Toronto Lower Simcoe Ramp | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

Neutrino said:
So why can't Toronto do the same? Who cares if it's not cold enough? Salt is horrific. Plus we're digging so much with all the condos that we'll have enough sand for several millennia.
Click to expand...
The goal with salt is to melt snow and ice.......it works to a certain temp (have no desire to check what that is) but jurisdictions where it is regularly colder than that number don't bother trying to melt the stuff they put sand down which does not melt anything....it just improves traction on top of it.

If you have ever walked on a sidewalk in Regina in February you will know the difference.
 
drum118 said:
Nov 11
The last section of the path between Simcoe and Rees is almost ready to open. New markings At Simcoe.
44038862500_1491d997aa_b.jpg

45130943914_40a4da235f_b.jpg

44038863450_a75119621a_b.jpg
Click to expand...

If I remember right, GREEN means STOP...
 
Good lord the road design from Lower Simcoe to York is a mess. You've got cars coming off the Gardiner attempting to make the first left at York street, while the two Harbour lanes try to get around them merging right. The left lane is backed up with York street turning traffic, and the lane next to it, traffic trying to force their way into the turning lane.

This area seriously needs to be revisited. They should scrap the left turn at York street, at least until the PATH tunnel construction with lane reductions up on York between Lake Shore and Bremner is completed.

It's a mess watching EMS and Toronto Fire try and make their way through this section of Harbour.
 
I couldn't agree more; it is a mess. I live just around the corner.
I also wonder ... who are these traffic engineers that came up with the design?

You have traffic coming off the Gardiner trying to go into York Street & Scotia Arena (two left lane changes for them) and combine that with Lower Simcoe traffic traveling south and making a left into Harbour Street. It backs up the flow of traffic due to bad planning.

I also hope they revisit this design; it doesn't seem to work as is.
 
Is there anywhere that a Gardiner ramp actually works? Every single one is a clusterf*ck. The only solution is to get rid of the Gardiner. Until then, you will have a mess of traffic as every road in the core is filled with cars converging at the 7 ramps that serve the highway.
 
Jarvis Off Ramp works pretty well I would say.

The problem is that Lake Shore meets the Simcoe off ramp on the left, so off ramp traffic cuts over to turn left onto York. If Lake Shore had gone under the off ramp and met the traffic on the right, it would flow better.

The volume of left turns at York is also generally problematic, but that's why they had the loop off ramp originally.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Jarvis Off Ramp works pretty well I would say.

The problem is that Lake Shore meets the Simcoe off ramp on the left, so off ramp traffic cuts over to turn left onto York. If Lake Shore had gone under the off ramp and met the traffic on the right, it would flow better.

The volume of left turns at York is also generally problematic, but that's why they had the loop off ramp originally.
Click to expand...

The Jarvis Eastbound on-ramp works ok, but isn't that also the least used portion of the highway?

The off ramp and westbound on ramp are both terrible. The off ramp shares a lane with the Rees on-ramp, causing a mess on the highway itself. The on ramp is constantly backed up way down Jarvis, past King Street, and drivers usually bypass the line by going straight on Jarvis and then turning onto the on-ramp via the Lake Shore entrance instead.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The problem is that Lake Shore meets the Simcoe off ramp on the left, so off ramp traffic cuts over to turn left onto York. If Lake Shore had gone under the off ramp and met the traffic on the right, it would flow better.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily - how about left-turning traffic from the eastbound Lake Shore? They would have to make the same move as the traffic from the Gardiner in your design.

While I agree that the current design is not ideal in the least, I'm not convinced that any other design would have either fared better, nor had been been any more construct-able.

Dan
 
smallspy said:
Not necessarily - how about left-turning traffic from the eastbound Lake Shore? They would have to make the same move as the traffic from the Gardiner in your design.

While I agree that the current design is not ideal in the least, I'm not convinced that any other design would have either fared better, nor had been been any more construct-able.

