Roads: Fantasy Proposals

[Fritter]

As for extending the 404, my ultimate vision is to have the 404 connect to Highway 11 north of Orillia, going around the east side of Lake Simcoe

At one 404 extention pubic meeting I attended, I thought the display boards did show that the concept of 404 all the way around the east side of Lake Simcoe was what the MTO was aiming for, even if there was no concrete plan to do so.

 

[innsertnamehere]

MTO did an EA in the early 2000's to bring it to Highway 12, and widen highway 12 to four lanes up until county road 48. They then constructed the part to keswick that was designed in that EA - as the liberals weren't as receptive to the idea as the conservatives.

I wouldn't be surprised if the idea is revived under a conservative government, maybe with the next stretch to Sutton / highway 48 getting built.

 

[Lone Primate]

Edit: after looking at it closer, you may be able to squeeze it in. It looks like a collector express setup needs about 80m of ROW, and the corridor is generally around 85m wide. It would be tight, especially with ramps, but it might work. The big issue would still be reconfiguring the 427 interchange.

Yeah, it would, but after all, it's been done before, back in the 70s. You used to be able to turn off the 401 directly north onto the "Airport Expressway". Now you have to remember to take the 409. That's one of the things I'd ameliorate in the process of making provision for collectors between the 409 and the 427, which I personally think is and excellent idea. The province really should have done that when they were designing the whole thing. Using the 409-427 as the secret collectors is a sort of "in progress" workaround, in my opinion... not something that should have persisted for going on 50 years. Can it be they were so short-sighted they just couldn't imagine a collector system going beyond Metro in either direction? They're about to reach Mississauga Road... Trafalgar must be the next stop.

 

[north-of-anything]

I didn't know this thread existed, but this is an idea I had for a reconstruction of a neighbourhood at Lawrence and Warden Avenues.

I made the land in the northwest corner of Warden/Lawrence more suitable for midrise development, and also removed some of the more awkward intersections and curves.

- The incredibly disjointed section of Boem Avenue west of Warden has been replaced with an extension of Brian Avenue.
- Honey Drive and Colony Road have been adjusted to be parallel with Lawrence, allowing for rectangular lots.
- Manhattan Drive has been truncated. It now begins at the Brian Avenue extension instead of forking off from Tower Drive.

The road layout in the area east of Warden has been altered as well.

- Roselm Road, which once connected to Lawrence, has been turned into a crescent, and Ellington Drive now begins at Guild Hall Drive at the east intersection with Roselm.
- The far curve of Twin Pauls Crescent has been removed, allowing Taylor-Massey Creek to return to the surface.
- Tweed Crescent, now Tweed Road, parallels the creek. A new road connects the south end of Tweed to Compton Drive.

Unfortunately, this kind of redesign will involve several address changes, as most of the altered areas and lengths lie at the beginning of the address scheme for that road (for example, 1 Tweed Crescent is at the fork with Compton Drive).

This one, for Rosedale, goes a LOT further. It makes the neighbourhood much more urban, and irons out some jagged intersections on streets such as Cluny Drive and Glen Road. The orange rectangles denote blocks that can be redeveloped as midrises (or even highrises), while the pink blocks in the Castle Frank neighbourhood is for townhouse developments with no backyard in the same vein as these developments in Clairlea near Warden Station.

 

[Streety McCarface]

Personally, these are the freeways I'd study. HWY 7 through Kitchener should eventually connect through Stratford, Baden, and London, and there needs to be a full hwy 6 between Guelph and Hamilton. That road is far too dangerous as is.

 

[Bureaucromancer]

Add a north/south from ~Pairs to Hwy 7 (415?) and thats basically perferct for west of Toronto.

 

[Neutrino]

@north-of-anything Some of the roads around Weston suffer the same problem - awkward curves and intersections

 

[BurlOak]

Add a north/south from ~Pairs to Hwy 7 (415?) and thats basically perferct for west of Toronto.

Paris? I think that's too far West.

Something East of London and something from Cambridge to Hamilton Airport area (Mid-Pen).

