Mooreton
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Province plans to create six-lane Highway 401
Almost 50 years after Highway 401 was officially open to drivers, the province plans to get its full expanse up to a minimum of six lanes by as early as 2013.
While the GTA span of the busy highway is regularly upgraded, the province is looking much further east and west to give drivers at least three lanes in each direction all the way from Windsor to the Quebec border, Transportation Minister
Donna Cansfield said yesterday.
The Post's Dakshana Bascaramurty reports:
“We’ve all been in situations where there’s been gridlock and I guess I’m even more aware of it as Minister of Transportation,†Ms. Cansfield said.
The province announced $330-million plans a year ago to expand a total of almost 50 kilometres. But when the 2007 five-year plan is released next month, it could include the final steps for installing six lanes for the full length of the highway, Ms. Cansfield said yesterday.
Jamie Rilett, a spokesperson for the ministry, said there was no firm date on border-to-border expansion, but by 2011 there will be six lanes running from London to Cobourg.
From the 1940s to 1960s, when the 820-kilometre stretch of highway was being developed, the province and developers had always expected it to expand, said John Shragge, who worked for the ministry of transportation for 26 years and compiled a history of the highway after he retired.
To accommodate eventual widening, a 91.4-metre-right-of-way bordering the 401 was established wherever possible, he said. This gave the 401 much more potential to grow than the QEW, where widening was limited to the 40-metre-right-of-way.
Though construction on many of the upgrades have yet to begin, OPP Sergeant Cam Woolley said the Transportation Ministry should already be thinking about stretching beyond six lanes. In the GTA, traffic volumes have doubled in the last decade are expected to double again, he said.
Various other upgrades are scheduled to be completed within the next few years.
In 2008, construction will be underway to get six uninterrupted lanes running from the GTA westward to Highway 402 in London.
In the east, the four lanes from Port Hope to Cobourg are also to be expanded to six, with construction slated to end this fall.
With almost one-quarter of the 450,000 vehicles on the 401 identified as trucks, Ms. Cansfield said expanding the 401 has as much to do with trade as it does commuting. In August, public consultations will be held to create a preferred route for trade from Windsor to the U.S. border, which should be running by 2013, said Ms. Cansfield.
At around the same time, the ministry’s next five-year plan will be announced in Ottawa, she said. When it comes to safety, projects within the GTA are of highest priority, said Ms. Cansfield. One of the top trouble spots is the 401 westerly from the end of the express-collector lanes at the interchange for Highways 401, 403 and 410, which is why a 12-lane express/collector from that interchange is being extended by eight kilometres to the Credit River.
While the idea of six lanes from Windsor to Quebec excites Mr. Shragge, he says all the planning, assessing and consulting will likely take a few decades rather than a few years.
"With drainage systems and median barriers, it’s a complex structural entity, not just, ‘Let’s slap some asphalt down and put in an extra lane,’ †Mr. Shragge said.
Published Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:22 PM by Barry Hertz
Filed under: City, Politics
Almost 50 years after Highway 401 was officially open to drivers, the province plans to get its full expanse up to a minimum of six lanes by as early as 2013.
While the GTA span of the busy highway is regularly upgraded, the province is looking much further east and west to give drivers at least three lanes in each direction all the way from Windsor to the Quebec border, Transportation Minister
Donna Cansfield said yesterday.
The Post's Dakshana Bascaramurty reports:
“We’ve all been in situations where there’s been gridlock and I guess I’m even more aware of it as Minister of Transportation,†Ms. Cansfield said.
The province announced $330-million plans a year ago to expand a total of almost 50 kilometres. But when the 2007 five-year plan is released next month, it could include the final steps for installing six lanes for the full length of the highway, Ms. Cansfield said yesterday.
Jamie Rilett, a spokesperson for the ministry, said there was no firm date on border-to-border expansion, but by 2011 there will be six lanes running from London to Cobourg.
From the 1940s to 1960s, when the 820-kilometre stretch of highway was being developed, the province and developers had always expected it to expand, said John Shragge, who worked for the ministry of transportation for 26 years and compiled a history of the highway after he retired.
To accommodate eventual widening, a 91.4-metre-right-of-way bordering the 401 was established wherever possible, he said. This gave the 401 much more potential to grow than the QEW, where widening was limited to the 40-metre-right-of-way.
Though construction on many of the upgrades have yet to begin, OPP Sergeant Cam Woolley said the Transportation Ministry should already be thinking about stretching beyond six lanes. In the GTA, traffic volumes have doubled in the last decade are expected to double again, he said.
Various other upgrades are scheduled to be completed within the next few years.
In 2008, construction will be underway to get six uninterrupted lanes running from the GTA westward to Highway 402 in London.
In the east, the four lanes from Port Hope to Cobourg are also to be expanded to six, with construction slated to end this fall.
With almost one-quarter of the 450,000 vehicles on the 401 identified as trucks, Ms. Cansfield said expanding the 401 has as much to do with trade as it does commuting. In August, public consultations will be held to create a preferred route for trade from Windsor to the U.S. border, which should be running by 2013, said Ms. Cansfield.
At around the same time, the ministry’s next five-year plan will be announced in Ottawa, she said. When it comes to safety, projects within the GTA are of highest priority, said Ms. Cansfield. One of the top trouble spots is the 401 westerly from the end of the express-collector lanes at the interchange for Highways 401, 403 and 410, which is why a 12-lane express/collector from that interchange is being extended by eight kilometres to the Credit River.
While the idea of six lanes from Windsor to Quebec excites Mr. Shragge, he says all the planning, assessing and consulting will likely take a few decades rather than a few years.
"With drainage systems and median barriers, it’s a complex structural entity, not just, ‘Let’s slap some asphalt down and put in an extra lane,’ †Mr. Shragge said.
Published Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:22 PM by Barry Hertz
Filed under: City, Politics