Dan
Click to expand...
That volume is much lower, and you could easily ban it and force cars to go straight through York, while having them alternatively turn left onto Simcoe or Rees, right onto Bremner, and Left onto York.

Whether my idea is any more contructable, I concede I have no idea. Probably not.
 
Entire area is a huge clusterf*ck for people who travel through it, into it or live there. I live here, and it takes forever to get in and out of the building especially during game nights. There are several ways it could be improved. At the very least, they should expand traffic cops (currently they have a few in the area during peak hours). The cops could coordinate cars that block intersections and pedestrians that cross on red and otherwise blocking turning traffic. This area doesn't really work well for pedestrians or cars alike. The key problematic intersections are Lower Simcoe and Lake Shore (during games nights), Simcoe and Front St, Bremner and York and the worst is York and Lake Shore (esp the left turning traffic from Gardiner/Lake Shore). I am actually surprised that I haven't seen too many accidents here. In fact, I only saw about 3-4 accidents in the last couple years since the ramp has opened. There are a lot more accidents right on the Gardiner in front of my building. Maybe there are not as many accidents because the traffic is so slow all the time...

Regardless, the city really needs to re-think this area. It just doesn't work well.
 
Panontario said:
Entire area is a huge clusterf*ck for people who travel through it, into it or live there. I live here, and it takes forever to get in and out of the building especially during game nights. There are several ways it could be improved. At the very least, they should expand traffic cops (currently they have a few in the area during peak hours). The cops could coordinate cars that block intersections and pedestrians that cross on red and otherwise blocking turning traffic. This area doesn't really work well for pedestrians or cars alike. The key problematic intersections are Lower Simcoe and Lake Shore (during games nights), Simcoe and Front St, Bremner and York and the worst is York and Lake Shore (esp the left turning traffic from Gardiner/Lake Shore). I am actually surprised that I haven't seen too many accidents here. In fact, I only saw about 3-4 accidents in the last couple years since the ramp has opened. There are a lot more accidents right on the Gardiner in front of my building. Maybe there are not as many accidents because the traffic is so slow all the time...

Regardless, the city really needs to re-think this area. It just doesn't work well.
Click to expand...
Until there is full time traffic enforcement at York/Harbour, York/Brenner, Bay/Harbour, Bay/Lake Shore and etc, nothing is going to change for block intersections for both traffic and pedestrians. Pedestrians get screw 100% most of the time that they either can't cross on the light or have to walk out into traffic to get around to dumb drivers. Had to do that last night on my way to a meeting.

It's not only this area, but many areas in the city downtown area and other areas you see these block intersection. It's just not one area, but a city wide area and Toronto isn't the only city to see this issue.

Bay southbound lane is an HOV lane, yet full of through illegal traffic that TTC route 6 bus has a hard time getting down the street.

The Simcoe off ramp lanes should block off traffic trying to get to York Street and force the York folks to do around the block route.

Now, when is the Bay on ramp for Bay be remove and the new off ramp at Yonge get built to allow the removal of the Jarvis Ramp and rebuilding the road system for One York St Development??

There is a Public drop in meeting on Jan 16 for the new York Love Park and see the thread for the park.
 
Allandale25 said:
www.thestar.com

‘It’s like a rash you cannot get rid of’: What Toronto is doing about jammed Gardiner off-ramps

The city redesigned the Lower Simcoe Street off-ramp in 2010 but it’s still badly congested. Will AI help?
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
Click to expand...
Good article today, and a reminder why I avoid Lakeshore to Gardiner interchanges at all costs. To get onto the westbound Gardiner I'll drive north on the Bayview extension and then south on the DVP to the Gardiner. Same on the return trip, where I'll never try the Jarvis exit to Parliament St and instead go northbound on the DVP to Bayview Bloor. And don't get me started on how the ten traffic lights on the 2 km between the Lakeshore and my turn at Winchester and how they're all seemingly synchronized to cause 20 minutes of needless idling and gridlock. No matter how busy the DVP north is, it's always the least stressful option. I just turn on my favourite podcast, sip my coffee and chill.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top