Design and Safety of City of Toronto Highways

[TheTigerMaster]

Toronto's ultra-short ramps and merge lanes are pretty interesting, and I guess unique. Part of me likes them just because they make one not take driving for granted. Which is pretty easy to do when taking the massively arcing ramps of the 400 system...they can be tackled half asleep with one eye open one hand on the wheel and the other texting. Merging onto the Gardiner from LSE in that streetview, not so much. But what can be done? Is there a standard sign they can use to let it be known? Or perhaps a phrase like "Keep Focused, Limited Merge Length"? I'm not aware of any.

A "lane ending ahead" sign with distance marker would work fine for this, wouldn't it?

The biggest pet peeve of mine for Toronto highways is the westbound Gardiner on ramp at Jameson. The merging distance is so small that it closes at rush hours as it causes all kinds of problems in rush hours. When it is closed, drivers are forced to continue on lakeshore all the way to park lawn. This creates a massive gap of on ramps from Spadina to Park Lawn where there is no way to get on the Gardiner Expressway.. This adds over 10 minutes to the drive time compared to if vehicles could enter the highway at Jameson. The worst part is that it can all be fixed by extending the damn merge lane by 100m or so..

This used to be a difficult task as the massive bridge piers for the Dowling Avenue bridge were in the way. But the Dowling Avenue bridge has been demolished for several years now, and the city is not planning to replace it beyond a pedestrian bridge. The city desperately needs to demolish the pier and extend the on ramp to allow the ramp to remain open in rush hour.

Lol, I can't even call this an acceleration lane at all. The City oughta hang up a yield sign there, because there is no way drivers can safely treat that as a proper acceleration lane

Honestly, I'm surprised it's even legal for the City to set up the merging lane like this. As I mentioned in my original post, on a driving test, if you don't get up to highway speeds before changing lanes, that's an automatic failure. Merging onto highways below speed is super dangerous (as my driving instructor chewed me out for on several occasions way back when). It is effectively impossible to perform what the MTO considers to be a safe merge with this lane setup. I'm sure people unfamiliar with this onramp must be accelerating up to 90ish and then slamming on the brakes when they realize they're about to be dumped onto a through lane of traffic.

Also, because people are likely entering the highway around 40ish at this location, I'm sure it must be substantially slowing down the flow of traffic on the through lanes.

Unfortunately, the City uses this exact setup all over the Gardiner, DVP and Allen Road.

 

[innsertnamehere]

You have plenty of space to speed up on the ramp down, you aren't doing 40 by the time it comes to merge. The problem is more so that the merge area is so short that you have no time to find space to "slot" in between cars, especially during high volume times.

It doesn't help that the ramp is also extremely well used - it is the primary on ramp for most of the west end of downtown.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

You have plenty of space to speed up on the ramp down, you aren't doing 40 by the time it comes to merge.

Oh yea, I know that. But I'm saying that because the merge area is so short, drivers don't have sufficient time or space to find a gap to slot into. I'd expect that this would result in the cars on the ramp slowing back down, to give themselves more time to find space, and to stop themselves from colliding with cars already in the through lanes.

 

[W. K. Lis]

All hail the zipper merge: How Canadian politeness is killing the efficiency of our highways

See link.

From link.

 

[darth_freeman]

This used to be a difficult task as the massive bridge piers for the Dowling Avenue bridge were in the way. But the Dowling Avenue bridge has been demolished for several years now, and the city is not planning to replace it beyond a pedestrian bridge. The city desperately needs to demolish the pier and extend the on ramp to allow the ramp to remain open in rush hour.

Yes, pretty sad that the safety of 100,000+ people daily is sacrified for a pedestrian bridge which I'm sure gets maybe 100 people/day, given it's proximity to Jameson and the other pedestrian bridge farther west.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

All hail the zipper merge: How Canadian politeness is killing the efficiency of our highways

See link.

From link.

I wish the zipper merge was legally enforced. They don't even teach it in driving schools here.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Yes, pretty sad that the safety of 100,000+ people daily is sacrified for a pedestrian bridge which I'm sure gets maybe 100 people/day, given it's proximity to Jameson and the other pedestrian bridge farther west.

The pedestrian bridge in place currently is temporary, intended to be used for a few years until a permanent replacement is designed.

I simply ask that as a part of that design process, an extension of the Jameson ramp is accommodated.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Two things that bug me on the 400 series highways.

1) Right lane terminations vs. left lane continuous

I'm sure many have taken the 427 northward from the 401 and you're cruising in the right hand lane, when suddenly the right and centre-right lanes become the defacto exit lanes to Derry Rd. This scenario is repeated across the system, where the right lane, the lane where we want non-passing and slower traffic to stay, continuously ends, meanwhile the left lane, where no one is supposed to cruise, gives the only option for uninterrupted driving. You could sit in the 401's left lane from Sarnia to Cornwall.

I’ll get to #2

 

[darth_freeman]

Two things that bug me on the 400 series highways.

1) Right lane terminations vs. left lane continuous

I'm sure many have taken the 427 northward from the 401 and you're cruising in the right hand lane, when suddenly the right and centre-right lanes become the defacto exit lanes to Derry Rd. This scenario is repeated across the system, where the right lane, the lane where we want non-passing and slower traffic to stay, continuously ends, meanwhile the left lane, where no one is supposed to cruise, gives the only option for uninterrupted driving. You could sit in the 401's left lane from Sarnia to Cornwall.

I’ll get to #2

Agreed but this area is under construction. The right lane drop is now at Finch and will be even farther north once the extension is open in 2020.

 

[W. K. Lis]

"Ideally", one should be able to stay in one lane (the right lane) on the 401 all the way from Windsor to the Quebec border. Unfortunately, it's impossible.

From the MTO Driver's Handbook, at this link.

Keep right

Keep to the right of the road or in the right-hand lane on multi-lane roads unless you want to turn left or pass another vehicle. This is especially important if you are driving more slowly than other vehicles.

 

[darth_freeman]

"Ideally", one should be able to stay in one lane (the right lane) on the 401 all the way from Windsor to the Quebec border. Unfortunately, it's impossible.

From the MTO Driver's Handbook, at this link.

Ontario is backwards in some ways. If a highway must drop from 3 to 2 lanes, they would force the right lane to exit (or drop). In many other jurisdictions the left lane (fast lane) would drop and be forced to merge. The common argument for why this is better is because vehicles in the left lane are generally faster and will have an easier time merging.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Ontario is backwards in some ways. If a highway must drop from 3 to 2 lanes, they would force the right lane to exit (or drop). In many other jurisdictions the left lane (fast lane) would drop and be forced to merge. The common argument for why this is better is because vehicles in the left lane are generally faster and will have an easier time merging.

Funny thing is, this is exactly what we do on rural single-lane and mostly undivided highways across Ontario, where a passing lane will come and go on the left, with the “slower traffic keep right” sign, whilst the through lane continues forever on the right.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Funny thing is, this is exactly what we do on rural single-lane and mostly undivided highways across Ontario, where a passing lane will come and go on the left, with the “slower traffic keep right” sign, whilst the through lane continues forever on the right.

What? not from my experience. Right lane always ends, at least on provincial highways.

 

[lenaitch]

What? not from my experience. Right lane always ends, at least on provincial highways.

That's my observation as well, although there may be some exceptions.