Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

[Dan416]

I like their plan for fixing up the arterial road network.

 

[vicente]

They need to convert the Hanlon Exp. to a full freeway, and make it continue on as Hwy. 7 and connect to the Conestoga Parkway in K-W. They need to extend that highway to Stratford. Also a freeway connecting Cambridge to Hamilton directly or via Brantford would be nice. Also extend the 400 to Sudbury (which is in the plans anyway). They should complete the gap in the freeway to Peterborough. Finally, it's time for there to be a ring road around London, ON and a freeway linking the 416 to the 417 in the south of Ottawa.

But the Number 1 (!!!) priority IMO is to extend the 401 to Michigan. It's ridiculous that trucks need to rumble by neighborhoods, 14 traffic lights, and a railroad crossing on their way to the most heavily used border crossing in Canada.

 

[ShonTron]

Highway 69 twinning is underway now between Estaire and the French River (!). The section south past Highway 637 to Killarney is well underway. The 400 extension north to past Nobel and the cut-off to Killbear Park (559) is also almost complete.

Between the French River and Nobel, there is only one point where the speed limit drops, and that is in Pointe au Baril Station. I'm not convinced any more work would ever be needed. Highway 11 at least has many settlements and local traffic where the full twinning has more justification.

I'm not in favour of suburban freeway expansion, but certainly open to rural and intercity freeway extension. I certainly think Highway 17 should continue to be upgraded, the 417 extension as far as Pembroke/Petawawa/Deep River could be justified, as could North Bay to Sault Ste. Marie. Highway 7's freeway section should go from 115 to past Highway 28 east of Peterborough, and Carleton Place to Perth could easily be twinned.

I'd like to see more simple dual carriageways with at-grade intersections, interchanges where necessary, common in the US (see US 61/State 27 through Missouri and Iowa as a great example). In Ontario, we go big (full freeway) or not at all. Examples where simple twinning makes sense:

- Finish 4-laning 7/8 from New Hamburg to Stratford
- Highway 17
- Parts of Highway 7 east
- Highway 24 from Brantford to Simcoe
- Highway 6 from Hamilton to Hagersville
- Highway 10 from Orangeville to at least Dundalk (Hwy 10 has no passing lanes north of Shelburne, and is too busy)
- Highway 26 Barrie to Collingwood (including a Barrie bypass)
- Highway 7 from K-W to Guelph.

The only new full freeway I think is necessary is a 424 or equivalent (and if a Mid-Pen is built, it should go straight across to K-W/Guelph, and not build another cut in the Escarpment to feed Toronto). The 404 should simply feed into Highway 48 better. The 427 extension makes some sense because of the truck backups at Highway 7, but only a limited distance, to say Rutherford Road/Castlemore Road (or at most, Mayfield/Nashville) to meet the CP Intermodal Yard and get closer to Bolton and distribute the truck traffic better.

 

[Haljackey]

...Finally, it's time for there to be a ring road around London, ON

...I'd like to see more simple dual carriageways with at-grade intersections, interchanges where necessary, common in the US (see US 61/State 27 through Missouri and Iowa as a great example). In Ontario, we go big (full freeway) or not at all. Examples where simple twinning makes sense:

Ever driven on the Veteran's Memorial Parkway (VMP) in London? Its an "expressway" that has intersections instead of interchanges. It was a 2 lane road from the 1960s until most of it was twinned in 2006.

If a ring road ever gets built around London, the VMP would mark the eastern edge, an extened 403 will make up the north section, and a new freeway is needed to make the west segment. The 401 and 402 would be the southern part.

The only highway we have now is the 4 which just takes over city streets to designate it as highway 4.


I've always found it odd that Highway 4 is in London and Highway 404 is in the GTA. Aren't the numbers of the 400-Series supposed to reflect the highway nearby? (Ie 402, 403, 406, 407, (408 if built), 409?, 410, 416, 417, 427 all have numbers to reflect the nearby highway.)

 

[Dan416]

Ever driven on the Veteran's Memorial Parkway (VMP) in London? Its an "expressway" that has intersections instead of interchanges. It was a 2 lane road from the 1960s until most of it was twinned in 2006.

If a ring road ever gets built around London, the VMP would mark the eastern edge, an extened 403 will make up the north section, and a new freeway is needed to make the west segment. The 401 and 402 would be the southern part.

The only highway we have now is the 4 which just takes over city streets to designate it as highway 4.


I've always found it odd that Highway 4 is in London and Highway 404 is in the GTA. Aren't the numbers of the 400-Series supposed to reflect the highway nearby? (Ie 402, 403, 406, 407, (408 if built), 409?, 410, 416, 417, 427 all have numbers to reflect the nearby highway.)

That only came later. Initially they were just numbered starting from 0, IIRC (400, 401, 402, 403, 404).

