The project was approved in 2017 and work commenced in 2020. Pictured is Queen Street looking north toward Main. Photo credit: Google Maps
The conversion of Queen Street from one-way southbound traffic to a two-way road between Aberdeen Avenue and King Street West was officially completed on November 22, 2022.
The work included upgrades to traffic signals, sidewalk reconstruction, new pavement markings, and sign upgrades. The city began work in 2020 to change Queen to two-way traffic between Aberdeen Avenue and Main Street, although the plan was to eventually extend those changes all the way to King Street as well. The idea was approved by Hamilton City Council in November 2017.
The two-way conversion of Queen from Aberdeen to Main was completed in November 2020, and the final stretch from Main to King was finished this past November.
The city says that the “intersections and roadway improvements have been designed with a focus on the safe and efficient movement of pedestrians and cyclists.”
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities standards have also reportedly been incorporated along the route, including “simplified road crossing tasks” and the prohibition of “certain vehicular movements.”
The idea stemmed from a 2008 Downtown Transportation Master Plan put together by city staff that recommended the two-way conversion of several downtown streets. Queen Street was one of the streets flagged for potential changes, but LRT planning paused the project since Queen Street intersects with the soon-to-be-built Eastgate to McMaster LRT line at King Street.
The project incorporates the principles of the city’s “Vision Zero” Action Plan in the design.
The city says that “Vision Zero uses a data-based approach to road safety with the goal of reducing traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities towards the only acceptable goal: zero.”
Vision Zero aims for safer streets through improved education, enforcement, engineering, evaluation and engagement.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath released a statement upon the completion of the Queen Street project.
“I am pleased to see the Queen Street two-way conversion completed. I have heard directly from Hamiltonians that road safety is a major priority, and I will work tirelessly to secure improvements for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers in all communities across our city.”
Earlier in 2022, City Council abruptly proposed planning to commence to change Main Street from one-way to two-way traffic and for immediate measures to be implemented along the route in the meantime.
Although the Main Street changes were met with some criticism, that does not appear to be the case with the Queen Street conversion.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
