Gale-force winds swept across barren plaza in front of toll booths at Burlington Skyway, which remained closed for 12 hours yesterday. From Canada Centre for Inland Waters, on the Beach Strip, the view of Hamilton skyline was both forbidding and starkly beautiful as the sun poked through heavy cloud to polish top of harbor waves. toll booth Hamilton historical collection Jan. 26, 1972
Toll booth the base of the Burlington Skyway in 1972, a year before they were removed.

The Burlington Skyway opened on Oct. 30, 1958. To defray the $17-million cost of construction, drivers were charged 15 cents per trip, trucks with two axles or cars with trailers, 25 cents, and trucks with three or more axles, 45 cents. An automated system of dropping coins (or a token) into a metal collector bin was abandoned in 1964 because too many drivers were missing the bin. A toll was collected until 1973.

Automatic toll collector bin on Burlington Skyway in 1961.
Automatic toll collector bin on Burlington Skyway
in 1961.
A city worker, Robert Collins carries away one of the automatic toll-takers. The electric devices were removed from the Burlington Skyway because motorist tossing coins were too often off the target. toll booth Burlington Skyway September 30, 1964 Hamilton historical collection
City worker Robert Collins carries away one of the automatic toll-takers. The devices were removed from the  Skyway in 1964 because motorist tossing coins were too often off the target.Hamilton historical collection 

One thought on “Flashback: Skyway toll booth”

  1. One of our neighbours was a token collector for the Sky way Bridge. People use to complain to him all the time about the bridge was paid for and they should close the tolls. Some wise guys use to heat up the tokens with the car cigarette lighter and then toss it into the collectors hand. It was heck of a job.

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