 

[waterloowarrior]

posted this on SSP.... I really think they should be considering the 2+1 style road like Sweden has for some of the more remote sections in Ontario. 2 lanes plus 1 lane that alternates every few KM, cable barrier, some interchanges, some at-grade/RIRO... it`s led to motorway level safety but with much cheaper costs (as it is basically using existing corridors/roadways).

streetview example

MisterF also made a good point in response to a comment that this configuration was substandard

But I don't think it's substandard. Most European highways would be substandard if you compare to our highways, but maybe we should look at it another way - it's not their highways that are substandard, it's our highways that are overbuilt. Think of how much money we'd save if we built like the Italians do:

Italian autostrade vs. Canadian freeway

The Canadian one is probably triple the width. And the fact that we build to the same standard through the Canadian Shield makes our highways way more expensive than they need to be. There are some ridiculously wide rock cuts in Ontario.

 

[Haljackey]

That only came later. Initially they were just numbered starting from 0, IIRC (400, 401, 402, 403, 404).

Ah, gotcha. That makes sense to me.

posted this on SSP.... I really think they should be considering the 2+1 style road like Sweden has for some of the more remote sections in Ontario. 2 lanes plus 1 lane that alternates every few KM, cable barrier, some interchanges, some at-grade/RIRO... it`s led to motorway level safety but with much cheaper costs (as it is basically using existing corridors/roadways).

Actually Highway 17 in the Canadian Shield has a lot of 2+1 sections to allow for safer passing. There may not be a median in the middle, but this setup allows you to pass without moving into the opposite direction of travel. These also work well as climbing lanes in the more ruggid/mountainous regions.

The BC 99 (Sea to Sky Highway) is the only highway in Canada that I can think of that has a 2+1 setup with a median in the middle, and that was only upgraded recently in preparation for the Olympic Games.

EDIT: I remember on another forum someone made a video of the upgraded section of the BC 99. You can watch it here if you want to.

 

[waterloowarrior]

The median barrier is the key part.... allows higher speeds, eliminates unsafe passing into oncoming traffic, and reduces deadly head on collisions. I would much rather have something like that than a Super-2.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

For many of these projects, the real choice is not between a highway and no highway, it's between seriously upgraded arterial/concession roads and seriously upgraded arterial/concession roads as well as a highway. The 404 extension, for instance, is not absolutely necessary, and since it'd run through areas already targeted for moderate growth that do require some road upgrades, it might make more sense and serve local traffic better if we skipped the 404 extension and just upgraded a few concessions. We could always extend the 404 to just Mount Albert & Woodbine, and then beef up Mount Albert, Hwy 48, and Woodbine/Baseline (possibly bypassing Sutton, though that could kill downtown Sutton). But is that cheaper or better than a 404 extension to or beyond Ravenshoe? If it's extended all the way to Hwy 48, we'll end up upgrading every road that feeds it, anyway. So much of the traffic in northern York Region is already commuters and cottagers heading back and forth that the actual traffic volumes will not skyrocket if sprawl is limited to reasonable amounts. Places like Queensville and Georgina are only slated to grow by a few tens of thousands of people each, and if 4 lanes on roads like Woodbine and 48 are enough to handle this large percentage but not large absolute increase - and they would be - we can skip the highway.

The same is true for many other parts of Ontario. Actual highways might be needed where there aren't good reasons to widen parallel concessions (seems true the farther north of Simcoe/Huronia you get), or where regional connections of consequence are desirable (like in the 6/8 corridor from Hamilton to Guelph/Cambridge). There's really nothing NE of Georgina that isn't better served via the 115 or Hwy 11.

If we were serious about trashing the greenbelt, we could extend the 404 to both Orillia and Lindsay/Peterborough via two branches, and then build the Bradford Bypass from the 404 over to Orangeville and then down to Guelph. Woodbridge would relocate to Bond Head.

 

[Haljackey]

Highway Widenings

Here are some widenings to consider

What I mean by these:
-Short term- needs to happen now/very soon
-Mid term- needs to happen soon
-Long term- needs to happen eventually
-Collector/express system- minimum 12 lane cross-section with 4 carriageways

Projects go from west to east, or south to north.


400
- Minimum 8 lanes with HOV lanes from the 401 to the edge of the Golden Horseshoe (long term)

401
- 4-6 lanes from future junction of Windsor-Essex Parkway (new boarder crossing route) to Windsor city limits (short term)
- 4-6 lanes from Windsor to London (long term)
- 4-6 lanes from Highway 4 to Highway 402 (short term)
- 6-8 lanes from Highway 402 to Highway 403 (mid term)
- 6-8 lanes from Highway 8 to Highway 407 with HOV lanes (mid term)
- 6-10 lanes from Highway 407 to Mississauga Road (mid term)
- Collector/express system from Mississauga Road to Highway 410 (short to mid term)
- Various lane additions/reconfigurations throughout Toronto and possibly HOV lanes (short to long term)
- Collector/express system from Brock Road to Whitby, narrowing to 10 lanes in Oshawa and narrowing to 8 lanes at Oshawa city limits and possibly HOV lanes (mid to long term)
- 6-8 lanes from Oshawa to Highway 115 (mid term)
- 4-6 lanes from Toronto Road to Highway 416 (mid to long term)

