Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

[darth_freeman]

Is the Major Mackenzie Drive Interchange built in a way so that Highway 427 can be extended north without removing any of the ramps?

From here.

I'm guessing the main ramp would have to be removed and traffic would use the normal offramp to access Major Mackenzie:

 

[Leo_Chan]

I'm guessing the main ramp would have to be removed and traffic would use the normal offramp to access Major Mackenzie:
View attachment 197443

So you’re saying they added the extra ramp just to help traffic flow and they could have just have done the same interchange that was at Highway 7 or 404/Green Lane before the Zenway and Woodbine extensions respectively?

 

[jamincan]

Random question: would a roundabout be able to safely and efficiently handle Toronto's 4-6 lane arterial traffic? If, for example, a 3 lane roundabout was to replace a major suburban intersection.

There are loads of two lane roundabouts and several three lane roundabouts in KW. They seem to function quite well, now, as people become more used to them.

 

[BurlOak]

I think a little north of there is more logical.

View attachment 197353

Putting a highway through farmland and a bit of forest still seems easier than tearing down a bunch of houses.
(At first I didn't think I could get a Bathurst interchange in, so I put Dufferin first. Agree that it would be the most superfluous - if Bathurst is feasible. I think you almost need an interchange at Yonge, which didn't exist in the above post.)

This also connects nicely with the 413 coming in from South of Bolton/Nobleton (which is actually more sensitive lands than the Oak Ridges area).

Here is 413 joining in - so extension around the King-Vaughan Townline make sense.
No is no planning for anything East of 404 (as far as I know) - but essentially this is the only possible East-West route connecting 400 and 404 until Highway 489 (Bradford Bypass).

 

[MisterF]

I really wish they would make the entire section between Toronto and Montreal 3 lane too. Gets quite packed with trucks on the 2 lane parts and then when one truck tries to overtake another and take 10 minutes doing so its a real pain.

You're talking about an extra 350 km of widening, which would cost billions. Such long sections of 3 lanes in each direction are really only found in significantly more densely populated areas AFAIK, like England or the US northeast corridor. Both areas also have better rail service and parallel freeways. Especially east of the 416, there's just no need for the 401 to be that wide.

Before even thinking about widening the 401 all the way to Montreal, we should be building a modern rail system and, if more road capacity is needed, we should widen Highway 7 between Peterborough and Carleton Place. That would take most of the Ottawa bound traffic from the 401 and add some redundancy to the highway system (just like the DRL going up to Don Mills would take a lot of traffic off Line 1). We put all our eggs in one basket way too often in Ontario.

 

[darth_freeman]

So you’re saying they added the extra ramp just to help traffic flow and they could have just have done the same interchange that was at Highway 7 or 404/Green Lane before the Zenway and Woodbine extensions respectively?

It should help smooth traffic flow in the meanwhile and also build both of the bridges over Major Mackenzie now that would be needed in the future to carry Hwy 427.

 

[yyzhyd]

So you’re saying they added the extra ramp just to help traffic flow and they could have just have done the same interchange that was at Highway 7 or 404/Green Lane before the Zenway and Woodbine extensions respectively?

There's a ton of transport truck traffic that needs to go west at the future 427 terminus (hopefully the CP Yard adds an entrance from Major Mac to Coronation) and folks heading to a rapidly expanding Bolton. Having that ramp will be a great benefit as it will reduce traffic bottlenecks that occur currently at Hwy 7 and Zenway respectively with heavy and slow moving trucks.

I am also really looking forward to a massive reduction in the number of accidents caused on Hwy 50 with transport trucks.

 

[Transportfan]

Sidewalks?

 

[lenaitch]

Sidewalks?

It looks like the camera is on the "Hwy 2" route (actually a regional road).

 

[Transportfan]

I know that, but an area like this hardly needs full sidewalks. Unless the area is slated to be developed.

 

[nfitz]

I know that, but an area like this hardly needs full sidewalks. Unless the area is slated to be developed.

There was already a sidewalk on one side, to the shopping plaza not far west of the construction zone (and on both sides to Courtice Road). There's houses all along Highway 2 ... and sidewalks already resume only 3.5 km further east at Boswell Drive.

It seems inconceivable that in the next 50 years or so that there wouldn't be sidewalks along here. Even now it's plausible that someone who lives just west of here, would walk along Highway 2, to the plaza ... easy enough before with the gravel shoulder.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I do believe the area is scheduled to be urbanized in the near future as well, at least on the west side of the highway.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Fairly standard article on how Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph is continuing to crawl along.. but an interesting quote from the Transportation Minister.

Ontario builds frustration along new Highway 7 route between Kitchener and Guelph

- Ontario is still spending money to launch a new Highway 7, despite delaying construction and putting the project under review with no published plan...

www.therecord.com

"The government will announce its highway expansion priorities later this year," a spokesperson for Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said in a statement.

This, combined with an earlier statement from Ford when they made their transit announcment has me scheming..

"That's just the transit side. We have some fabulous ideas for the QEW and the Gardiner, as well as the 401 because not every single person hops on the subways. But we're going to have an incredible transit system and a transportation system to get people moving and get people from Point A to Point B, but get goods from Point A to Point B," the premier said.

Premier Doug Ford to make $28.5-billion transit announcement Wednesday

The premier said the plan will be "the largest infrastructure project in transit in North America," adding the province also has "ideas for the QEW and the Gardiner" as well as Hwy. 401.

www.thespec.com

I somehow get the feeling that at some point this year the PCs are going to announce a huge spending package on provincial highways, potentially including uploading the Gardiner and DVP along with other municipal freeways..

 

[lenaitch]

I somehow get the feeling that at some point this year the PCs are going to announce a huge spending package on provincial highways, potentially including uploading the Gardiner and DVP along with other municipal freeways..

Possibly, but I honestly don't see the province picking up the Gardiner and DVP (what other municipal freeways are there in Toronto?). Freeways come with significant annual maintenance and management costs, such as plowing, policing, etc. and there is no farebox to help out.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Possibly, but I honestly don't see the province picking up the Gardiner and DVP (what other municipal freeways are there in Toronto?). Freeways come with significant annual maintenance and management costs, such as plowing, policing, etc. and there is no farebox to help out.

There are actually quite a few municipal freeways in the province:

Gardiner
DVP
Allen Road
Red Hill Valley Parkway (Hamilton)
Lincoln Alexander Parkway (Hamilton)
E.C. ROW Expressway (Windsor)
Highway 174 (ottawa)
Highway 420 in Niagara Falls is also partially a municipal road even though it is a sort of half-freeway, was once a provincial highway, and serves as the direct connection to a major international bridge.

Freeways that aren't elevated aren't exactly unbelievably expensive to maintain. For example I believe the DVP has a maintenance budget of $300 million for the next 30 years - that's only $10 million/year for a major artery, and one that is at end of life too and runs through a complicated urban environment. More "standard" highways like the Linc will probably have essentially negligible maintenance costs over the long term.

I could see Ford uploading the DVP and Gardiner so that he can institute a widening program - perhaps with leaving the elevated portion of the Gardiner in municipal control.