By Gazette Staff
August 25th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
We received a note from a Gazette reader about traffic congestion during the weekend. Drivers inched along Lakeshore Road from Martha in the east to Mapleview in the west..
The side streets that flowed into Lakeshore were more stop than start.
The disruption is the result of road closures related to the maintenance work being done on the xxx lanes BETTER
Dennis Hewko, a North Shore Boulevard East resident wrote us: .
Dear Sir or Madam
I am a resident of Burlington and I lover the downtown and waterfront access and this summer on weekends when the Skyway Bridge is closed southbound for repairs the Downtown Core of Burlington specifically Northshore and Lakeshore become congested as commuters on the QEW try to bypass the traffic congestion by using side roads and thus also congest all the side streets in Burlington.
There is a very simple solution, close the access ramps to the QEW southbound from Lakeshore and Northshore and then commuters will not use these core arteries feeding downtown Burlington. This was actually done once this summer but for some reason it has not been done since.
I sent a letter to the Mayor and the response, which you can see below is very disappointing as the Mayor offloads this issue saying this is the MTO’s decision to control the access ramps ! I fully understand who is officially responsible for closing these access ramps but the City of Burlington needs to have an open dialogue with the MTO and being advocating for these ramps to be closes when they close southbound lanes to ensure that the City of Burlington does not become gridlocked.
Below is my letter to the Mayor, their response and my response.
Dennis Hewko,
Transportation issued notices, often as late as the day before, and once on the day of the closures.
Hewko to the Mayor:
So once again the residents of Burlington were stuck in a traffic gridlock as the MTO closed down 2 lanes on the sky way bridge for repair work on the weekend and the City of Burlington Failed to communicate with the MTO to have the access ramps from North Shore and Lakeshore to QEW South bound closed so that commuters would not try to use these roads as by pass roads for the QEW back up.
So disappointing that such an easy solution as closing these access ramps can enable the citizens of Burlington to have access to the down town core and enjoy the water front, restaurants and shops instead citizens are forced to stay in their homes unless they want to sit in a traffic gridlock for hours
Disappointed Citizen: Dennis Hewko, North Shore Boulevard East
Mayors Office responded:
Thank you for reaching out to share your perspective. I brought your email to the Mayor’s attention and she certainly understands the disruption caused by ongoing construction on provincially owned highways.
I wanted to make sure my previous response was received as it clarifies the jurisdiction of closing highway on/off ramps. The City’s Transportation team communicate with the Ministry of Transportation and provide their input on projects that affect Burlington. If you would like to advocate to the Ministry of Transportation separately on this item, you could reach out to the Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria.
Kind regards and a lovely rest of your day and week.
Hannelie van Niekerk | Executive Administrator: Office of Mayor Marianne Meed Ward | City of Burlington
Hewko responds:
The Mayor offloads this issue saying this is the MTO’s decision to control the access ramps ! I fully understand who is officially responsible for closing these access ramps but the City of Burlington needs to have an open dialogue with the MTO and begin advocating for these ramps to be closed when they close southbound lanes to ensure that the City of Burlington does not become gridlocked.
Mayor
The City’s Transportation team communicate with the Ministry of Transportation and provides their input on projects that affect Burlington. If you would like to advocate to the Ministry of Transportation separately on this item, you could reach out to the Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria.
Photographed at the AMO conference. Third from the right: Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, Ministor of Transportation; far left Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre.
HEWKO TO THE Mayor – AFTER she responded to him
Thank you for your response, I did get your last response suggesting that I reach out to the MTO which I find very disappointing. As a citizen of Burlington we elect officials who then hire and oversee administrative staff to advocate on the behalf of citizens of Burlington to ensure that Citizens best interests are being looked after. So I am expecting the City of Burlington elected officials to ensure that the City Traffic department has developed an open communication channel with the MTO and that they are taking the necessary action to ensure that when the MTO does lane closures that the impact is minimized on the citizens of Burlington and specifically access to the downtown core of Burlington. This is EASILY done by closing the south bound access from Lake Shore and North Shore when southbound EW lanes are closed on the Skyway Bridge. ( This was done for 1 weekend ) This then ensures that commuters are not using the City of Burlington streets to bypass the QEW resulting in traffic jams in the downtown core of Burlington and roads leading to the downtown core ie) Lake Shore and North Shore, making transiting in the City impossible.
Please ask that a line of communication is established with the MTO and if the Traffic Department is unable to achieve an agreement with the MTO on closing QEW southbound access from Lakeshore and North Shore when the Sky Way Bridge south bound lanes are closed, that the elected City Officials take this on with the Provincial Government so this can be achieved. At the end of the day all these decisions are being made by people and we need to ensure that the best decisions are being made as the impact of poor decisions makes Burlington unlivable during these Sky Way Bridge South Bound Lane Closures.
Mayor Meed Ward issued a report on what she and four members of Council managed to achieve at the AMO conference that took place earlier in the month:
Met with the Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria
Burlington Skyway Bridge
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- Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officials recognized the ongoing need for careful coordination with City of Burlington to communicate and ease local traffic impacts. Next steps will include more communication from the MTO to drivers and looking at additional mitigation measures during Burlington Skyway Bridge lane closures. This will work towards the City’s goal to minimize spillover impacts during necessary maintenance.
