An elderly woman is dead after she was struck by a tractor trailer on the Queen Elizabeth Way near St. Catharines on Friday afternoon.

Police said the 78-year old St. Catharines woman exited her vehicle and walked in front of the transport truck shortly before 3 p.m. near Third Street.

The woman was transported to St. Catharine's Hospital where she died of her injuries, police said.

The Toronto-bound lanes were closed at Martindale Road and traffic was being diverted onto Highway 406. The closure has since been lifted.