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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

Neutrino said:
I was initially annoyed that the city did such a half assed job plowing and salting the roads this weekend, but the mounds of snow turned into impromptu traffic calming measures and it was fun to observe.
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Many private contracts for plowing have an end date of March 31. So the operators can take off the plow, do spring maintenance and have them ready for the construction/landscaping season (mid to late April start date). Saves a tonne of money as they can use the vehicle year-round.

Which of course lowers the cost of both plowing and the summer activities.
 
amnesiajune said:
Naming streets after Norman Bethune in the Cantonese part of Markham and Richmond Hill... Bold move :eek:
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Bethune died helping Communist Chinese forces fighting the Japanese invaders: Bethune is a hero of the Mainland Chinese (and the anti-facisists in the Spanish Civil War), but he’s not really an antihero of the Nationalist Chinese. And Markham’s immigrant population is increasingly from Mainland China.
 
Transportfan said:
Should have just used the last name. Sounds better. I don't know why streets named after people are always named with the full name nowadays.
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Roads used to be named with the surname of a person. Not sure when the trend of using full name got started.
 
Is it a pipe dream that the 401 would ever have tolls?
 
Neutrino said:
Is it a pipe dream that the 401 would ever have tolls?
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And what - other than being tantalizing to a group of transit nerds - spurring endless hours of discusssion - would this accomplish that would make Ontario a richer, more prosperous place for its 15 million residents?

What positive public policy goal are you attempting to achieve?

Any one of us can choose ‘emmerdeur’ from the French ‘merde’. Or shit-disturber.
 
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The positive public policy goal is reducing congestion. It's a genuine question and I am genuinely curious about this topic. I imagine it would make congestion much worse on the parallel arterial roads. Maybe both the 401 and 407 could eventually be tolled at a lower level than the 407 is currently, balancing traffic between the two of them. Obviously, the private operator will not lower rates and the lease will be around for donkey's years anyway, which is why I wrote "pipe dream" in the first place.
 
Has anyone seen a sidewalk plow during the weekend? Seen one today, Wednesday.

From link.

Why Sweden Clears Snow-Covered Walkways Before Roads

In Swedish cities, the approach to snow removal used to be pretty similar to the way it is in the United States.

First cities would plow major highways. Then they would plow big surface streets, especially near large employers. Last, they would clear walkways and bike paths.

But after analyzing government services through a process known as “gender-balanced budgeting,” many Swedish cities, including Stockholm, prioritize snow clearance very differently. They now clear walkways and bike paths first, especially those near bus stops and primary schools. Next, they clear local roads, and then, finally, highways...
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...Not only was the impact of snow clearance priorities discriminatory, there were negative consequences for society as a whole. Three times as many people are injured while walking in icy conditions in Sweden than while driving. And the cost of those injuries far exceeds the cost of snow clearance.

So the order was reversed. Municipalities faced no additional cost for clearing pedestrian paths first. And it reduced injuries, in addition to being objectively fairer...
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Neutrino said:
Is it a pipe dream that the 401 would ever have tolls?
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My preference would be to toll the express lanes, but leave the collector lanes free. That way, nobody is "forced" to pay a toll, you can just choose to do so if you wish in order to bypass some congestion.

The biggest physical hickup to this is the section of the 401 between the 427 and 409, where everything is lumped together.
 
gweed123 said:
My preference would be to toll the express lanes, but leave the collector lanes free. That way, nobody is "forced" to pay a toll, you can just choose to do so if you wish in order to bypass some congestion.

The biggest physical hickup to this is the section of the 401 between the 427 and 409, where everything is lumped together.
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409 extension and 409/401 interchange west of Dixie when?
 
Leo_Chan said:
409 extension and 409/401 interchange west of Dixie when?
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No, just a rebuild of the 401 between those two points in an express-collector configuration, like the rest of the 401. It would likely require a reconstruction of the 401-427 interchange though.
 
gweed123 said:
My preference would be to toll the express lanes, but leave the collector lanes free. That way, nobody is "forced" to pay a toll, you can just choose to do so if you wish in order to bypass some congestion.

The biggest physical hickup to this is the section of the 401 between the 427 and 409, where everything is lumped together.
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Anyone coming from the east (Ottawa, Kingston, Montreal, etc.) heading west (London, Windsor, Niagara, much of the US) or vice versa needs to pass through Toronto. The 401 is one of the few area highways that would be inappropriate to toll, in my view, given it's provincial / regional role. If it were to be tolled, I would toll the collectors (hitting local traffic) and not the express (through traffic), rather than the other way around.
 
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