. Both exits are served by a collector-express system. This is due to the 'foresight' that Highway 7 would be redirected as a controlled-access highway
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...
and attached to the existing Wellington Street interchange; these plans have languished for over 30 years and are still in the planning stages.
Future
Opposition has arisen due to the new alignment of Highway 7 passing through environmentally sensitive lands. The new Highway 7 freeway proposal linking up the Conestoga in Waterloo and the Hanlon ParkwayHanlon Parkway
The Hanlon Parkway is a high-capacity at-grade suburban expressway in the city of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, which connects it with Highway 401. It runs in a general north-south direction in the city's west end. It is signed as Highway 6 for its whole length; from Wellington Street to Woodlawn Road,...
in Guelph bypasses the existing Highway 7/Victoria Street. The plans also call for a complex 4-level interchange with the Conestoga Parkway and Wellington Street, a rarity outside of the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
. Its $
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
25 million cost represents a quarter of the $100 million budget for the total project, with the high cost partly due to the difficulty in land acquisition to accommodate the flyover ramps.
In addition to the proposed Highway 7 freeway between Waterloo and Guelph, the MTO has long term plans to widen and reroute Highway 7/8 westward to Stratford
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...
. How this will affect the village of Shakespeare
Shakespeare, Ontario
Shakespeare is a village and designated place within the municipality of Perth East in Perth County, Ontario, Canada with a population of 750 in 2006. Shakespeare is located on the Highway 7/8, just east of Stratford and west of Kitchener.-History:Shakespeare was founded in 1832 by David Bell, and...
, which the open highway currently bisects, is a particular sticking point.
Exit list
The following is a list of exits along the parkway. The exits on Conestoga Parkway are not numbered, and likely never will be due to the multiple designations used, which would make it impossible to have consistent kilometre posts.| Municipality | Direction | Intersecting Roads | Interchange Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmot Township Wilmot, Ontario The Township of Wilmot is a rural township in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Its 2006 Census population was 17,097.-Communities:*Baden* Mannheim*New Dundee*New Hamburg* Petersburg* Phillipsburg*St... |
Waterloo Regional Road 51, Foundry St., Wilmot Centre Rd. | Parclo AB2 | |
| Waterloo Regional Road 12, Notre Dame Dr., Queen St. | Parclo A2 | ||
| Kitchener Kitchener, Ontario The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census... |
Waterloo Regional Road 70, Trussler Rd., Ira Needles Blvd. | Parclo A2 | |
| Waterloo Regional Road 58, Fischer-Hallman Rd. | Parclo AB2 | ||
| Eastbound | Waterloo Regional Road 4, Ottawa St. S. Waterloo Regional Road 28, Homer Watson Blvd. (one loop ramp) |
Parclo (half, only one loop ramp) | |
| Westbound | Waterloo Regional Road 28, Homer Watson Blvd. | Diamond Diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge... (half) |
|
| Waterloo Regional Road 53, Courtland Ave. E. | Parclo AB2 | ||
| Highway 8 Highway 8 (Ontario) Provincial Highway 8 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its total length is 138.5 km, though it was once much longer, running farther east from Hamilton to Niagara Falls, before the Queen Elizabeth Way replaced its role.- History :Highway 8 is one of the... , King St. Bypass |
High-speed trumpet with King Street access to and from southern Highway 8 | ||
| Waterloo Regional Road 4, Ottawa St. N. | Parclo A2 | ||
| Northbound | Highway 7 Highway 7 (Ontario) King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario... , Waterloo Regional Road 61, Bruce St. Highway 7, Waterloo Regional Road 55, Victoria St. N. |
Stretched Diamond Diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge... (with Bruce St.) |
|
| Southbound | Highway 7, Waterloo Regional Road 62, Edna St. Highway 7, Waterloo Regional Road 55, Victoria St. N. |
Stretched Diamond Diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge... (with Edna St.) |
|
| Northbound | Riverbend Dr. Shirley Ave. | Parclo AB4 | |
| Northbound | Wellington St. N. | ||
| Southbound | Wellington St. N. Riverbend Dr. Shirley Ave. |
||
| Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener.... |
Southbound | Waterloo Region Route 29 South, Lancaster St. W. | Diamond Diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge... (quarter) |
| Waterloo Regional Road 9, Bridgeport Rd. E. | Parclo AB3 | ||
| Northbound | Waterloo Regional Road 57 East, University Ave. E. | Parclo AB4 | |
| Northbound | Waterloo Regional Road 57 West, University Ave. E. | ||
| Southbound | Waterloo Regional Road 57, University Ave. E. | ||
| Waterloo Regional Road 15, King St. N. | Parclo A3 | ||
| Waterloo Regional Road 50, Northfield Dr. W. | Parclo B2 | ||
| Woolwich Township Woolwich, Ontario The Township of Woolwich is a rural township in Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Region of Waterloo, immediately to the north and east of the City of Waterloo. Its 2006 census population was 19,658.-Communities:*Bloomingdale*Breslau*Conestogo*Elmira... |
Waterloo Regional Road 15, King St. N. | Parclo A2 |
At this point, the divided freeway and Highway 85 (formerly Highway 86 until 2003) ends, and Arthur Street S. (Waterloo Regional Road 85) begins to St.Jacobs and Elmira.
See also
- List of Ontario expressways
- List of Ontario provincial highways
- 400-series highways400-series highwaysThe 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 System in the United States or the British Motorway...