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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

there is unusual congestion on the 400 due to construction at the 401 interchange right now, southbound flows much better normally. Its been going on for a few years now.. I think it is supposed to finally finish by the end of this year.
 
Some recent photos from Highway 400 at Hwy 9. The existing south bridge was partially demolished a couple weeks ago and construction of the new foundation of the widened bridge has begun.
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Temporary shoring used to support existing traffic (2 lanes per direction on Highway 9)
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Looking south along Highway 400. Widened roadway platform, relocated illumination, and extended culverts visible.
 

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Some recent photos from Highway 400 at Hwy 9. The existing south bridge was partially demolished a couple weeks ago and construction of the new foundation of the widened bridge has begun.
View attachment 82530
View attachment 82531
Temporary shoring used to support existing traffic (2 lanes per direction on Highway 9)
View attachment 82532
Looking south along Highway 400. Widened roadway platform, relocated illumination, and extended culverts visible.

Nice. Please tell me the built interchange will be a proper Parclo. Please... Those left turns onto the 400 are a perfect example of why Parclos are great.
 
There's a lot of construction going on along the QEW between Trafalgar Rd. and Winston Churchill. Not sure if this is all related to the realignment of Ford Dr. and the North Service Rd., or if they've started work on extending the HOV (HOT) lanes from Trafalgar to Winston Churchill.
 
Some recent photos from Highway 400 at Hwy 9. The existing south bridge was partially demolished a couple weeks ago and construction of the new foundation of the widened bridge has begun.
View attachment 82530
View attachment 82531
Temporary shoring used to support existing traffic (2 lanes per direction on Highway 9)
View attachment 82532
Looking south along Highway 400. Widened roadway platform, relocated illumination, and extended culverts visible.

When was the existing Highway 9 Bridge widened? IIRC, it was only about 15 years ago. That seems like a bit of a waste to demolish a bridge that had significant improvements only 15 years ago. That wasn't very forward thinking when the last rebuilt this interchange.
 
They knew 400 widening was coming in the future, but needed to widen highway 9 then. The single span widening meant little disruption during construction ( no 400 pier needed).
Building the north half of the bridge long enough for the ultimate configuration of 400 would not have been compatible with the existing 2 span rigid frame. The options were thus the simple widening or a full rebuild to the ultimate configuration. With Tim value of money, the lower up front cost always seems to win.
 
They knew 400 widening was coming in the future, but needed to widen highway 9 then. The single span widening meant little disruption during construction ( no 400 pier needed).
Building the north half of the bridge long enough for the ultimate configuration of 400 would not have been compatible with the existing 2 span rigid frame. The options were thus the simple widening or a full rebuild to the ultimate configuration. With Tim value of money, the lower up front cost always seems to win.

We had a particularly simple lot at the helm at that point. Ironic that common sense meant lowest first cost above total cost.
 
I think the highway 9 bridge was early - mid 1990's, I'll check tomorrow on York region maps which has imagery dating to the 70's. Either way that bridge was approaching significant maintenance, and it was a pretty small structure. The time value of future proofing at the time wouldn't have been worth it for what it is.
 
Nice. Please tell me the built interchange will be a proper Parclo. Please... Those left turns onto the 400 are a perfect example of why Parclos are great.
It will be a standard Parclo.

It's Ford drove work, no HOV extensions, unfortunately.

Well, it's all leading up to eventually adding the HOV lanes: http://www.oakville.ca/assets/general - residents/transportationstudy-403-QEW-execsum.pdf

This is basically a pre-contract to do some bridge work early.

We had a particularly simple lot at the helm at that point. Ironic that common sense meant lowest first cost above total cost.

It's not that simple. You have to look at cost-benefit analysis. For example, is it cheaper to spend $30M in 1999, rather than $10M in 1999 and then $30M in 2016. They also have yearly budgets they cannot exceed, so perhaps a full rebuild was not affordable in 1999. Also, if a full rebuild was done in 1999 it would have been many years before the rest of the bridges were rebuilt for a wider Highway 400 and may not have been worth it.
 
The 410 is getting ever closer to being finished......between 401 and Steeles is nearly done and they are making really good progress on the stretch from Steeles to Queen.
 
The 410 is getting ever closer to being finished......between 401 and Steeles is nearly done and they are making really good progress on the stretch from Steeles to Queen.

Good news. Does anybody know if it will be opened in phases, or if they'll wait until the entire stretch is finished before they open it? I'd prefer a phased opening personally, as at least then the backlog would move further up the 410 and hopefully wouldn't reach back and onto the 401 in the PM peak.
 
Good news. Does anybody know if it will be opened in phases, or if they'll wait until the entire stretch is finished before they open it? I'd prefer a phased opening personally, as at least then the backlog would move further up the 410 and hopefully wouldn't reach back and onto the 401 in the PM peak.
It certainly looks like the 401 to Steeles section will be complete/open very soon....the driving is all on the new lanes created out of the medians now and the work being done is resurficing/re-jigging the lanes/ramps on the right side of the road.
 
It certainly looks like the 401 to Steeles section will be complete/open very soon....the driving is all on the new lanes created out of the medians now and the work being done is resurficing/re-jigging the lanes/ramps on the right side of the road.
Still a lot to be done...there will be a mini express/collector northbound setup from 401 to Courtney Park. By the end of 2017 there should be one more lane available and the HOV open by end of 2018.
 

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