City of Brantford Council endorsed a plan to extend Wayne Gretzky Parkway north of Powerline Road during their Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
As the lands north of Powerline Road get developed and the population continues to grow, the City has been looking into various solutions to help mitigate traffic congestion throughout the area.
Having looked at different options, staff ultimately presented Council with a plan to extend Wayne Gretzky Parkway north of Powerline Road (sitting parallel to Highway 24/King George Road) where it will curve and meet up with Park Road North.
The plan includes replacing the current three-way intersection at Powerline Road and Wayne Gretzky Parkway with a new four-leg roundabout, as well as a new four-leg roundabout where the newly extended Parkway will meet with Highway 24.
The report explained that the extension will feature a four-lane configuration with a median in the middle and a multi-use path on the east side of the extension. As well, the roundabouts will be two lanes and designed to accommodate large vehicles, such as transport trucks and farm vehicles.
While staff currently estimate that the project will cost around $8.5 million, the price could change as the plan is currently in its preliminary stages. The final cost will be refined through the preliminary design and detailed design phases.
According to the report, which was submitted by Jennifer Elliott, the City’s Director of Engineering Services, both the city’s population and employment are expected to experience significant growth by 2051.
“Brantford’s anticipated growth will notably impact local travel demands,” she said. “By 2051, the city is projected to generate over 89,900 person trips during the A.M. peak period on an average weekday, reflecting a 72 per cent increase from the 52,616 person trips recorded in 2016.”
As outlined in the 2020 Transportation Master Plan Update, the traffic conditions of Brantford’s existing arterial and collector road network were observed during typical weekday peak hours, and the following key issues were identified:
- The Highway 403 interchanges at King George Road and Wayne Gretzky Parkway experience near-capacity conditions during the P.M. peak hour, driven by high demand for access to and from the city.
- Access to and from the downtown core via Highway 403 also experiences mild congestion during the P.M. peak hour, especially at the King George Road and Wayne Gretzky Parkway interchanges.
- North of Highway 403, King George Road and Wayne Gretzky Parkway serve as primary north-south corridors to east-west routes like Fairview Drive, Powerline Road and Dunsdon Street. These corridors are experiencing mild congestion and/or approaching capacity during the P.M. peak hour.
As well, the King George Road overpass over Highway 403 is expected to face high traffic demand, with over 60 per cent of the traffic using the route due to regional travel on Highway 403 or Highway 24.
“Adding an extra lane in each direction on King George Road would result in significant property impacts,” said Elliott. “To alleviate congestion, diverting long-distance traffic from King George Road to Wayne Gretzky Parkway via a potential future extension north of Powerline Road would ease capacity issues near Highway 403 interchange and along King George Road.”
If the plan is passed during an upcoming City Council meeting at the end of May, staff will be directed to issue a notice of completion and will open the 30-day public review period.
“The public will have an opportunity to, during that 30-day review, to provide comments, concerns or issues with the preferred solution,” said Mike Abraham, Brantford’s Manager of Infrastructure Planning. “Staff will then respond to each and one of those comments, and that will be made part of the filing to the MECP [Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks].”
During the meeting, Councillor Richard Carpenter said that he hopes that as traffic increases along Wayne Gretzky Parkway, staff will consider putting in some sort of sound barrier to help with the noise.
“When we re-did Lynden Road and widened it to four lanes from two lanes and put in a centre turning lane; we put in a beautiful sound barrier wall for the residents who backed onto Lynden,” he said. “It’s been there for well over 25 years now, and if you look at it, it’s easy to maintain. So, I would like us to use that as an example going forward.”
Councillor Dan McCreary then thanked staff for their work, saying that the presented plan seemed to make sense.
“Councillor Martin and I were at the public hearings, and this option was well received,” he said. “It certainly makes a lot of sense, even though there will be some disruption in the immediate neighbourhood once we get underway.”
While the item was unanimously carried and Council will still have to give final approval later this month, residents will still have an opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