402
- 4-6 lanes from Bluewater Bridge to Sarnia city Limits (mid term)
- 4-6 lanes from Longwoods Road to Highway 401 (long term)

403
- 4-6 lanes from Highway 6 to Highway 407/QEW (mid term)
- HOV lanes extension from Highway 407 to QEW (long term)

404
- HOV lanes extension from Highway 407 to Aurora or Newmarket (mid term)

405
- No widenings needed

406
- 2-4 lanes from Canboro Road to Highway 27/Main Street (long term)

407
- Eventual widening to 8 lanes from Highway 403 to Highway 401 (long term)
- Eventual widening to 10 lanes and possibly HOV lanes from Highway 401 to Highway 404 (long term)
- Eventual widening to 8 lanes from Highway 404 to Brock Road (long term)

409
- No widenings needed

410
- 7-10 lanes from Highway 401 to Highway 407. HOV lanes from Highway 403 should be extended to the 410 past the 407 (mid term).
- 4-6 lanes from Bovaird Drive to Highway 10 (long term)

416
- 4-6 lanes from Highway 417 to Ottawa City Limits (mid term)

417
- 4-6 lanes from Highway 7 to Highway 416 (short term)
- 6-8 lanes with HOV lanes from Highway 416 to Highway 174 (short term)
- 4-6 lanes from Highway 174 to Quebec Boarder (long term)

420
- No widenings needed

427
- Various lane additions/reconfigurations and add HOV lanes from QEW/Gardiner Expressway to Highway 401 (short to long term)
- Add/convert HOV lanes between Highway 401 and 407 (mid term)

QEW
- 6-8 Lanes with HOV lanes from Highway 427/Gardiner Expressway to Highway 403/407 (long term)
- 6-8 lanes with HOV lanes between Highway 403/407 and Highway 406 (short term)
- 4-6 lanes possibly with HOV lanes from Highway 406 to Garden City Skyway (short to mid term)
- 4-6 lanes from Highway 405 to Peace Bridge (mid to long term)


Other Routes (in alphabetical order)
- Conestoga Parkway: 8 lanes in K/W area possibly with HOV lanes (mid to long term)
- Don Valley Parkway: add/convert HOV lanes between Gardiner Expressway and Highway 401 (mid term)
- E. C. Row Expressway: 2-4 lanes from Howard Avenue to Dominion Boulevard (short term)
- Gardiner Expressway: Add/convert HOV lanes from QEW to Don Valley Parkway (mid term)
- Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway: 4-6 lanes from Highway 403 to Red Hill Valley Parkway (long term)
- Veteran's Memorial Parkway: 2-4 lanes from Oxford Street to Huron Street (short term)


These do not include/factor in future routes or extensions. When these go in, road widenings will occur accordingly.

 

[Chuck]

The focus of road expansion in the GTA should be eliminating bottlenecks and dead ends, not the construction of brand new highways. Adding a third lane to the southbound DVP over the 401 comes to mind. Adjusting lane configurations would go a long way at places such as Avenue/Davisville, and in the Dupont/Davenport and Black Creek/Weston areas. Traffic could be relieved from arterial roads by building more connections across barriers such as the 401 and various rail lines.

Most of these projects involve nothing more than repainting lane stripes and building 100m road segments across gaps. Anything larger should be built only after transit has been given a chance.

 

[Haljackey]

The focus of road expansion in the GTA should be eliminating bottlenecks and dead ends, not the construction of brand new highways. Adding a third lane to the southbound DVP over the 401 comes to mind. Adjusting lane configurations would go a long way at places such as Avenue/Davisville, and in the Dupont/Davenport and Black Creek/Weston areas. Traffic could be relieved from arterial roads by building more connections across barriers such as the 401 and various rail lines.

Most of these projects involve nothing more than repainting lane stripes and building 100m road segments across gaps. Anything larger should be built only after transit has been given a chance.

I agree, whatever helps is fine with me.

Outside the GTA however, new highways/highway expansions would help. Take a connection from Kitchener to Brantford or Hamilton for example. Traffic volumes have warranted a freeway construction and several EAs have been done for a link.

It seems like planning/constructing new freeways in Ontario is just like the high-speed rail studies. Lots of talk, little action.

 

[Haljackey]

Here's a map I found of planned/proposed extensions of the 400-series Highways and possible new routes.

Not sure if they're all needed, but some make sense like the 401 extension in Windsor and the new route between the K/W region and the GTA.

 

[kEiThZ]

What's the one near Ottawa in red? Are they planning a Ottawa bypass?

 

[GregWTravels]

Probably the Ottawa Bypass Corridor, mentioned on the MTO site here and in this PDF.

I can't find any more details than that.