Driving time from Sheppard / DVP to Square One for work

[UD2]

If you got flex hours I recommend leaving early. Leaving before 7:30 will save you almost 1 hour each day on the road (assume you leave work early too as in 4PM). Other than that I generally don't find the 401 to be too bad in the mornings. At least not when I was making my commute.

401 West -> 403 South -> Hurontario (if you turn right off the highway and do a U-turn back to avoid left turning queue)

if you leave at 730, and assuming there are no construction/accidents/weather/retards. your trip to Square One should take no more than 35 - 40 minutes. avoid the 401 collectors and use the express.

if you leave by 8. the same trip will take you 50+.

don't leave at 8:30



Coming back home will take longer. You should always budget over 1 hour for the way back.

I don't recommend DVP South -> Gardiner West -> etc


Coming back home will take longer. You should always budget over 1 hour for the way back.

I don't recommand DVP South -> Gardiner West -> etc


and do keep in mind that this is assuming you proactively try to travel as fast as you, within reason and common attention to safety, can. if you're going to do 90km/h on the highway then you'll take longer.

 

[nfitz]

I think the combination of traffic and lights would really eat into any savings made by replacing the 401 by the 407....and even if there was a saving, would it be significant enough to justify the road toll cost that is unique to the 407?

Revisiting this in a snow rush hour (downtown at least). Projected travel times at 9 AM using the link I posted earlier - https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=S...;FT8xmQIdh7dA-w&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&t=m&z=11 are 76 minutes on 401/403 (29 without traffic). 76 minutes on 401/409/427/401/403 (32 regularly), 83 minutes on DVP/Gardiner/Hurontario (37 minutes normally) and 51 minutes on 404/407/410/403 (37 minutes normally). 407/Hurontario is 58 minutes (41 normally). 403/410 seems faster than Hurontario/Mavis ... but then this freaky band of rush-hour snow doesn't seem to be falling anywhere west of the Humber.

 

[TOareaFan]

Revisiting this in a snow rush hour (downtown at least). Projected travel times at 9 AM using the link I posted earlier - https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=S...;FT8xmQIdh7dA-w&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&t=m&z=11 are 76 minutes on 401/403 (29 without traffic). 76 minutes on 401/409/427/401/403 (32 regularly), 83 minutes on DVP/Gardiner/Hurontario (37 minutes normally) and 51 minutes on 404/407/410/403 (37 minutes normally). 407/Hurontario is 58 minutes (41 normally). 403/410 seems faster than Hurontario/Mavis ... but then this freaky band of rush-hour snow doesn't seem to be falling anywhere west of the Humber.

I actually took the train today so that my house guests could have access to my car....when I left Brampton I would have just described today as "bitterly cold winter day"......the further east we travelled the more "snowy" it got.....by the time I walked from Union to my office I was noticing how much snow was actually on the ground and thinking..."that's weird".

 

[nfitz]

.by the time I walked from Union to my office I was noticing how much snow was actually on the ground and thinking..."that's weird".

Watching the radar, it was a very narrow streamer of Lake Huron lake-effect snow coming over the GTA. South of Bloor, it didn't seem to extend east of Victoria Park (until later perhaps) or west of the Humber. What was interesting is how long it persisted without shifting much.

All gone now ... I think it caught many by surprise! And many in GTA will have no idea it's snowed in some parts.

 

[James]

I was on the main stretch of the 401 this morning and didn't notice a dramatic difference. Yes, there was a bit more snow on the ground and overall traffic was a bit slower but unless you went further north, it wasn't too bad. North of the 401 however, there were snow squalls which reduced visibility quite a bit. Have we heard back from the OP on the results of his/her commute?

 

[nfitz]

Revisting this again, for the PM rush home at 6:20 or so on a snowy day. Here's the original link, reversed for the homeward journey - https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=S...8xmQIdh7dA-w;FdL2mwId6W1F-w&mra=prev&t=m&z=11 - 29 minutes on the 403/401, but 68 in current conditions - looks like 403/401/427/409/401 would save you a minute currently (31 but 67 now). It also offers Hurontario/QEW/Gardiner/DVP at 38 minutes, but 70 minutes currently. Meanwhile 403/407/404 is 39 minutes, but only 66 minutes under current conditions. And Hurontario/407/404 is 43 minutes, but only 64 minutes under current conditions. Confederation Parkway is 47 minutes but 64 under current conditions.

No great routes, but Confederation Parkway/407/404 is probably the least aggravating - but probably not worth the cost.