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What does that mean? The deck of the bridge has to be maintained- better notice would help.
What it comes down to is poor, very poor communication from the Ministry of Transportation. The city just repeats what MTO puts out.
Why is this work not being done at night ?
I took have had extensive correspondence with the City. My correspondence was initially directed to all counselors. The only response I received was from the mayor’s office saying my correspondence had been referred to Traffic Services.
From the to and fro of emails between myself and the gentleman by the name of Tristan (shown below) you can see I was getting absolutely nowhere. Tristan, I have since learned is quite junior and at no time sought help from a superior who might be better placed to respond. All my correspondence to and from Tristan was copied to all seven councilors.
In the end I had a very cordial meeting at my home with Craig Cummer, Director Transportation Services, which also got me nowhere.
I was surprised to learn from Craig that all north/south major roads with the exception of Walker’s Line (e.g. Brant St, Guelph Line, Appleby Line) are roads under Regional control. Walker’s Line is the only one under City control. So intersections (including traffic signal timing) along those three roads are under Regional control. There is no reason for this roads to remain under Regional control.
In specific reference to the bridge induced traffic congestion Mr Kummer did not want to go with closing the ramps during rush hours or at times of bridge maintenance. His preferred solution is to reduce traffic signal timing to restrict opportunities for vehicles to head south towards the downtown.
I cannot understand why the simple action of closing the North Shore ramps to dissuade and prevent commuter traffic using downtown as a cut through is not at a minimum tried as a pilot project. I understand the Province has to be on board, but if lobbied by our council members it would be achieved.
Here is a transcript of my correspondence with Tristan.
Tristan
“….please note that solutions from other municipalities, especially Toronto, may not be directly applicable to Burlington. Toronto’s severe traffic congestion issues, exacerbated by its high population and numerous destinations, differ significantly from Burlington’s situation.”
David
Each municipality is different and unique in its situations and issues.
For some reason though you seem to think I’m comparing Burlington’s traffic congestion directly with that of Toronto. I am not.
What I am doing is pointing out to you that the City of Toronto and the Provincial Ontario between them have determined that the Jameson on-ramp to the Gardiner Expressway should be closed at certain high traffic volume times. The physical closure is administered by the City of Toronto.
Tristan
Closing the ramps would “concern neighbouring municipalities”.
David.
Why would that be? What impact might it have on say Hamilton or Mississauga?
Tristan.
a. The closure of ramp terminals may concern neighbouring municipalities because freeways are fundamentally designed to support travel of heavy vehicles between municipalities, rather than local trips that start and end in one municipality. A freeway provides a path for heavy vehicles delivering goods that has a reduced impact on arterial or local roadways and is more hospitable to their characteristics, such as poor maneuverability and increased stopping distance and emissions caused by repeated acceleration and reduction of speed. Freeways are also available to passenger cars, but their primary function is as a corridor for the movement of goods on heavy vehicles.
b. Example of a problematic scenario created by the partial or total closure of the QEW/North Shore Boulevard interchange: the interchange in question is adjacent to a public hospital. Hospitals require frequent delivery of critical goods that could occur at any time. A reduction of routes available to heavy vehicles delivering these goods would force these vehicles to use alternate routes, such as Eastport Drive in Hamilton or a number of arterial/local roads in downtown Burlington and would increase the cost of operating the hospital. This is because the heavy vehicles would spend more time in transit and the operators of these vehicles need to be compensated for the additional cost in time and fuel. Some goods are perishable, so there may be increased costs borne by the hospital associated to ensure the safe delivery of these goods as well. In this scenario – which is highly probable with the proposed closure – congestion in downtown Burlington could worsen rather than improve. In addition to this, there could be an increase in volume on Eastport Drive caused by heavy vehicles unable to access the Niagara-bound QEW from North Shore Boulevard East, which would concern the City of Hamilton and increase the cost of maintaining that roadway. An auxiliary impact of this would be the increased travel time and alternate route-seeking for the workers at the hospital. Nurses work shifts; these shifts create sudden surges in travel demand that warrant special consideration for traffic operations around hospitals (I worked on the transportation study for the New Windsor-Essex Acute Care Hospital project in one of my previous occupations and this was a major concern for both the developers and the municipality).
c. This is one of many potential examples from around the City that illustrate this concern. For this reason, most freeways are the responsibility of a level of government above municipalities: the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The MTO constructs, operates, and maintains these freeways, informing the stakeholders and municipalities of any changes as needed. If it helps to understand your voice as a citizen in this process, think of yourself as a citizen of the City of Burlington, Halton Region, the Province of Ontario, and Canada all at once, rather than a citizen of the City of Burlington where the municipal government is the representative to the other levels. This is why we have elected officials in office at all levels (except Halton Region, whose council is comprised of the mayors and councillors of the constituent municipalities). Each organization has their own responsibilities and tools to handle these responsibilities.
David
a. You’ve got to be kidding me.
