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407 Transitway

Update*

407 TRANSITWAY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROJECT UPDATE March 24, 2011

http://www.york.ca/NR/rdonlyres/judbuxc76so5frlsm37fltkwmohzoticsrshr3joahticbn7onw3hmhvash434g4vrt2fg2ckef7n2pox4oodrtede/rpt+3+cls+11+am.pdf

Looks like its moving in a promising direction, although we'll see what happens with the proposed station in Concord, which is facing a lot of local opposition. Locals want to move the GO train station to the North side of Highway 7, but the transitway is on the South.

Interesting. Any links to reports on the opposition to concord station? I'm also a local and agree that the station should be as close as possible to the transitway.

Concord will face somewhat of an identity crisis as all these plans get built. It very well could serve as the Go Station for the planned Vaughan Metropolitan Centre but is a bit too far and Sheppard Go would be but a short subway ride away. RHC will draw from Langstaff/Centre Street East. That leaves very little ridership for Concord barring some significant intensification and redevelopment of the low density industrial buildings in the area.
 
The Barrie GO station in Concord would be very important in providing transit for People living in Richmond Hill, Vaughan, and Markham to be able to get to Barrie for work, and vice-versa. The Richmond Hill line does not go to Barrie. The 407 transitway/Thornhill City Centre and the promenade area is a notable anchor in the area to support this, although i'm not sure how many people in the area would have a need for the GO train service.

I don't believe the GO service will amount to any large ridership until far off into the 2030s. The area surrounding the proposed site has a lot of potential for re-development. It could very well end up becoming a smaller mobility hub to an extent considering Viva, 407 transitway, GO Train, and local buses would all converge here.
 
I was out in Whitby this week (lots of time off this summer) and I saw some major 407 work being done. We were north of Whitby I think(!) on highway 7 and saw some major construction of an overpass there for the 407 (big info sign there). The 407 is north of hwy 7 west of Baldwin where they are building an overpass so that the 407 again dips south below hwy 7 east of that area. I read that the 407 is going to travel east of here to Haromony Rd in Oshawa and their is going to be a branch going south of the 407 near Lake Ridge to the 401. It is good to see work getting done to improve transportation here in Southern Ontario. The 407 website also shows the second phase (I don't know if that is funded yet), but, it shows the 407 going as far east as Highway 35/115 with another south branch to the 401 in this second phase. The link is:

http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/showthread.php?t=1057
 
As noted in your link, the official current plan is that the entire extension to 35/115 will be complete by 2020. The first phase, to be complete by 2015, will to be Harmony Road in Oshawa, as well as the West Link in Whitby. By 2017, it should be open to the East Link in Clarington. These are all currently scheduled; whether they have actually been funded in a provincial budget yet, I'm not sure.

Here's some interesting info from the official project web site:

http://highway407east.com/projectFacts.html

As for construction, given that I can't see any indication that the actual contract has been awarded yet (they've gone to a short list of bidders but not down to one yet), you may have been seeing work being done as part of the widening of Highway 7 from Brock Road to Whitby.
 
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Will the connector highways be tolled as well, or just the 407 itself?
That is a VERY good question. I've never heard anything breaking out the connector highways from the 407 itself whenever tolls have been discussed, so I'd assume that they'd be tolled.
 
That is a VERY good question. I've never heard anything breaking out the connector highways from the 407 itself whenever tolls have been discussed, so I'd assume that they'd be tolled.

I would hope that they wouldn't be. These connectors have a good chance of removing a lot of the traffic from the north-south arterials in the area. Tolling them would reduce this effect, and given the short length of the highways, the toll fee wouldn't be very much anyway.

Will these be part of the 400 series highway system, or just be a provincially numbered highway (not 400 series)?
 
I would hope that they wouldn't be. These connectors have a good chance of removing a lot of the traffic from the north-south arterials in the area. Tolling them would reduce this effect, and given the short length of the highways, the toll fee wouldn't be very much anyway.

Will these be part of the 400 series highway system, or just be a provincially numbered highway (not 400 series)?

The one thing I noted off the website was they are calling this new stretch "Highway 407 East" and that it will be Owned by the Province and "the government will retain the revenues generated by tolls and establish high customer service standards".

Maybe someone learned from past lessons about 99 year leases.
 
The one thing I noted off the website was they are calling this new stretch "Highway 407 East" and that it will be Owned by the Province and "the government will retain the revenues generated by tolls and establish high customer service standards".

Maybe someone learned from past lessons about 99 year leases.

If the goverment decided to tack this stretch of highway onto one of the worst sweetheart deals of all time, I'm pretty sure I'd be showing up at Queen's Park with a pitchfork. I'm very glad that they decided to keep the toll revenues in provincial pockets, especially because it's the province forking out money to build it.
 
Will these be part of the 400 series highway system, or just be a provincially numbered highway (not 400 series)?

They will be full freeways so I would assume a 400 number will be assigned, but I have never heard an indication of what numbers will be used.

The one thing I noted off the website was they are calling this new stretch "Highway 407 East" and that it will be Owned by the Province and "the government will retain the revenues generated by tolls and establish high customer service standards".

Maybe someone learned from past lessons about 99 year leases.

Yep. However, I'd fully expect that toll operations and payments will be *contracted* out, and I think it's highly likely that the 407 Consortium will get this work so that drivers do not need to pay two bills to drive from Ajax to Scarborough. Hopefully the carrot of getting this work can be used to get some concessions from the Consortium.
 
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First Public Information Centre is happening:

407 TRANSITWAY WEBSITE UPDATE


Notice of a Public Information Centre has been announced. The details are in the Consultation section of the website:
http://www.407transitway.com/hurontarioTo400/consultation.html

The Ontario Government Notice can be found in the Ontario Government Notices section of the website:
http://www.407transitway.com/hurontarioTo400/ontarioGovernmentNotices.html

Meeting date and location:

Date: December 6, 2016
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: Greenbriar Recreation Centre
1100 Central Park Drive
Brampton, ON L6S 2C9

Date: December 8, 2016
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: Woodbridge Pool and Memorial Arena
5020 Highway 7
Woodbridge, ON L4L 1T1
 
Would a East-West GO Train service along Highway 407 be a better or worse idea compared to the 407 Transitway. Being able to bypass Union Station would be saving a lot of time right?
 

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