The latest public data, covering 2024, shows that 1,077 collisions were reported across Burlington’s regional roads. Of those, 131 involved injuries and two were fatal.
The intersection with the most crashes
Most people might assume Burlington’s worst intersection is simply the one with the most crashes.
In the latest public ranking, that’s Guelph Line and Fairview Street.
But crash totals aren’t the only way to measure a dangerous intersection.
The red-light data points somewhere else
At Guelph Line and South Service Road, the northbound red-light camera recorded 2,139 violations in 2024, the highest total among Halton’s camera locations.
An older engineering study gives us a better idea of what was happening around that intersection.
Drivers leaving the QEW encounter a signalized arterial almost immediately while also dealing with service-road traffic, nearby commercial traffic and employment traffic.
Between 2013 and 2017, Halton recorded 28 collisions there.
Most were angle crashes.
- 15 angle collisions
- nine rear-end collisions
- three sideswipes
- one other
The study also documented drivers leaving the QEW, turning onto Guelph Line, crossing southbound lanes and trying to reach the left-turn lane for Harvester Road shortly afterward.
That puts several decisions into a very short stretch of road.
The rear-end problem is farther south
If South Service Road stands out for angle crashes, Guelph Line and Harvester Road stands out for something different.
Halton recorded 115 collisions there from 2013 through 2017.
The largest category was rear-end crashes.
- 57 rear-end collisions
- 24 turning collisions
- 16 sideswipes
- 10 angle collisions
- eight others
The study found the intersection was operating beyond its practical capacity during the afternoon rush.
Only about 95 metres separated Harvester from the South Service Road signal near the QEW.
At busy times, queues could stretch from one intersection toward the next.
That means drivers could suddenly reach stopped traffic, brake sharply or change lanes to avoid a growing queue.
That helps explain why rear-end crashes dominated the record there.
What could actually improve it
At South Service Road, the issue appears to be the amount of merging, turning and lane positioning happening immediately after drivers leave the QEW.
South Service could benefit from changes that simplify lane movements and access around the highway interchange.
At Harvester, the problem documented by Halton was the limited space between two busy signals.
Harvester could require better signal coordination, more queue storage or changes to nearby entrances so traffic from one intersection doesn’t spill into the next.
Fairview is harder to diagnose because the public collision summary doesn’t include enough detail about the crash types there.
What the records actually show
Fairview had the most crashes, South Service Road had the most red-light violations, and Harvester had the clearest documented rear-end and congestion problem.
All three are on Guelph Line.
That suggests Burlington’s biggest intersection problems may be less about one bad corner and more about how this entire corridor handles traffic.