Traffic and Road Safety

The City of Brantford's Traffic Services department is dedicated to creating a safe, efficient, and accessible transportation network for everyone. Traffic Services is responsible for the design and installation of traffic control signals, signage and pavement markings, and street lights. We are also responsible for the collection and analysis of traffic data, the installation of traffic calming measures, and pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure improvements. Our department actively responds to traffic-related concerns, manage traffic for special events, and contribute to the development and review of relevant city policies.

Traffic Signs

Traffic signs in Brantford include regulatory, warning, guide, and temporary conditions, all installed and maintained in accordance with Ontario Traffic Manual (OTM) guidelines, published by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

Regulatory signs are intended to instruct road users on what they must do (or not do) under a given set of circumstance.
Warning signs alert drivers about unexpected and potentially dangerous conditions on or near the road.
Guide signs provide motorists navigation and route information.
Temporary signs are used to safely manage traffic during construction or special events.

For more information, refer to the Ontario Driver’s Handbook section on signage.

Request Signage Repair

Pavement Markings

Traffic Services maintains over 1,230 kilometres of roadway throughout the city, applying and renewing pavement markings annually to align with provincial standards and our city’s growing needs. Pavement markings include:

Centre lines and lane lines
Stop bars and pedestrian crosswalks
Lane designation arrows
Traffic calming markings

Traffic Control Signals

The City of Brantford is responsible for the design, installation, and maintenance of signalized intersections to ensure safe, efficient, and accessible movement for all road users. These include but are not limited to:

Vehicle signal heads
Pedestrian signal heads
Signal poles
Underground conduit and wire
Vehicle detection
Audible push buttons
Countdown pedestrian timers

Traffic Services conducts a biannual review of traffic signals to evaluate the efficiency of all signal timings to ensure the coordinated movement of vehicles. This minimizes queuing and delays, leading to smoother traffic flow and a decrease in fuel consumption.

Report signal damage/outages

Safety and Traffic Studies

The Traffic Services department, Brantford Police, local school boards, Grand Erie Public Health, and railway authorities work together to improve safety and efficiency on the roads. We investigate requests to change traffic and parking control, increase or add traffic signal phases, and improve street lighting.

We collectively conduct the following studies to improve road safety and traffic:

Operational studies review intersection control, parking control and sight distance deficiencies.
Turning movement and automated traffic counts help us monitor high traffic areas.
Speed studies help us identify speeding concerns and develop methods to reduce the operating speed on our roadways.

Traffic calming

The city aims to enhance neighborhood and road safety for residents, motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. We may address safety issues such as speeding, cut-through traffic, restricted sightlines, and on-street parking using traffic calming measures. The traffic calming warrant is based on collected data such as 85th percentile speed, volume, collision history, and road characteristics. The city encourages resident feedback on these issues.

Traffic Calming Methods

Brantford’s traffic calming measures include a range of strategies that are applicable to the city’s road network. Generally, there are two (2) approaches to calming traffic within a neighborhood:

• Vertical measures like speed humps and raised pedestrian crosswalks

• Horizontal measures like curb extensions, center islands and chicanes

Request for traffic calming

You can request for traffic calming devices on any particular street by filling out the City Request Form.

Street Lighting

The City of Brantford maintains over 11,000 streetlights across the city, conducting yearly inspections to ensure that roads and sidewalks are sufficiently illuminated for both drivers and pedestrians. The city currently utilizes two primary types of street lighting: High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures. Historically, HPS lights have been prevalent, however, the city is progressively transitioning to LED as they provide a brighter, more uniform illumination and are significantly more energy-efficient than HPS .

Why switch to LEDs?

LED street lights consume ~50–70% less energy than HPS fixtures
LED fixtures have a lifespan of 15–20 years, significantly longer than the 4–5 years typical of HPS lamps.

You can report a malfunctioning street light by clicking on the following link:

Report a malfunctioning street light

Truck Routes and Oversize Loads

A “truck” means a commercial vehicle designed for the transportation of cargo with a registered gross weight of more than 4,500 kilograms (4.5 tonnes), but does not include:

Passenger vehicle
A six-tire pick-up truck
Municipal or utility vehicles which are used for construction or maintenance of facilities
An ambulance or any vehicle of the Police or Fire Departments
A school bus or Brantford Transit bus
A motor home or travel trailer

Trucks must follow the signed truck routes throughout the city has shown on the truck route map.

City of Brantford Approved Truck Routes

View Larger PDF Map of City of Brantford Approved Truck Routes

Oversize Permit

The City of Brantford follows the Guide to oversize/overweight vehicles and loads published by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO).

An oversize/overweight permit is required when a vehicle or its load exceeds the legal/weight limits established by the Ministry of Transportation, per Highway Traffic Act 413/05:

Dimensional Limits (Without a Permit):

Width: 2.6 metres
Height: 4.15 metres
Length:

Single vehicle including load: 12.5 metres
Semi-trailer including load: 14.65 metres
Combination of vehicles and load: 23 metres

Request an Oversize Load permit

You can request an oversize load permit by filling out the City Request Form.

Emergency Detour Routes

The City of Brantford and County of Brant, in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Brantford Police Services, have established an Emergency Detour Routing Procedure for Highway 403 within the City of Brantford and County of Brant.

Emergency Detour Route (EDR) signs are now in place on four City Council–approved routes across Brantford. These permanent yellow-and-black signs mark the start of each route and guide drivers along the detour. These routes may be used to redirect traffic when Highway 403 is closed due to a major collision, hazardous materials spill, or similar incident.

Emergency Detour Route Signage

Information signs, as shown in Figure 1, are installed on Highway 403 at the start of the EDR.

Figure 1 – Emergency Detour Route

This sign will be visible near the start of the closure.

Figure 2 – Emergency Detour Route Trailblazers

Used to guide motorists along a designated route. Follow these back to the highway.

Emergency Detour Route Maps

The EDRs in the City of Brantford include:

The EDRs are activated under the authority of the OPP, who follow MTO procedures. The OPP notifies The Brantford Police Service, who are then required to inform the city Operational Services department.

Closure timelines may not be available due to the unpredictable nature of incidents and response requirements. For up-to-date travel information, including incident locations and roadwork on provincial highways, please visit Ontario 511

Report an issue

We always appreciate the public's input in helping keep our city and roads safe. Please use the following form for all other inquiries.