Red Hill Valley Parkway

Red Hill Valley Parkway
Route information
Maintained by City of Hamilton
Length:	6 km (4 mi)
History:	Proposed during 1956, Opened November 17, 2007
Major junctions
South end:	Mud Street (continues as Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway)
	King Street
North end:	Queen Elizabeth Way
Location
Major cities:	Hamilton
Highway system
Roads in Ontario

The Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP) is a municipal expressway in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario. The route connects the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway, Hamilton's second municipal expressway, to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) near Hamilton Harbour. It is named after Red Hill Valley, through which it descends the Niagara Escarpment. It is a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) four-lane freeway with a speed limit of 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph).

The C$245 million expressway was built through the Red Hill Valley by the City of Hamilton after a decades-long battle with opponents. The expressway was first proposed in the 1950s and was cancelled and resurrected several times. Last-ditch efforts by opponents, including occupying the valley, lawsuits and blocking construction access, failed and the expressway was finally constructed in the 2000s, opening to traffic in 2007. The cost to the city included $100 million in construction costs, plus legal costs fighting to get the expressway constructed. The city fought the provincial government once and the federal government twice to build the project. As of November 2009, a $75 million lawsuit is still pending with the federal government.

The expressway starts at the Queen Elizabeth Way. Proceeding southbound, the Creek and a stormwater pond can be seen on the right. From the QEW interchange to Barton Street, the expressway crosses over the Creek several times with industrial lands to the south (left) and industrial lands on the right as far as the CNR rail lines. This area's trees were removed from this area as part of the project; there are some remaining trees on both sides of the expressway at Barton Street.

This section, which is not far above the water level of Lake Ontario, is prone to flooding. On July 26, 2009, sections of the expressway at the QEW were closed due to flooding of the Red Hill Creek after a thunderstorm. On July 7, 2010, sections of the expressway at Barton Street were closed due to flooding of the Red Hill Creek after a thunderstorm.

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Wikipedia