Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls)
Major crossing of the Niagara River
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The Rainbow Bridge was built near the site of the earlier Honeymoon Bridge, which collapsed in 1938 due to an ice jam in the Niagara Gorge.
Architect Richard (Su Min) Lee designed the bridge; a design also used for the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) downriver. The bridge's Rainbow Tower and Canadian side plaza are the work of another Canadian architect, William Lyon Somerville. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, during their visit to Niagara Falls as part of their 1939 royal tour of Canada, dedicated the future construction site of the Rainbow Bridge; a monument was later erected to commemorate the occasion. Construction began in May 1940. The bridge officially opened on November 1, 1941.
The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission chose the name "Rainbow Bridge" in March 1939, because rainbows occur frequently near the falls due to water spray and mist in the air.
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Description and specifications
The New York State Department of Transportation designates the bridge as NY 955A, an unsigned reference route. Roads that adjoin the bridge include New York routes 104 and 384, and the Niagara Scenic Parkway. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation designates the bridge as part of Highway 420. The Rainbow Tower, part of the plaza complex on the Canadian side, houses a carillon, which plays several times daily.
The Rainbow Bridge does not permit commercial trucks; the nearest border crossing accessible to trucks is the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.
For a bicyclist, the toll to cross the bridge is $1.00 USD or $1.00 CAD. Pedestrians are only charged if they are departing from Canada either $1.00 USD or $1.25 CAD. As of May 2025, the cash toll for personal vehicles is $8.50 CAD. In 2025, cross-border traffic declined significantly after the trade war began, with 23% fewer Canadians returning home in February of that year.
2023 car crash
On November 22, 2023, a 2022 Bentley Flying Spur traveling at high speed left the roadway, went airborne, crashed and exploded at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing on the American side. The vehicle's two occupants died, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was injured. The crash and subsequent explosion was at first investigated as a potential terrorist attack, but was later determined to have been an unintentional crash.