Conestoga Parkway

rdf:langString Conestoga Parkway

rdf:langString Conestoga Parkway

rdf:langString Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway

rdf:langString Conestoga Parkway

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString ON

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway

rdf:langString End of Highway85 ends; divided highway continues north as Waterloo Regional Road85 to Elmira and St. Jacobs. Divided highway ends approximately north of this point.

rdf:langString West

rdf:langString North

rdf:langString Waterloo

rdf:langString Waterloo

rdf:langString Kitchener

rdf:langString MTO

rdf:langString Conestoga Parkway highlighted in red

rdf:langString x100pxx100pxx100px

rdf:langString begins

rdf:langString Northbound entrance and southbound exit

rdf:langString Access to Victoria Street and Frederick Street via Bruce Street and Edna Street

rdf:langString continues west towards Stratford

rdf:langString Wellington Street

rdf:langString Frederick Street

rdf:langString Trussler Road

rdf:langString north of King Street North interchange

rdf:langString Expressway

rdf:langString The Conestoga Parkway, officially the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway,is a controlled-access highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located entirely within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The 20.7-kilometre (12.9 mi) route travels east and then north through the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and is connected to Highway 401 via Highway 8 and King Street East. The name Conestoga Parkway is not a formal designation, but rather a local name applied to the divided expressway portions of Highway 7, Highway 8 and Highway 85 through Kitchener and Waterloo. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), which built and maintains the route, refers to it as the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway. Originally conceived as a ring road in the 1940s, the concept evolved into a pair of at-grade four lane boulevards known as Henry Strum Boulevard (east–west) and Dryden Boulevard (north–south), for which land was gradually purchased through the 1950s and into the early 1960s. The completion of Highway 401 between Toronto and Highway 8 in 1960 resulted in businesses relocating closer to it; consequently, traffic planners redesigned the boulevards into a continuous four lane expressway in 1962. Construction of the Kitchener–Waterloo Expressway began in 1966 with the rebuilding of King Street East into a divided highway. This project also resulted in the construction of the interchange with the future expressway, which was named the Conestoga Parkway in 1967. The northern and western legs were built outwards from this interchange simultaneously over the following five years, opening in sections between 1968 and 1971. At that time, the route extended west to Fischer-Hallman Road and north to the southern interchange with King Street North. Two lane extensions opened in 1973 and 1977 to connect the parkway with New Hamburg and St. Jacobs, respectively. Portions of these were expanded to four lanes in the early 1990s. A series of projects saw the parkway completely rebuilt through its central section between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, including a concrete median barrier, additional lanes, and a new flyover ramp at Highway 8. An ongoing but frequently delayed project to construct a new freeway between Kitchener and Guelph will see a new interchange built at the existing Wellington Street interchange, in addition to the numerous bridges that have already been lengthened in the vicinity. There is currently no projected timeline for the construction of completion of this project as of 2022.