Highway 401: Proposed Province-Wide Widening

[ShonTron]

Montreal Street. Gardiner's Road was former provincial Highway 38 ... well, Midland Avenue was actually ... Gardiners used to stop at Princess Street (former Highway 2) until relatively recently ... sometime in the 1980s.

I wouldn't be surprised if they widen the 401 one more interchange from Montreal Street to Highway 15 ... or whatever that's called these days.

Yeah, completing Montreal St to Highway 15 makes sense, but that's the longest and most expensive part of the Kingston area widening given it includes the bridge over the Cataraqui River/Rideau Canal.

It's still called Highway 15. South of the 401, it's Kingston Road 15, but still called Highway 15, even on the bus signs. Frontenac County does not maintain its own road network, each lower-tier municipality looks after them, even though they have "flowerpot" trailblazers like county and regional roads.

 

[gweed123]

Montreal Street. Gardiner's Road was former provincial Highway 38 ... well, Midland Avenue was actually ... Gardiners used to stop at Princess Street (former Highway 2) until relatively recently ... sometime in the 1980s.

I wouldn't be surprised if they widen the 401 one more interchange from Montreal Street to Highway 15 ... or whatever that's called these days.

Widening to Highway 15 (and yes it's still Highway 15) would definitely make sense, although it would be a lot of work for such a short stretch. On either side of the river, the highway passes through a pretty huge rock cut, and then an old underpass. Quite a bit of work.

EDIT: Just realized that I said pretty much the exact same thing that ShonTron said, sorry!

 

[BurlOak]

Yeah, completing Montreal St to Highway 15 makes sense, but that's the longest and most expensive part of the Kingston area widening given it includes the bridge over the Cataraqui River/Rideau Canal.

It's still called Highway 15. South of the 401, it's Kingston Road 15, but still called Highway 15, even on the bus signs. Frontenac County does not maintain its own road network, each lower-tier municipality looks after them, even though they have "flowerpot" trailblazers like county and regional roads.

I understand that the Cataraqui River/Rideau Canal bridge will be widenend slightly to accommodate 6 lanes with reduced shoulders (currently is it 4 lanes with very generous shoulders). That way the rehabilitation will be done without any in-water work. Maybe ideally, they should build a new twin bridge since this one is over 50 years old, but the only way to get it started by 2014 (or 2015 - I think with is when construction is planned) is to avoid the environmental hastles.

 

[gweed123]

I understand that the Cataraqui River/Rideau Canal bridge will be widenend slightly to accommodate 6 lanes with reduced shoulders (currently is it 4 lanes with very generous shoulders). That way the rehabilitation will be done without any in-water work. Maybe ideally, they should build a new twin bridge since this one is over 50 years old, but the only way to get it started by 2014 (or 2015 - I think with is when construction is planned) is to avoid the environmental hastles.

Makes sense. I still think that the rock cuts, overpass replacement, and interchange reconfigurations are bigger obstacles though.

Between Cobourg and Kingston, the 401 switches back and forth between having a grass median and having a tall wall. I would think that the grass median sections would be easier to widen, because it would be easier to widen in than widen out.

 

[nfitz]

Maybe ideally, they should build a new twin bridge since this one is over 50 years old, but the only way to get it started by 2014 (or 2015 - I think with is when construction is planned) is to avoid the environmental hastles.

Is it over 50 years old? I remember an extensive rehab in the early-mid 1970s, when they put up that median barrier from Highway 15 to Montreal Street. I seem to remember something about settling geotechnical problems. In retrospect though, the bridge wasn't all that old back then.

Hmm, and that old metal median barrier was much longer ... I can't remember now if it went east as far as Sydenham Street and west to Joyceville Road ... or if it was shorter. If it is the original bridge, wouldn't it date to the mid/late-1950s? Not sure when that phase of the 401 was built, but it was relatively early wasn't it, to by-pass Kingston. So well over 50 years old.

 

[GTS]

I hope they widen the 401 from 3 lanes in each direction just past Salem Rd in Ajax to 4 lanes in each direction- from Salem Rd in Ajax to Harmony Rd in Oshawa. It seems like poor planning to go from 5 lanes to suddenly 3 lanes after Salem Rd.- I think keeping it at 4 lanes in each direction would help with congestion and the regions productivity greatly. Quite a few overpasses would have to be redone but I think this investment would pay for itself in a few years with the increased efficiency of this highway.

 

[gweed123]

I hope they widen the 401 from 3 lanes in each direction just past Salem Rd in Ajax to 4 lanes in each direction- from Salem Rd in Ajax to Harmony Rd in Oshawa. It seems like poor planning to go from 5 lanes to suddenly 3 lanes after Salem Rd.- I think keeping it at 4 lanes in each direction would help with congestion and the regions productivity greatly. Quite a few overpasses would have to be redone but I think this investment would pay for itself in a few years with the increased efficiency of this highway.

Salem Rd has become quite the choke point on the 401 EB, even in off-peak times. I've gotten practically stopped there on a Sunday evening at 5pm.

 

[Paolo]

Salem Rd has become quite the choke point on the 401 EB, even in off-peak times. I've gotten practically stopped there on a Sunday evening at 5pm.

yeah salim road needs a collector and express system please fix it dalton mcguinty

 

[nfitz]

yeah salim road needs a collector and express system please fix it dalton mcguinty

I don't think widening the 401 at Salem would do the trick. There's already 5 lanes at Salem (well, 4 eastbound, but the 5th is there, just not in use, with the merge).

Surely, the issue is east of Salem. And widening it to 5 lanes to Whitby and Oshawa would be the solution.