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Roads: Highway 407 East (Durham Region)

I'm not sure I understand why 418 was even built. It seems like it would have been better to build 415 slightly to the east of Newcastle to replace 115, and at that point the only benefit to the 418 is for people living in the south end of Bowmanville not wanting to drive to 412 which isn't really a large population. 412 makes sense... 418 is a waste of money that should have been redirected to replace 115.
 
robmausser said:
412 and 418 are kinda in the middle of nowhere in Durham. Nothing really next to them. I really don't think they will be used much except to go up to the 407 where people will pay a toll. Maybe the province is hoping to trick people into going up to the 407 and having to pay! Fooled you!
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Yesterday the 418 had red traffic according to GMaps.
 
Just thinking out loud- now that the tolls are off the 412 and 418, should we think about taking them off the 407 as well east of the 412? That way you essentially get 3 feeders into the tolled section as the 407 doesn't really become worth it until you get west of the 412. While the tolled section would get a lot shorter it would incentivize traffic to use it more... although the provincial section would be just a portion of the expanded network.

As a alternative, the 407 could be free east of the 418 instead, rather than the 412. That way you could also use 418/407 to get to Peterbourgh vs the 35/115.
 
Haljackey said:
Just thinking out loud- now that the tolls are off the 412 and 418, should we think about taking them off the 407 as well east of the 412? That way you essentially get 3 feeders into the tolled section as the 407 doesn't really become worth it until you get west of the 412. While the tolled section would get a lot shorter it would incentivize traffic to use it more... although the provincial section would be just a portion of the expanded network.

As a alternative, the 407 could be free east of the 418 instead, rather than the 412. That way you could also use 418/407 to get to Peterbourgh vs the 35/115.
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Maybe a compromise is warranted, where the 407E is tolled during peak periods and midday, but is free early mornings (before 7AM), late evenings (after 7PM), and on weekends. That would at least get some of the cottage traffic off the 35/115.
 
I've taken the 407 from 115 on long weekends coming home from Haliburton (go south through Bobcaygeon and over instead of down 11, avoiding the 400), and it's actually fairly full. Not 100% capacity at all, but far from empty. Probably the only time of year the 407 gets much use at all east of Oshawa.

The tolls on 407 East in off peak periods are already quite low anyway, it would only cost $8 to get to the 412.
 
So think we'll finish it one day? If the 407E was extended further- back to the 401, that would give you a more direct connection, and relieve some congestion on the 401 section it bypasses.

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Always good to have some redundancy in the network, even if it is tolled.
 
There is absolutely no need for that. The 401 has a lot of space to be widened in that stretch. That area needs highway upgrades, not new corridors. Extending the 6-laning of the 401 to Kingston would cost a fraction of some 407 extension and would deliver far larger benefits.
 
There's already a great direct connection from the 407 to the 401. It's called Highway 418. It's sufficient as a bypass goes, and trying to push the 407 past it would just make it a (bigger?) white elephant.
I believe the more glaring "hole" at the end of Highway 407 is the brief segment of 35/115 that is not up to 400-series standards. If congestion becomes a problem, that stretch of highway could benefit from dropping its RIRO exits.
 
Ok, how about a possible westward section? This could hook up to the Highway 7 freeway (whenever it is built) in Guelph.

Something like this?
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Again, good for redundancy and will help relieve some congestion on the 401 between K-W and Mississauga.

The N/S section of the 407 could be renumbered something else.

That would also create a mess of flyovers at the 401/407/413 interchange. Lots-a-spaghetti.
-If the 413 is built, it could connect to it somewhere further north too, using the 413 for a small stretch between the two sections

I know this thread is for 407E, but if this was built we could call it 407W :p
 
that one isn't as insane as it generally aligns with the GTA west corridor that was initially studied a decade ago, but generally probably still not really necessary.

Generally widening existing corridors is a far better solution than building secondary corridors adjacent, in terms of better serving demand and in terms of minimizing environmental impacts.
 
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