Transportation in Hamilton, Ontario

Transportation in Hamilton, Ontario includes many different ways for people to travel. Hamilton is a city in Ontario, and it has roads, streets, and highways that cars and buses use every day. There are also streets for bicycles and sidewalks for people who like to walk.

The city has public buses that help people move around without needing a car. These buses follow set routes and stop at many places throughout Hamilton. This makes it easier for everyone, including families, students, and workers, to get where they need to go.

Hamilton also has connections to larger transportation networks. Some roads lead to nearby cities, and there are highways that connect Hamilton to other parts of Ontario. This helps people travel far beyond the city for work, visits, or fun.

Overall, transportation in Hamilton is important because it helps people live their daily lives. Whether someone is going to school, visiting a friend, or heading to work, good transportation makes everything easier.

Air

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is located near Hamilton Mountain and Mount Hope. It is an important place for moving goods by plane and is the busiest spot for air cargo in Canada. Some airlines, like WestJet, used this airport instead of the bigger and more expensive Toronto Pearson International Airport to save money. The airport also has a museum called the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. As the airport grows, it needs more space for jobs and businesses. Some people are discussing whether to build a big new area called Aerotropolis nearby.

Rail

Canadian National Railways (CN) helps manage traffic in Hamilton by working with smaller rail lines. Over time, as factories closed and more people started using cars and trucks instead of trains, many smaller tracks were removed. Passenger trains used to run from Hamilton until the 1970s. Today, GO Transit provides some train services from Hamilton, with stations like James Street North and a historic building on Hunter Street. GO Transit serves many towns and cities around Downtown Toronto, connecting to bus services and other local transit systems. The nearest national train station is at Aldershot GO Station in Burlington.

Bus

Hamilton has good bus connections with cities in southern Ontario. GO Transit provides frequent and reliable express bus service to Toronto, now from the Hamilton GO Centre.

Within the city, the Hamilton Street Railway offers good service in the lower city, especially on east-west routes. Service is reduced on the Mountain and is limited outside the old city of Hamilton, except for Dundas, which is served well. The Burlington Transit system also serves Burlington via York Boulevard and the former Highway 2, with connections under the Burlington Skyway Bridge.

Highways and expressways

The following controlled access highways and expressways serve Hamilton, Ontario:

• Queen Elizabeth Way, north Hamilton and Stoney Creek
• Highway 403, Ancaster and west Hamilton
• Highway 2, various streets, including York Boulevard and Dundurn Street.
• Highway 5, decommissioned in 1997 by the Ontario Government. Currently runs from Highway 6 at Clappison's Corners, north.
• Highway 6, Flamborough, Hamilton and Glanbrook, including access to John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport
• Highway 8, Dundas (Cootes Drive), Hamilton and Stoney Creek
• Highway 20, East Hamilton
• Highway 53, Rymal Road, Hamilton
• Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway, ‘The LINC,' Mountain
• Red Hill Valley Parkway, Joins the LINC with the QEW, East Hamilton
• Burlington Street (upper deck), north Hamilton

City streets

Hamilton’s streets follow an old grid pattern. The main north-south streets are about half a mile apart, and the east-west streets are about six-tenths of a mile apart. On the Mountain, many streets have the same name as those in the lower city but start with “Upper,” like Upper Garth Street.

Some streets, such as King and Main Streets, run parallel and are usually one-way in opposite directions. This makes driving easy, but some people feel it doesn’t help people walking or support local businesses. When streets like James Street North changed from one-way to two-way, businesses and buildings improved.

Mountain accesses in Hamilton include:

• Beckett’s Drive (Queen Street Access)
• Claremont Access
• Highway 403
• Highway 20
• James Street Access
• Jolley Cut, named after James Jolley
• Kenilworth Access
• Sherman Access
• Upper Centennial Parkway

Bridges

Hamilton, Ontario, has 389 bridges and small passages for water, including 25 new bridges being built for the Red Hill Valley Parkway. The city spends over $350 million to replace and maintain these bridges, making it the second city in Ontario with the most municipal bridges.

Every two years, experts check each bridge carefully to make sure it is safe. Some bridges, like the Mary Street bridge, are closed to cars and will become walking paths. In 2007, Dundurn Street South was closed for several months while workers fixed a bridge. In 2008, a new bridge opened on Ferguson Avenue North, connecting different parts of the city and making it easier for people to walk, bike, and drive. This project followed Hamilton’s plan to improve roads and paths for better growth.