Weekend highway traffic was 'record-breaking'

Ontario’s two longest freeways were the busiest they’ve ever been during a hectic and deadly Canada Day weekend, police said.

Highway 401, which runs east from Windsor through the Toronto area to the Quebec border, and Highway 400, which joins Toronto with cottage country to the north, saw massive gridlock, the Ontario Provincial Police said Monday.  

"It's sort of record-breaking," OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford said. "Everybody... just wants to get out, and the weather plays a big factor, I think."

Motorists faced a never-ending sea of red lights as traffic stalled in and out of Toronto.

At the U.S. border crossings in the Niagara Region, lineups forced motorists to wait up to 3½ hours. Woodford said some frustrated travellers were turning around and going home rather than spend the day in gridlock.

No fatal collisions were reported in the Greater Toronto Area, but at least seven people died on the roads in other parts of the province from Friday to Sunday.

The OPP had been aiming for a "fatal free" Canada Day long weekend, with no highway or water deaths.

The force warned that, even though the holiday weekend is over, it will keep up its safety blitz.