The QEW has been a source of frustration for commuters over the past several years. But after years of construction, a major improvement project along the highway is approaching its deadline for December 2026.
The QEW/Credit River Improvement Project, which stretches from east of Cawthra Road to west of Etobicoke Creek, began in May 2022. Led by Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, the improvements include bridge replacements, changes to the Dixie Road exit, widening the highway in selected areas and upgrades to highway infrastructure, according to the website.
For people who regularly travel through the area, however, the project has meant more than construction equipment and roadwork. It has also meant adjusting daily commutes, navigating changing traffic patterns and living alongside construction activity.
The work has had several stages, with major changes occurring each year. Early construction included replacing the Dixie Road underpass, rebuilding service roads and replacing the Ogden Avenue pedestrian bridge. More recent work has focused on highway paving, drainage improvements, landscaping and the completion of highway ramps.
While the improvements are intended to make the highway safer and improve its infrastructure, the construction has created challenges for people living and travelling nearby.
“It’s actually pretty crazy because of the Erin Mills Parkway. If you go towards Toronto, you have to cross the Credit River, and the Credit River especially, there's a lot of construction," said Julian Mizerjewski, 19, a history major at the University of Toronto Mississauga, who frequently uses the QEW to get to school.
He said that even though it depends what time you're on the QEW, traffic without rush hour will add a five to 10-minute delay with the construction.
“I don’t work in that area, but I’m just trying to get around, like whatever I need to do that delay, it’s really frustrating,” Mizerjewski said.
He said it's a blessing for people commuting from Mississauga, Toronto, and Oakville to the Greater Toronto Area that the QEW is being finished because of how long it's taken to complete.
“I was expecting it to go on for years because of how these construction projects tend to go,” Mizerjewski said. “I’m very glad that it’s true that the estimated construction time will finish in December.”
Temporary lane closures along the entire QEW, as well as changes to surrounding municipal roads, have affected how drivers move through the area. Drivers have had to adapt to changing routes and construction zones, sometimes adding time to their daily commutes.
According to the project's construction schedule, the remaining work this year includes completing the highway noise barrier near Park Royal Boulevard, finishing the Dixie Road southbound-to-eastbound QEW on-ramp and applying the final surface course of pavement.
According to the QEW Credit River website, during construction in 2024, Indigenous artifacts were discovered on the eastern edge of the site in the area of the QEW lanes on the original bridge. The artifacts found were reported as projectile points (arrowheads) and pieces of broken ceramic (pottery).
Due to the discovery, construction was stopped for a while to allow for archaeological investigations.
However, the end of construction does not necessarily mean the end of traffic congestion along the QEW. The highway remains an important transportation route for commuters travelling throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
“When I go in the direction of Sherway Gardens, there’s always something going on, it’s always slow,” said Angelina Mexis, 19, a McMaster University student who frequently travels from Oakville to Sherway.
She said even though the construction along the QEW Eastbound between Erin Mills and Sherway is almost done the construction heading into Toronto gets worse.
“They’re extending some of the lanes [Westbound] so that would be good, and hopefully less potholes because sometimes there are some bad potholes,” she said.
Mexis said that even on Trafalgar Road, westbound fon the QEW to Oakville, the lanes don’t close, but they narrow. Everyone always slows down and brakes in that area, so it’s always backed up.
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