Are you really saying in all seriousness freeways are not there to facilitate the smooth movement of private passenger vehicles whethe they’re commuting from one municipality to another or for long distance destinations.
b. The distance from the QEW North Shore Boulevard off ramp to the Fairview Street QEW off-ramp (the next exit) is 2km or 2 minutes. At the Fairview Street exit there is immediate access to Maple Avenue which leads directly to the hospital.
As happens with the Jameson on-ramp to Gardiner Expressway in Toronto when it is closed, one would expect a police officer and vehicle to be stationed at the gate of the closed ramp at Northshore Boulevard for the approximately 2 hours of closure. If an emergency vehicle needs to access the ramp, the police officer can open the gate swiftly.
Note please when the Jameson on-ramp is closed it is a Metro Toronto police officer that is stationed there. Not an OPP officer. A City of Toronto resource!
With knowledge that the ramps are closed at certain pre-determined rush hour times logistics companies making deliveries to the hospital can quite easily arrange to make those deliveries outside of the rush hour.
c. WOW! So condescending!
I am fully aware and conversant with the structure of the various levels of government, their responsibilities and how they interact.
You may have noticed that the Mayor of Burlington has on a number of occasions lobbied the Provincial Government directly on issues that directly affect our city.
Councilor Lisa Kearns is my ward councilor. So I access Lisa if I have an issue I wish to have resolved or investigated that involves either City staff or Council.
All seven of the City’s councilors are my representatives at the Region and in bringing up issues with the Provincial Government. That is the job of my elected officials. They are elected to act on my behalf and advocate on my behalf.
Tristan
“The City’s resources are not intended to be allocated to infrastructure not owned by the City or concerned with traffic operations in different municipalities”.
David
No City resource would need to be allocated to the Provincially owned infrastructure; and none would be concerned with traffic operations in other municipalities.
Why would you think that? The North Shore Boulevard on/off ramps are all located exclusively in the City of Burlington.
Tristan
a. In additional to materials and funds, staff time is also a City resource. Any time spent by City of Burlington staff to consider, support, or oppose the proposed closure would consume City resources. We have previously requested you to concentrate your efforts in support of this closure to the MTO because City resources would otherwise be consumed fruitlessly. We do not have the data, authority/resources to collect data, or tools to conduct analysis to determine the potential impacts of the proposed closure, but the MTO does.
b. As alluded to in our response to question 1, the placement of the interchange entirely within the City of Burlington does not mean that other municipalities would not be affected by the proposed closure. Therefore, traffic operations in other municipalities may be affected. In order to determine whether the proposed closure is feasible and responsible, these effects would need to be analyzed, resulting in an allocation of resources to traffic operations in these areas.
David
a. Again, I say you must be kidding me.
The traffic congestion South of the QEW is the City of Burlington’s direct concern and indirectly the concern of both the Region and the Province.
City staff should be gathering data as to the make up of traffic in its downtown core.
Yes that would as you put it consume City resources. That is the purpose of having such resources.
Your job as an employee of the residents of the City of Burlington is to work on our behalf and not to be a road block or gatekeeper (excuse the puns).
I understand and accept. You may not have the authority to go ahead and look into this matter. You probably need authority from City Council. In your position I would have gone to my managers and ask for them to seek authority to proceed rather than telling me to go and deal with the MTO on my own.
It is not for you to arbitrarily and without reference to management and or counsel dismiss this.
b. As said earlier, your comment is bs.
Tristan
David, you should approach the Ministry of Transportation and seek closure of the ramps if you want action.
David
For sure I could do that. As one individual I have little weight.
An approach by the City or the Region would carry a lot of weight and be seriously considered. That is why I’m looking to my elected representatives (the City of Burlington Council), whose job it is to represent me and the residents of Burlington to take up this matter and either direct staff to approach Provincial counterparts in the Ministry of Transportation; or have our Mayor reach out to the Minister directly.
In my opinion there’s absolutely no downside to closing off those ramps during rush hours. There’s no need for any capital expenditure or for any infrastructure.
What possible downsides do you see?
The City and the Province could run a 12 month pilot project to gauge its effects. At the end of the pilot, the City and the Province could review the results and decide whether to make it permanent or do away with it.
Tristan
Regarding your opinion that there would be no downside to the proposed closure: What possible downsides do you see? Please see our response regarding City resources.
David
I was referring to measurable on-going downsides to closing the ramps, such as traffic migrating to other parts of the city as opposed to going to the four laned Fairview Street/Plains Road.
Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) – it took over an hour for me to drive over the bridge to get to Stoney Creek. Indeed, the two left lanes of the Niagara Bound side of the Skyway bridge are closed for construction – but there were NO construction workers on site. Zero.
I’m not a civil engineer – but if the work is done for the day – can’t they reopen one lane? It would be a civil thing to do.
This will get worse as time goes on .That is why the Harris government planned to build the Mid Peninsula Hwy years ago.Burlington politicians and environmental groups lobbied to kill the project.Liberals obliged so here we are with traffic chaos far into the future.
What is the impact of the increase in traffic on ambulances getting to and from Joseph Brant? If closing the North Shore on ramp frees up access to the hospital, the city should be moving on this without talking to the ministry.
Editor’s note: City does not have jurisdiction.