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1E2mj0oScUOtZP6RPS04m3UN015w&usp=sharing

My proposed build out for Ontario highways in the next 50 or so years. Includes:
- 418 from 401 to 407 and ending at the 115/35 interchange
- 412 Northern Extension connecting to the GTA West Highway and the 404 Extension
- 404 Extension around the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe connecting to hwy 11 and my proposed Barrie-Hurontario hwy at Washago
- 427 Northern extension ending at Collingwood
- 410 Northern extension ending at Owen Sound
- 407 West Extension from the current 401/407 interchange south of Milton looping around the lake and ending near Hamilton airport. The current portion of the 407 that runs south and west of this interchange is bought back by the government and is resigned as, the GTA west highway for the N/S portion, and the 403 for the E/W portion through Oakville/Burlington
- The GTA West highway running north from the QEW in Oakville (along the former 407) looping around Brampton and running East through Northern York Region. Terminating at the 412 extension
- The Barrie-Hurontario Hwy running from it's terminus with the 412 in Washago, S-SW North of Barrie, threading itself through Guelph/Kitchener/Waterloo and terminating at the Lincon M Alexander Pkwy (or alternatively meeting up with the GTA West and continuing on to Hamilton Airport)
- The Mid Penn hwy running from Fort Erie W-NW and meeting up with the Barrie-Hurontario Hwy. (Alternatively these two hwy's would simply be built as one hwy)

These proposals don't ALL have to be fully controlled access, 6 lane, 400 series quality. Some can be 4 lane routes with provisions for eventual expansion to full controlled access and 6 lane width.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Paris? I think that's too far West.

Something East of London and something from Cambridge to Hamilton Airport area (Mid-Pen).
View attachment 196766

That makes no sense for the one running beside Cambridge. A super-two highway with regular passing lanes and the ability to later upgrade to a freeway connecting 8 with the Wayne Gretzky Parkway in Brantford is all that is needed if 6 is upgraded to freeway standards.

I would upgrade the Veterans Memorial Parkway in London to a freeway and connect it to that new Kitchener- London highway, no need for a new corridor east of the London Airport.

One other one I would add is upgrading 6N From the 403 to the Caledonia Bypass to a freeway. The Hamilton Airport is growing rapidly, Norfolk County posted 2.5% growth last year, and Caledonia is exploding in population with a massive new subdivision going in with a big subdivision planned in Hagersville as well. Traffic levels along that highway are going to be increasing significantly in the near future, and an upgrade likely wouldn't be that expensive.

 

[jamincan]

I know this is fantasy, but half of these things are going right through environmentally sensitive land, conservation areas, or over topography that would be extremely impractical to build a highway. Is it really anyone's fantasy to build a highway across Dundas Valley, or through Forks of the Credit?

Speaking for the KW and Guelph area, my fantasy would be the completion of the Highway 7 bypass and fully upgrading Hwy 6 from 7 to QEW to freeway standards. As far Cambridge to Brantford, I think it would make sense to connect Franklin St. to Highway 24, give it a full interchange on the 401 and make it the primary through route to 24 south. I don't think 24 is busy enough to warrant significant upgrades outside of Cambridge, but I'm admittedly less familiar with it.

 

[Translude15]

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1E2mj0oScUOtZP6RPS04m3UN015w&usp=sharing

My proposed build out for Ontario highways in the next 50 or so years. Includes:
- 418 from 401 to 407 and ending at the 115/35 interchange
- 412 Northern Extension connecting to the GTA West Highway and the 404 Extension
- 404 Extension around the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe connecting to hwy 11 and my proposed Barrie-Hurontario hwy at Washago
- 427 Northern extension ending at Collingwood
- 410 Northern extension ending at Owen Sound
- 407 West Extension from the current 401/407 interchange south of Milton looping around the lake and ending near Hamilton airport. The current portion of the 407 that runs south and west of this interchange is bought back by the government and is resigned as, the GTA west highway for the N/S portion, and the 403 for the E/W portion through Oakville/Burlington
- The GTA West highway running north from the QEW in Oakville (along the former 407) looping around Brampton and running East through Northern York Region. Terminating at the 412 extension
- The Barrie-Hurontario Hwy running from it's terminus with the 412 in Washago, S-SW North of Barrie, threading itself through Guelph/Kitchener/Waterloo and terminating at the Lincon M Alexander Pkwy (or alternatively meeting up with the GTA West and continuing on to Hamilton Airport)
- The Mid Penn hwy running from Fort Erie W-NW and meeting up with the Barrie-Hurontario Hwy. (Alternatively these two hwy's would simply be built as one hwy)

These proposals don't ALL have to be fully controlled access, 6 lane, 400 series quality. Some can be 4 lane routes with provisions for eventual expansion to full controlled access and 6 lane width.

