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Roads: Increase Ontario 400-series Highway Speed Limit

innsertnamehere said:
is it just the parts of the 407 not built by MTO that are an issue? the central portion is great to drive on, and is probably the highest standard road in the province. Its only the parts east of Markham road and west of the 403 that were built by Cintra and not MTO, right?
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The central portion was primarily built privately. When Ontario sold the highway, at most there were some bridge works started. Might be a function of who did the design I suppose ...

... however the big investigation, inquiry, and delay in opening was about the original central section not meeting standards - not the later extensions.
 
Duck said:
Where is the "Brockville Curve"? I've driven that section of 401 many times but I can't picture where you're talking about.
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Just west of where the 401 crosses Highway 2 at intersection 687. I'm surprised they didn't move the 401 further north from about kilometre 685 to 688 when they built the bypass of the original 401 along the now 1000 Islands Parkway.
 
Duck said:
I know that fuel consumption rises sharply with speed. Most people don't care about fuel consumption, though - but if they did, the world would be a much cleaner place, and we'd all have more money in our pockets, too.
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Highway driving is very fuel efficient because you are keeping a (relitively) constant speed. City driving, with all the accelerating is where your car is far more inefficient.

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I did a test to see how bad fuel consumption would be driving fast on the 401 between London and Kitchener. On my way there, I set my cruise control to 119 which seems to in the 85th percentile of drivers in this stretch. On the way back I did 100.

I consumed 0.4 litres more on the way there, which amounts to less than 50 cents more based on current fuel prices. Not really anything radical to worry about.

Keep in mind I drive a 2014 Chevorlet Cruze, which is small and quite fuel efficient. Larger or less efficient vehicles will likely see a higher cost difference compared to my test.
 
innsertnamehere said:
is it just the parts of the 407 not built by MTO that are an issue? the central portion is great to drive on, and is probably the highest standard road in the province. Its only the parts east of Markham road and west of the 403 that were built by Cintra and not MTO, right?
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The Central part was designed by MTO, but construction was barely started. Some of the MTO design was redesigned to save money.
 
innsertnamehere said:
http://www.407etr.com/about/background-information1.html

this says that the highway was open from the 403 to Markham road before the sale of the highway, and that only the sections between the 403 and QEW, and Markham road and Brock road was constructed after the sale.
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If my memory is correct, the first poriton was built under a Design-Build-Operate for 30 years. About 10 years in, the Harris government extended the lease to 99 years with the provision that the extensions be built. Technically, it is still owned by MTO.
 
Is there any actual discussion on raising the speed limits or is this just fantasy talk at this point?
 
ssiguy2 said:
Is there any actual discussion on raising the speed limits or is this just fantasy talk at this point?
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There are special interest groups lobbying the government to increase the speeds, most notably 'stop 100'

http://www.stop100.ca

I for one would support an increase, especially outside of urban areas on up-to-code sections of highway.
 
Haljackey said:
Highway driving is very fuel efficient because you are keeping a (relitively) constant speed. City driving, with all the accelerating is where your car is far more inefficient.

-----

I did a test to see how bad fuel consumption would be driving fast on the 401 between London and Kitchener. On my way there, I set my cruise control to 119 which seems to in the 85th percentile of drivers in this stretch. On the way back I did 100.

I consumed 0.4 litres more on the way there, which amounts to less than 50 cents more based on current fuel prices. Not really anything radical to worry about.

Keep in mind I drive a 2014 Chevorlet Cruze, which is small and quite fuel efficient. Larger or less efficient vehicles will likely see a higher cost difference compared to my test.
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However going to Kitchener to London is downhill, while the return trip is uphill. If you do the test in the same direction, I estimate a 10% fuel savings.
 
Electrify said:
However going to Kitchener to London is downhill, while the return trip is uphill. If you do the test in the same direction, I estimate a 10% fuel savings.
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There's not that much elevation difference between Kitchener and London! The Grand River at the 401 in Kitchener is about 274 m elevation. The elevation of the 401 on the west side of the river is about 279 m. The elevation of the 401 at Highbury Avenue in London is about 275 m. I'm not sure that a climb of 4 metres overall compared to a drop of 4 metres overall is going to make that 10% difference in gas consumption! Depending exactly where you stop and start, the destination in London might be higher than that in Kitchener!
 
nfitz said:
There's not that much elevation difference between Kitchener and London! The Grand River at the 401 in Kitchener is about 274 m elevation. The elevation of the 401 on the west side of the river is about 279 m. The elevation of the 401 at Highbury Avenue in London is about 275 m. I'm not sure that a climb of 4 metres overall compared to a drop of 4 metres overall is going to make that 10% difference in gas consumption! Depending exactly where you stop and start, the destination in London might be higher than that in Kitchener!
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Prevailing winds make a noticeable difference too. Driving west generally burns more gas than driving east. Flying west tends to take longer for the same reason. So haljackey's fuel savings from driving from Kitchener to London at a lower speed were probably cancelled out by the wind.
 
MisterF said:
Prevailing winds make a noticeable difference too. Driving west generally burns more gas than driving east. Flying west tends to take longer for the same reason. So haljackey's fuel savings from driving from Kitchener to London at a lower speed were probably cancelled out by the wind.
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I drive from Ottawa to Burlington and back every couple of weeks or so, and I've kept track of my mileage and gas consumption pretty well. I can say with confidence that a headwind makes a big difference. With a ~50 km/h headwind, I burn about 1 extra litre of gas per 100km. This is on the 401 by the way, travelling at about 118 km/h.
 
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