Dan416
Senior Member
I have no problem with the New Flyers. They're fine for buses.
Mississauga Mississauga Transitway | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | IBI Group
nfitz
Superstar
Last I heard, the 401 express-collector was to continue west of Mississauga Road, and then be a 5-lane (each-way) cross section through Winston Churchill and heading west. The Mississauga Road bridge was reconstructed a couple of years ago and the space is already there for express-collector. If this will be contract 2, or contract 3 I don't know.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
Mississauga upgrades
There are plans to widen the Mississauga stretch from six lanes to 12 lanes from the 403-410 interchange to the Credit River, and 10 lanes to Mississauga Road; this has recently been a major bottleneck due to the reduced capacity west of the junction. Actual construction on the expansion is slated to start in 2008 at the earliest, but for the last decade, numerous prerequisite projects have been undertaken.
The 403-410 interchange, which was under construction from the 1970s until 1995, is designed in mind for westward expansion of the collector-express system. The Highway 401 collector overpass structures crossing Highway 410 each of which have an additional lane which is currently unused. There is also an available right-of-way for a loop ramp from Highway 403 northbound to Highway 401 west and a direction ramp in the opposite direction, which is designed to improve access from Cawthra Road; this project would make the 403-410 interchange a full four-way interchange.
The Kennedy Road overpass, opened in the early 1990s just west of the 403-410 junction, is wide enough to accommodate expansion of the 12 lane collector-express system. The Derry Road underpass have been widened to accommodate this in the late 1990s. An interchange has been added with Mavis Road in 1999, which has been extended north to Highway 401 and beyond, and the overpass abutments are designed to allow future lengthening so fourteen lanes can pass under. In 2002, the Mississauga Road four-lane overpass was replaced with an eight lane structure that can span fourteen lanes, while the interchange ramps were also realigned to support higher speeds.
The main obstacles to Highway 401 expansion are the aging Second Line, Creditview Road, McLaughlin Road, and Hurontario Street (the bridge structure and ramps were realigned in the 1970s from its original cloverleaf configuration) overpasses, which were completed in the early 1960s and place heigh restrictions on vehicles passing under. They will be demolished and replaced as part of the reconstruction; the embankments leading up to the McLaughlin Road overpass have been widened in anticipation of a longer and wider structure.
Recently, the Ministry of Transportation also has mid-term plans to construct HOV lanes along Highway 401 from Mississauga Road to the 403/410 interchange. They have also announced long-term plans to further extend the HOV lanes further west to Milton.[20]
From wiki
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
Thanks for pointing that out to me. I guess I didn't catch that last part of the PIC.
nfitz
Superstar
I wouldn't take the entry in Wikipedia on Highway 401 too seriously - it's certainly improving, but you should see the crap I've deleted in that article over the years. It certainly sounds reasonable, but take with a grain of salt.
doady
Senior Member
Nova buses aren't "better" than New Flyer and Orion buses... they are all pretty much the same.
You should check out MT's brand new articulated buses from New Flyer. They are great, really comfortable.
On the other hand, I hate the Nova buses in Brampton because it uses the sensor type doors instead of push-bar...
ShonTron
Moderator
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I saw the new NFI artics and was suprised, because MT swore they weren't going back to artics. Time to put them back on the 19 on weekdays.
I hate the sensors too, and I think this is typical to Nova buses, so if you don't want them, have to ask for push bars in the contract. I still prefer treadles.
Lone Primate
Active Member
I'm kind of wondering what the point is of expanding the collector system on the 401 westward with the existing chokepoint at the 427. The fact that they built an interchange that huge but made no facility for the collectors is an example if hideously shortsighted planning. Meanwhile, there is a vast collector system all the way to the 410 that doesn't directly connect to the rest. Until they can bridge that gap (no pun intended), I think they should reconsider.
ShonTron
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I think the west side collectors were because of the change in plans to route the Hamilton Highway (403) along the 401 alignment from Eglinton to the 410, versus the Eglinton-Eastgate alignment originally planned. On the east, I guess they thought the 409 would pick up the traffic. It's better than it was as the MTO added the fourth lane under the 409, but it's still a chokepoint.
My other problem is the multitude of lane changes required to get from 401 West to 410 North. The 410 should have gotten access from the express lanes like the 403 already has.
doady
Senior Member
MT is getting 22 hybrid articulated buses, some of which will be put on the 202 (renamed the 102?) when it gets all day service in 2009. Assuming that the 101 and 102 will get an equal number of these hybrid artics, the 102 will have approximately 10 minute rush hour service according to my calculations.
jeicow
Active Member
There are a small number of Novas used by the GRT that have the push bar. The motion sensors suck.
Dan416
Senior Member
If the ROW isn't wide enough at that point, they should just double-deck the highway for that portion.
I know I'll get howls of protest of the suggestion of a Gardiner 2.0
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
^Hey, why not. Maybe they can have separate HOV/bus lanes in the elevated structure above sort of like along the 110 in LA.
nfitz
Superstar
I'm regularily driving the 401 westbound during morning rush (and vice-versa in the afternoon). With the exception of downtown, I'd say that the 401 from Kelso to Hurontario is the most congested expressway in the city. And it's not bring traffic in from the suburbs into the city that is the problem, it's simply getting traffic across the Credit River. There are a lot of people who live west of the Credit, and work in Mississauga to the East - and not a lot of lanes crossing the Credit. There's also a lack of interchanges in eastern Mississauga with Hurontario and Dixie backing up massively in rush hour. They are planning to add 2 interchanges to disperse the traffic better.
Sure, increased transit would be a better solution - but it's Mississauga - it will take decades to rebuild the city for transit. An increase in lane capacity (and adding the HOV lanes) is the only real solution here.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
What is the price tag for widening the 401 in Mississauga? What is the current maintenance and operation costs for the 401? I want to know so that I can compare with any Mississauga Transitway, along with passenger loads.