The Burgoyne Bridge is a bridge in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The original bridge was built in 1915 by the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation. In 2010, construction of a new Burgoyne Bridge was recommended by the Niagara Region. However, the project was not completed until 2016 due to the estimated cost. [1] The new bridge is 333 meters long and features a 125-metre main span supported by a steel arch. [2]
In 1915, the Burgoyne Bridge was constructed as a higher level bridge. A lower level swing bridge already existed in the area, but the Burgoyne Bridge was able to avoid the descent into a valley left by the old Welland Canal. Both bridges coexisted until 1942, when the swing bridge was removed so that the river channel could be widened to increase the hydroelectricity capacity at Decew Falls. A new wooden bridge was built to replace it and was used to accommodate traffic until Highway 406 was built. [3]
The new Burgoyne Bridge had a 4-metre (13 ft) gap between the two bridges on the road, which was considered to be dangerous to people who were suicidal. [1] As of April 2019, the bridge averaged someone dying by suicide once a month. [4] After a 19 year old died, more than 40 notes containing hopeful phrases were written by volunteers and placed on the bridge. [5] [6] Different measures were discussed to assist people in distress and to make the bridge safer. Some interim options studied by the public health department were the possibility of the installation of a distress phone or a mental health sanctuary as a small facility on site. [7] In 2019, a project to install stainless steel netting as a suicide prevention measure was approved by the St. Catharines City Council. [8] Installation of the stainless steel netting underneath the bridge and guardrails on the side of it was completed by July 2020. [9] The project was originally intended to be completed in the spring of that year, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario. [8] There was also a delay in the arrival of the necessary materials. [10] The project was allocated 4 million dollars. [9]
In 2016, an anonymous tip made allegations of fiduciary impropriety. A value-of-money audit was requested by the Niagara Region council after the estimated cost of the reconstruction went from $54 million to $91 million. A $500,000 audit was conducted by Deloitte Canada, the results of which were not released to the public. In March 2017, an investigation was launched by the Ontario Provincial Police into the budget of the bridge replacement project. The investigation took 21 months and concluded that there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. [11]
In 2019, Pomerleau Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Niagara Region for $10 million, alleging that additional expenses were not paid for by the municipality when constructing the bridge and that there were 15 changes for which they were not compensated. Pomerleau Inc. also alleged that these changes lead to delays in their construction of the bridge. [2]
St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2017, St. Catharines has an area of 96.13 square kilometres (37.12 sq mi) and 140,370 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Catharinites. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails.
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750.
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was erected because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and has followed four different routes since it opened.
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 139.1 kilometres (86.4 mi) around the western end of Lake Ontario, ending at Highway 427 as the physical highway continues as the Gardiner Expressway into downtown Toronto. The QEW is one of Ontario's busiest highways, with an average of close to 200,000 vehicles per day on some sections. Major highway junctions are at Highway 420 in Niagara Falls, Highway 405 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Highway 406 in St. Catharines, the Red Hill Valley Parkway in Hamilton, Highway 403 and Highway 407 in Burlington, Highway 403 at the Oakville–Mississauga boundary, and Highway 427 in Etobicoke. Within the Regional Municipality of Halton the QEW is signed concurrently with Highway 403. The speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) throughout most of its length, with the exceptions being between Hamilton and St. Catharines where the posted limit is 110 km/h (68 mph).
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The peninsula is located in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, and has a population of roughly 1,000,000 residents. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
King's Highway 58, commonly referred to as Highway 58, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route is divided into two segments with a combined length of 15.5 km (9.6 mi). The southern segment travels from Niagara Regional Road 3, formerly Highway 3, in Port Colborne, to the Highway 58A junction in the southern end of Welland, a distance of 7.2 km (4.5 mi). The northern segment begins at Highway 20 near Allanburg and travels north and west to a large junction with Highway 406 at the St. Catharines – Thorold boundary, a distance of 8.3 km (5.2 mi). An 18.1 km (11.2 mi) gap separates the two segments within Welland and Pelham. The entire route is located within the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
King's Highway 406, commonly referred to as Highway 406, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The primary north–south route through the central portion of the Niagara Peninsula, Highway 406 connects Welland, Thorold and downtown St. Catharines to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW).
The Garden City Skyway is a major high-level bridge located in St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, that allows the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) to cross the Welland Canal without the interruption of a lift bridge. Six lanes of traffic are carried across the bridge, which is 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) in length and 40 metres (130 ft) at its tallest point.
Niagara Centre is a federal electoral district in the Niagara Region of Ontario that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1988 and since 1997.
William Hamilton Merritt was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settled in Upper Canada. Merritt fought in the War of 1812, was captured by the invading American forces, and held as a prisoner of war. After the war, he returned to the Niagara region and began a career in business. He was one of the founders of the Welland Canal. He was a supporter of the Abolitionist cause to end slavery in the U.S., and of the settlement of escaped slaves in St. Catharines.
Downtown St. Catharines is the central business district of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is defined by the city as the area between Highway 406 on the west and south, Geneva Street on the east until it reaches St. Paul Street then Welland Avenue north until it meets Niagara Street.
Welland Transit was a public transportation agency in Welland, Ontario, Canada from 1977 to 2022. Upon its inception in 1973 the bus service was operated by a private company, known as "Metro Niagara Transit," funded by the city of Welland, which assumed full operation of the transit system in 1977. On January 1, 2023, it was merged with St. Catharines Transit and Niagara Falls Transit to form Niagara Region Transit.
Fort Erie Transit used to provide local accessible bus service to the inhabitants of Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, just across the Peace Bridge and the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York.
The St. Catharines General Hospital was a general hospital established in 1865 in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, serving the Niagara Region. First established as a general and marine cottage hospital, it moved to Queenston Street in 1870. The hospital closed on March 24, 2013, after the opening of a modern hospital on Fourth Avenue.
Niagara Region Transit is a regional public transit system operating in the Niagara Region of Ontario. Initial service commenced on September 12, 2011, and consisted of inter-municipal routes. In January 2023, Niagara Region Transit assumed the operations of Welland Transit, Fort Erie Transit, St. Catharines Transit, and Niagara Falls Transit to form a single unified local transit service for the entire Niagara Region.
Grimsby GO Station is a proposed commuter rail station on the GO Transit train and bus network in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located in the town of Grimsby in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, it would be a stop on the Lakeshore West line, east of the proposed Confederation GO Station in Hamilton. It was expected to open in 2021 and would have been the first station to open in the planned Niagara extension, which will also include stops at St. Catharines and Niagara Falls stations.
Elections were held in the Niagara Region of Ontario on October 22, 2018, in conjunction with municipal elections across the province.
Elections were held in the Niagara Region of Ontario on October 24, 2022, in conjunction with municipal elections across the province.
The Shickluna Shipyard was crucial to the early history of Downtown St. Catharines. It operated from 1838 to 1901. A previous shipyard existed in the location before Louis Shickluna started his own. During his lifetime, an estimated 150 ships were built in the shipyard.