Roads: Highway 401 Widening - Highway 8 to Highway 410 (MTO, U/C, Planned)

[BurlOak]

Quick question, will there be a ramp from 401 east bound to 403 south bound toward the MCC? The other missing ramp in the system is QEW west bound to 403 north bound in order to get up to the 407 when the QEW is a mess at night.

Both of these are pretty good ideas.

1) I have never liked the 403-401 Interchange (throw in the 410 too). The 403 just below the 401 sort of has a short stretch of collector and express lanes. Those coming south from 410 and those coming from the 401 collectors (which includes all traffic coming off of 427 since they have no option to make it to the 401 express) all get put onto the 403 collectors. All of these vehicles must merge on essentially one lane (sort of two, but lane ends very soon) with the rest of the 403. The 401E to 403S ramp could be put under the end span of the high level 401E to 410N bridge, but the problem is this traffic as well would go to the 403 Collector lanes. They must find a way of improving the 403 through Matheson. Either have a weave lane where the 403 express is switching to the 403 collector, and very shortly thereafter, the 403 collector enters the 403 core - that way there is room for more lanes to merge. Alternatively, the 401 express could be prohibitted from accessing Eglinton and Eastgate and then there would be a better merge for the 403 collector traffic. I do not think it is possible to add any lanes to 403 south of Eglinton due to a couple of bridges.

2) QEW W to 403 N is also possible, probably requiring a bridge over Upper Middle Road. Again the problem is that the stretch of 403 North of QEW is quite poor with only 2 lanes at Dundas and Burnhamthorpe. There is plenty of room to widen this, but again it is more money.

 

[Dan416]

Did they replace the sign on the gantry where Mississauga Road was spelled wrong?

Yes. Or at the very least the sign was corrected. I'm not sure if the entire sign was replaced or what. But Mississauga is now spelt correctly.

 

[Civdis]

Yes there will be, but a different contract and no idea when it will be tender.

When it is tender, a new westbound ramp to the 401 from 410 will be part of it.

I would say 2015 could be a start date, since the work for this interchange will be completed in 2013.

There is plans to put in a westbound ramp from the QEW to the 403 and to start in the next few years.

Thanks for the info. Maybe 407 ETR should kick in for the QEW/403 ramp since it would increase their traffic and revenue.

 

[drum118]

May 18:
A video going northbound on Hurontario St and the Hwy 401. Concrete will be pour next week for the new northbound bridge as the rebar is finish and the concrete system in place.

The eastbound lane has not seen concrete pour for the final section at the northbound on ramp. Work is still taking place for the new collector lanes east of the on ramp by Hwy 410.
[video=youtube;MgXkMZepAjw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXkMZepAjw[/video]
[video=youtube;3k2AVgE_dZE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2AVgE_dZE[/video]

 

[Paolo]

Drum your youtube link is not working, try signing out of youtube, delete cookies and try clicking it to see what the rest of us see when trying to click it. i had to go to you tube and search for your name then i could see the videos. kinda tedious if u ask me.

 

[Paolo]

Can't wait for them to connect the missing chunk of collector lanes through the 401 and 427 area, wonder when this will be done?

 

[Paolo]

Yes. Or at the very least the sign was corrected. I'm not sure if the entire sign was replaced or what. But Mississauga is now spelt correctly.

yes the sign has been fixed thanks to this site

 

[Paolo]

Awesome pics drum118! Thanks for the update!

I was able to drive through the site this weekend. Such a massive project for a short stretch of road. I think it will only be well utilized if / when the collector / express system is extended west through Mississauga.

THey still need to finish the collector system at the 427, it disappears. imagine how much better traffic will flow if they kept it through

 

[nfitz]

Can't wait for them to connect the missing chunk of collector lanes through the 401 and 427 area, wonder when this will be done?

There's never been any plans to do this. Instead they widened it from 3 lanes to 4 lanes. East of where the 427 joins, it's 6 lanes, even though there's no collectors. Not sure what the demand is, but it's not 7 lanes through the 427 itself, an awful lot of traffic changes to the 409 or 427.

With 3 lanes of 409 also connecting this piece, this is a good option too. I used to use 409/427 a lot through here. But it doesn't seem as bad since they widened the bottleneck from 3 to 4 lanes.

I can't see there ever being collector/express through here ... it wouldn't really add anything given that it's only 7 lanes to the east. Maybe they'll shoe-horn in a 5th lane some day if they ever rebuild some of overpasses ... but that's about all I see.

 

[gweed123]

There's never been any plans to do this. Instead they widened it from 3 lanes to 4 lanes. East of where the 427 joins, it's 6 lanes, even though there's no collectors. Not sure what the demand is, but it's not 7 lanes through the 427 itself, an awful lot of traffic changes to the 409 or 427.

With 3 lanes of 409 also connecting this piece, this is a good option too. I used to use 409/427 a lot through here. But it doesn't seem as bad since they widened the bottleneck from 3 to 4 lanes.

I can't see there ever being collector/express through here ... it wouldn't really add anything given that it's only 7 lanes to the east. Maybe they'll shoe-horn in a 5th lane some day if they ever rebuild some of overpasses ... but that's about all I see.

It does kinda throw a wrench into any kind of 401 Express tolling scheme though, to have tolled lanes disappear and then reappear.

If any type of 401 tolling scheme does come to fruition, I can see this section beyond upgraded to E-C just to simplify the tolling.

And even as it is right now, that section is still a pretty big bottleneck. Even when I pass through it on Sunday afternoons, if there's any non-accident slowdown on the 401, it's at that spot (and I take the 401 from the 403 all the way to the 416). There and Salem Rd are the two biggest random slowdown spots that aren't related to accidents or construction.

 

[nfitz]

And even as it is right now, that section is still a pretty big bottleneck. Even when I pass through it on Sunday afternoons, if there's any non-accident slowdown on the 401, it's at that spot (and I take the 401 from the 403 all the way to the 416). There and Salem Rd are the two biggest random slowdown spots that aren't related to accidents or construction.

Traffic patterns might be different on Sundays ... though when I used to drive through there on Sundays from Eastern Ontario, when I lived west of the city, I would use 407 - unless it was midnight. Though the 409-427 trick would work well I'd think.

I've heard no talk of 401 tolling. But if they were to do so, they could simply put a wide paint line down the road like HOV lanes ... or not toll this very short stretch.

 

[Paolo]

if they make the express lanes from the 427 isolated all the way to the 400 that would be pro. it would speed things up greatly. less people merging would be great

 

[timio]

Though the 409-427 trick would work well I'd think.

I just learned this trick last week and it's saved me at least 5-7 minutes over sticking on the 401, which may not seem like much, but in my 1.5 hr commute (temporary until I find a place to move to), it's worthwhile.

 

[Paolo]

what about going east bound? u would need to take the 427 to get on the 401, no?

 

[Paolo]

Any update on this construction project?