nfitz
Superstar
Widening to two lines was considered and dismissed in the EA if I recall.
Also, widening to two lanes doesn't eliminate signalized intersections.
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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion
- Thread starter Haljackey
- Start date
Also, widening to two lanes doesn't eliminate signalized intersections.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Anyone know when the Whites Road interchange on the 407 is expected to be open? It has to be soon..
steveintoronto
Superstar
Or the egregious sight-lines. It's a crap shoot even trying to cross it, let alone drive or cycle on it. It was always envisaged as being part and parcel with the Hwy 6 Hanlon Expressway project, still not finished itself.
https://www.570news.com/2017/07/15/mto-says-design-plans-underway-upgrade-highway-6-guelph/MTO says design plans are underway to upgrade Highway 6 in Guelph
by KKREUTZBERG
Posted Jul 15, 2017 8:20 am EST
Last Updated Jul 15, 2017 at 4:32 pm EST
Highway 6 in Guelph is getting a major facelift.
Traffic volumes on Highway 6 range from approximately 25,000 to 45,000 vehicles per day.
Now the province is working to increase safety, improve traffic flow and reduce congestion on the much used highway.
The Ministry of Transportation has started the next phase of design work to upgrade the Hanlon Expressway to a full freeway from Maltby Road northerly to the Speed River.
This project builds on the construction of the future Highway 6 Morriston Bypass, Highway 401 widening and improvements to the south end of the Hanlon Expressway.
The phase of design is anticipated to take two years to complete. The reason ” there is a lot of structural design work that has to be done, foundation design work that has to be done, identifying utility locations and where to relocate them, as well as the environmental work that has to be done,” said Roger Ward, Area Manager highway engineering, for West Region Ministry of Transportation.
Once the project is completed ” it will greatly reduce commute times and levels of congestion along the Hanlon,” said Ward.
The plan includes:
The construction of new interchanges at Kortright Road/Downey Road and at Stone Road like the one completed at Laird Road in 2013
Replacing the intersection at College Avenue with a bridge at Highway 6
A new municipal service road west of Highway 6 between Woodland Glen Drive and the new interchange at Stone Road.
More details about the construction will be released in local newspapers sometime this summer.
darth_freeman
Active Member
Even still, widening to two lanes (even if just within 500m of intersections) would do wonders for capacity.
The interchange to nowhere! (for now)
nfitz
Superstar
At the intersections only? Only if it removes a bottleneck from a turn, and from my experience driving that road, that's not the issue.
Whatever gain you get from having a shorter jammed up distance at the lights, you lose because the cars still have to merge into one lane.
Widening the whole thing would increase capacity - and probably accidents and deaths too.
The real solution is the expressway. If the Ford government is really delaying this, then it's more because Guelph, Kitchener, and Waterloo voted for the wrong party.
I suppose the rural area in between went blue. Though they aren't the ones commuting every day - personally I often used a road further north heading to Guelph, and that's even easier for those living west of the Grand (the blue). Heck, I suspect there's one or two businesses in the blue, that might be concerned about lost business with an expressway! Though do garden centres get much drive-by customers?
timio
Active Member
For a government who has shown decisions based on spite is not beneath them, I wouldn't be surprised if they're pulling this as some sort of penalty for voting elsewhere. Not that retribution has ever shown to work well for anyone... but facts and logic don't matter.
BurlOak
Senior Member
I think it's been delayed because of property acquisition delays. Don't think they officially announced it, but it has been know for over a year that it will be delayed.
steveintoronto
Superstar
darth_freeman
Active Member
You are wrong, widening to two lanes within proximity to intersections is proven to improve capacity for the straight through movements.
Do people actually believe this?
nfitz
Superstar
When crossing a major intersection sure. But it does squat when you have one very busy road with the majority of the signal time, and roads with much less traffic crossing.
But look at Highway 7. There aren't any major cross-streets in the one-lane section. The major cross-streets are all either in the existing part near Kitchener or Guelph that was widened - well at least before I first started driving it regularly around 1992.
Off hand, I can only recall two traffic lights in that section. The one at Shantz Station Road, and one closer to Guelph. Both already have plenty of turning lanes.
If 7 was still only one lane at old Highway 86 (Elmira Road) or at Breslau, I'd agree with you. But it isn't.
Not sure if people think the project is delayed or not - it's hard to tell if this is actually a delay, or just inertia and a failure figure out what will be funded.
Neutrino
Senior Member
Is it viable installing concrete curbs along the on and off lanes (as seen at 00:28 in the video above)? One often sees drivers merging in and out of traffic too early. Curbs would force traffic to merge much more predictably, lower the risk of collisions during merge maneuvers and manage weaving traffic more effectively.
lenaitch
Senior Member
I would imagine they would impair sight lines and complicate snow removal
Neutrino
Senior Member
They would only be six or so inches tall like the curbs on streets so sightlines wouldn't be a problem. Didn't consider the snow removal..
lenaitch
Senior Member
I don't think short curbs are appropriate for high speed highways from a safety standpoint. They would have to be pinned down and hitting them, even inadvertently, could send a vehicle spinning wildly out of control. I have heard that the police used to charge drivers for crossing into the 'bullnose' but JPs started throwing the charges out so they pretty much gave up. Not too sure of the details since it clearly not a marked lane and similar status to the paved shoulder.