The 407 idea is something I've always said should be done. 403 should run continuously from Woodstock to current terminus at 401-410 interchange. New GTA West would then incorporate N-S portion of 407 from QEW to 401 as you've described. Mid-Peninsula Highway should just combine with the new 407 alignment/extension near Hamilton airport. A controlled access upgrade of Highway 6 north to Guelph would ideally combine with the Hanlon upgrade and Highway 7 upgrade from K-W.

 

[robmausser]

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1E2mj0oScUOtZP6RPS04m3UN015w&usp=sharing

My proposed build out for Ontario highways in the next 50 or so years. Includes:
- 418 from 401 to 407 and ending at the 115/35 interchange
- 412 Northern Extension connecting to the GTA West Highway and the 404 Extension
- 404 Extension around the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe connecting to hwy 11 and my proposed Barrie-Hurontario hwy at Washago
- 427 Northern extension ending at Collingwood
- 410 Northern extension ending at Owen Sound
- 407 West Extension from the current 401/407 interchange south of Milton looping around the lake and ending near Hamilton airport. The current portion of the 407 that runs south and west of this interchange is bought back by the government and is resigned as, the GTA west highway for the N/S portion, and the 403 for the E/W portion through Oakville/Burlington
- The GTA West highway running north from the QEW in Oakville (along the former 407) looping around Brampton and running East through Northern York Region. Terminating at the 412 extension
- The Barrie-Hurontario Hwy running from it's terminus with the 412 in Washago, S-SW North of Barrie, threading itself through Guelph/Kitchener/Waterloo and terminating at the Lincon M Alexander Pkwy (or alternatively meeting up with the GTA West and continuing on to Hamilton Airport)
- The Mid Penn hwy running from Fort Erie W-NW and meeting up with the Barrie-Hurontario Hwy. (Alternatively these two hwy's would simply be built as one hwy)

These proposals don't ALL have to be fully controlled access, 6 lane, 400 series quality. Some can be 4 lane routes with provisions for eventual expansion to full controlled access and 6 lane width.

Your 418 is already happening but as the 407 phase 2

I doubt the province would build a non-toll road beside a toll road.

 

[gweed123]

The 407 idea is something I've always said should be done. 403 should run continuously from Woodstock to current terminus at 401-410 interchange. New GTA West would then incorporate N-S portion of 407 from QEW to 401 as you've described. Mid-Peninsula Highway should just combine with the new 407 alignment/extension near Hamilton airport. A controlled access upgrade of Highway 6 north to Guelph would ideally combine with the Hanlon upgrade and Highway 7 upgrade from K-W.

I agree with returning the 407 in Halton to being part of the 403, but I'm of the mind that the 407 should, starting at around Mississauga Rd, veer northwestwards and connect to the future 7/6 interchange in Guelph. The end result would be that the 407 designation could then be carried through Kitchener on the Conestoga Pkwy. It would be a free highway west of Hwy 6, and a tolled highway east of it.

The existing N-S portion of the 407 and 403 could then be re-designated as something else (422?), and eventually be extended northwards as part of the GTA West highway.

 

[Translude15]

I agree with returning the 407 in Halton to being part of the 403, but I'm of the mind that the 407 should, starting at around Mississauga Rd, veer northwestwards and connect to the future 7/6 interchange in Guelph. The end result would be that the 407 designation could then be carried through Kitchener on the Conestoga Pkwy. It would be a free highway west of Hwy 6, and a tolled highway east of it.

The existing N-S portion of the 407 and 403 could then be re-designated as something else (422?), and eventually be extended northwards as part of the GTA West highway.

Never thought of that alignment for 407 but makes sense as veering south of Milton would be difficult due to the conservation lands in that area. Plus there are a lot of valuable properties throughout that stretch which would no doubt spur a lot of NIMBYism. Ultimately the Halton stretch of 407 would benefit from integrating into the E-W 403 route as development expands north of Dundas. It would also help alleviate QEW congestion over time.