Queen Elizabeth Way over the Credit River Bridge

Many think that the Queen Elizabeth Way was named after Queen Elizabeth II, but that is not so.

The Queen Elizabeth Way (with the bridge over the Credit River) was conceived in 1931, started in 1934 and opened on June 7, 1939 to coincide with the Royal Visit of King George II and his wife, Queen Elizabeth (better known later as the Queen Mother).

The highway was originally intended to relieve “congestion” from the Middle Road which crossed the Credit River. Inspired by the autobahn in Germany, the QEW had several innovative features. Not only was it the first superhighway in Canada, but it also had the very first cloverleaf on-/off-ramps at Hurontario St (Highway 10). Furthermore, it was the first highway in North America to be fully illuminated at night (although not during WWII for safety concerns).

The bridge at the Credit River was granted heritage status by the Province of Ontario in 2019. It is 840 ft. long and has seven spans with wonderful 1930s Art Deco style arch ribs. These arches cannot be seen when driving along with highway but can be viewed from the river. The “open spandrel” design of the bridge has become less common in Ontario as older bridges are demolished and replaced with newer designs.

The decorative lampposts feature scrollwork with the royal cypher “ER”, which stand for Elizabeth Regina, Latin for Queen Elizabeth. The highway and the decorative metal work was named after the Queen Mother (1900-2020), not Queen Elizabeth II, who was a princess at the time. There were many of these decorative lamp posts along the QEW, but they remain only in three places: over the Credit River in Mississauga, over Bronte Creek in Oakville and along Twelve Mile Creek in St. Catharines. The lamp posts currently on the Credit River bridge are replicas, as the 16 originals were removed around 2010, although these too may also have been replicas installed in the 1960s during an earlier rehabilitation of the bridge.

Although no one wants to be stuck in traffic on the QEW, next time you are delayed, take a moment to look up at the royal cypher and a bit of Mississauga Art Deco history.