Route Description
Highway 406 is unique as the only 400-series highway with two lane sections and with an at-grade rail crossing. The highway is heavily travelled within St. Catharines, but volumes drop considerably south of the city. The speed limit on Highway 406 varies from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 100 km/h (62 mph). It is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The 406 designation begins at East Main Street in Welland at a signalized intersection immediately west of East Main Street Tunnel beneath the Welland Canal. From here the two lane undivided road veers northeast and travels parallel to the canal. Two golf courses separate the canal. As the highway passes to the west of them, it jogs to the west and crosses a Trillium Railway spur, and meets Daimler Parkway and Woodlawn Road at an at-grade intersection. Soon after, it crosses the Welland River and then the former channel of the canal, which was replaced by the current Welland By-Pass in the 1970s.
The highway curves to the northwest as it passes through thick forest, and meets an at-grade intersection with Merritt Road (formerly Highway 58), which as of 2009 is being rebuilt as a grade-separated interchange. After this, it returns to its northward orientation and passes the final at-grade intersection, Niagara Regional Road 63 (Port Robinson Road).
North of Port Robinson Road, Highway 406 widens to four lanes and a median opens in the centre, making it a controlled access freeway. The forests break and the freeway continues straight north for 7 km (4.3 mi) through a mostly agricultural area. Along the straightaway are interchanges with former Highway 20 and Niagara Regional Road 67 (Beaverdams Road). The freeway crosses over Lake Gibson, infamous for its connection with the crimes of Paul Bernardo, and curves to the northeast. It passes beneath Niagara Regional Road 71 (St. Davids Road) and Highway 58 at a complicated interchange as it descends the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and enters St. Catharines.
Within St. Catharines, Highway 406 twists frequently, entering the Twelve Mile Creek valley south of a complicated interchange with Westchester Avenue and Geneva Street and curving west. Within the valley, the freeway features a lower design speed and reduced speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph). It passes beneath the high-level St. Paul Street bridge, crosses the creek and intersects Fourth Avenue. Exiting the creek valley, the freeway parallels Fourth Avenue for a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi), gradually curves to the north and ends 3 km (1.9 mi) to the north, merging with the QEW.
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