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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

Any news on building a freeway between KW and Guelph, or a freeway in western Brampton?
 
In the case of the Brampton highway, the studies plod on. Peel seems to be taking the lead on the project, so it wouldn't come up as part of general MTO highway planning.
 
vicente said:
Any news on building a freeway between KW and Guelph, or a freeway in western Brampton?
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The current provincial government doesn't have any concrete plans for a new Highway 7 between K-W and Guelph. They should just build a median in the existing road, put roundabouts at the two main intersections, and be done with it.
 
BurlOak said:
I looks like the KW to Guelph portion of Highway 7 is going ahead - unless there was something in the most recent budget (which has yet to pass) that cancels it. It also includes making Highway 6 (Hanlon) into a full freeway.
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I don't think it's been funded yet, and I heard funding for road projects was reduced in the budget. Going ahead, yes. Anytime soon ... probably not. MTO seems to think that KW-Guelph only get's one project at a time, and with the 8 widening to Sportsworld approaching completion, and the next project being the 7/8 widening west of 8, then 7 won't start soon.
 
The funding for Highway 7 has been pushed past the 2015 horizon for project funding. By the time the funding is annouced, we'd be due for another EA
 
I'm curious why The City of Toronto shuts down it's highways completely (Gardiner Expressway, DVP) several times a year for cleaning/maintenance. Does any other government do this? I've never heard of entire portions of the 401 being shut down. I never read well the 403 is closed this weekend for cleaning/maintenance. Is this a bit strange?
 
Part of the reason is that much of the DVP and most of the Metro-built Gardiner have little to no shoulders that can be used for road crews to assemble, they are not built to 400-series standards. My guess too is that full closure makes it easier and faster for the various crews (patching, sweeping, sealing, streetlighting) to get everything done at once.
 
ShonTron said:
Part of the reason is that much of the DVP and most of the Metro-built Gardiner have little to no shoulders that can be used for road crews to assemble, they are not built to 400-series standards. My guess too is that full closure makes it easier and faster for the various crews (patching, sweeping, sealing, streetlighting) to get everything done at once.
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I think that is the key....while it is true we don't see full weekend closures on the 400 series highways....we do see long, protracted, lane closures/re-allignments. Whereas (except for periodic major "rebuilds") we do not see that on the Gardiner and DVP....just two different approaches to ongoing upkeep.....each has its merits and issues.
 
With the formal announcement of the 407 East extension coming yesterday - meaning the contract has been issued and construction will start this summer - I decided to take a quick look at the route map on the 407 east project site:

http://www.highway407east.com/keyMap.html

This shows a partial interchange (in phase 1, with a deferred full exchange) on the 401 at Lakeridge, which is an absolute surprise to me. Area municipalities have been pushing for this but to my knowledge no commitment had been made to build it.

There is an argument that it should be built as part of the 407 west connector highway work, since that chunk of Lakeridge will be realigned anyway to accomodate the 401/connector interchange - but still, I was very surprised to see this on the map.

Can anyone confirm that this exchange is being built or is it simply an error on the map?

EDIT: Found the detailed maps on that site, and plate 12 shows the layout of the Lakeridge interchange. Seems more likely that it is being built but it would still be good to have confirmation.

http://www.highway407east.com/plate12.html
 
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The West Durham Link (Highway 412?) really should meet Highway 12 north of Brooklin, and be a free highway. Highway 12 is already a busy corridor towards places like Port Perry and Beaverton - it'd be the 410 of the east. I'm generally anti-sprawl and pro-transit, pro-rail and cycling, I see this more of an intercity highway than a sprawl-enabler.
 
ShonTron said:
The West Durham Link (Highway 412?) really should meet Highway 12 north of Brooklin, and be a free highway. Highway 12 is already a busy corridor towards places like Port Perry and Beaverton - it'd be the 410 of the east. I'm generally anti-sprawl and pro-transit, pro-rail and cycling, I see this more of an intercity highway than a sprawl-enabler.
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I agree with the connector being toll-free. I worry about its affect on Lakeridge if it's a toll road - Lakeridge is a very effective N/S corridor most of the time - not that busy, 80 km/h limit, no driveways/development to cause cars to slow down, and widely spaced traffic lights. I think there's a real risk that many will use Lakeridge as a free alternative to the connector - particularly given that Lakeridge will have a 407 interchange and looks like it will have a partial 401 interchange.

I can just see people saving a dollar or two overwhelming the capacity of Lakeridge during peak periods. (Yes, you could argue that the Hwy 7/407 situation in York is similar, but no one will argue that Hwy 7 is a fast drive, ever - while Lakeridge actually is).

EDIT: Oh, and as for the connector highway numbers: given the decision to make them toll highways, my bet is that they will be 407A and 407B so that the "407etr" branding stays consistent across that entire toll system.
 
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Tolling the two connector links is a bad idea in my mind. You're charging people just to access the toll highway? That's too greedy.

People will simply take surface roads instead to avoid the fees or just say screw it and use the 401. All that money and infrastructure wasted...
 
DavidH said:
EDIT: Oh, and as for the connector highway numbers: given the decision to make them toll highways, my bet is that they will be 407A and 407B so that the "407etr" branding stays consistent across that entire toll system.
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Is 407etr going to be involved with running the new highway though ... it's not quite the same consortium.
 
nfitz said:
Is 407etr going to be involved with running the new highway though ... it's not quite the same consortium.
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The media reports have been fairly clear that McGuinty stated that drivers will use the same transponders and will receive one bill. Whatever the internal arrangements are, I think the public face of it will be that the east extension, and the connectors, are simply part of the 407.
 
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