The 401

[Djeffery]

A couple photos from today at the Colonel Talbot (Hwy 4) construction in southwest London with the new overpass started and the new Glanworth Rd overpass to the east well underway.

[905er]

GTA Highways are a disgrace. I have never seen so much trash along the 410, 401 and 403 as I have the last handful of years. people are disgusting. I mostly do my driving around Brampton and Mississauga I don't recall it every looking as bad as it does now.. looks like people just dump shit on the side of the road.. needs a clean up bad... both trash and people.

[MolsonExport]

the highway verges have definitely been getting filthier over the past decade.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

A couple photos from today at the Colonel Talbot (Hwy 4) construction in southwest London with the new overpass started and the new Glanworth Rd overpass to the east well underway.

And that is getting rid of the second last cloverleaf interchange in Ontario? That is a really good thing. I think the only one left if it's considered to be a cloverleaf is the 401 and Hwy 62 interchange in Belleville. That is still one that has a very short entry lane that quickly becomes and exit for Hwy 62. It's a really strange interchange with an old overpass and I'm sure will be reconstructed and upgrade within the next 5-10 years. It's a busy shopping area with a fair amount of traffic.

[haljackey]

It might not just be the people- road maintenance budgets for this sorta thing may have also been cut in the Douggie years.

You can always adopt a highway perhaps, like Kramer did in Seinfeld. Imagine taking half of the lanes off the 401

• Video Link

[Innsertnamehere]

It's spring, roads and everywhere is always filthy every spring.

Give it a couple of months - the garbage crews will get out there and clean up, and plant growth covers a lot of it up as well.

[jammer139]

What is really sad is there are so many people who think its ok to toss their coffee cups and fast food packaging out the window of their vehicles as they drive or leave it in parking lots. Why?

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by 905er

GTA Highways are a disgrace. I have never seen so much trash along the 410, 401 and 403 as I have the last handful of years. people are disgusting. I mostly do my driving around Brampton and Mississauga I don't recall it every looking as bad as it does now.. looks like people just dump shit on the side of the road.. needs a clean up bad... both trash and people.

Yes, and you know what? The provincial government doesn't stoop to cleaning up trash. I would know. I wrote to the transportation minister years ago, and the response I received (at least I received one; small favours) was that the government does not clean up anything that isn't a hazard. I was gobsmacked.
"The Fixer", a Toronto Star columnist who tries to solve problems around the city, got the same reply a year or two ago (or longer). The DoFos don't care about aesthetics. I have also written to the city about the same matter, twice, and received no reply either time. When David Miller was mayor, I occasionally emailed his office about problems that needed addressing, and one of his assistants always replied. Don't these politicians want citizens who are invested in and care about the community, the city, or perhaps we should all just drive/cycle/walk past deficiencies and ignore them?

It makes me livid that people litter, but not much can be done about it other than to clean it up. One can try to instill in these swine that what they are doing is damaging their surroundings, but I doubt many care.

[905er]

^^. well that's disappointing. Funny thing is I don't recall it ever looking so bad pre pandemic. I wonder what's changed. People are truly disgusting... and it's shameful that in a country like Canada, this is what we have to see driving in and out of major cities in Ontario. I can honestly say, I've seen cleaner highways in some third world countries I've visited. shame on the city and province.. we pay taxes... clean up!

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by 905er

I've seen cleaner highways in some third world countries I've visited. shame on the city and province.. we pay taxes... clean up!

Here you may get a fine for getting caught littering. In other countries it could be jail time. Maybe we need to up the ante?

[Marshsparrow]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Here you may get a fine for getting caught littering. In other countries it could be jail time. Maybe we need to up the ante?

Add cigarette butts to that list of trash... most entitled folks on the planet - here let me kill myself and throw it out the window...

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by 905er

^^. well that's disappointing. Funny thing is I don't recall it ever looking so bad pre pandemic. I wonder what's changed. People are truly disgusting... and it's shameful that in a country like Canada, this is what we have to see driving in and out of major cities in Ontario. I can honestly say, I've seen cleaner highways in some third world countries I've visited.

It may have gotten more widespread since the pandemic, along with generalized bad and obnoxious behaviour, but I have noticed the worsening litter, especially along the highways as you mentioned, for at least a couple of decades. More than 20 years ago, I took a few trash bags and a pair of gloves, and cleaned up the litter at the exit where I live (Avenue Rd./401). Needless to say, my toil was for naught. Nowadays, it could pass for a landfill site most of the time, and the same goes for most exits. I suspect the lowlifes among us stand in traffic with their morning cups of coffee, and then toss them out the window, like so, when no longer needed. Of course, the annual grass-cutting by the MTO only manages to make things worse by pulverizing the litter.

shame on the city and province.. we pay taxes... clean up!

I wish there were something we could do about it. One feels helpless.

[haljackey]

Vid about the 401 from an American's perspective

• Video Link

TLDW: He suggests swapping tolls between the 401 and 407, but that would involve beefing up capacity on the 407 to handle more traffic.

[sonysnob]

Two views looking west along Highway 401 from the Townline Road overpass in Cambridge:


http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_286_west_w_Apr25_42x28.jpg


http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_286_west_t_Apr25_42x28.jpg

When first designed, a fourth eastbound lane was originally intended to extend east through the Townline Road interchange and terminate just north of Little Lake about 1km east of the Townline Road bridge. When they completed the widening however, the MTO elected to leave that fourth lane closed -- the fourth lane exits at Townline Road -- and we are left with the extra wide eastbound shoulder we see in these photos.

[MolsonExport]

Tolls on the 401? Absolute crazy shit. People would freak out, quite rightly.

The reason why the 401 is the busiest highway in North America is partly because the 407 is so goddamned expensive (despite it being a detour for cross-traffic). Essentially you've got one highway clear across the fourth largest metro in Canada/USA. The population has exploded. The metro, with its many commercial, industrial and corporate nodes, is incredibly decentralized. The rapid/mass transit infrastructure still primarily converges on downtown (thus, north/south) with few rapid across town (east/west) options. Finally, the 401 does double (triple?) duty as a thru-road for truck traffic and those travelling from southwestern Ontario to points east.

[sonysnob]

Views looking both west and east from the Brimley Road overpass in Scarborough:


https://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_380_west_WB_Apr25_42x28.jpg


https://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_380_east_c_Apr25_42x28.jpg

[MolsonExport]

clear sailing...

[sonysnob]

View looking easterly from Dillon Road southwest of Chatham along the 401:

https://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_77_east_EB_t_May25_42x28.jpg

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

View looking easterly from Dillon Road southwest of Chatham along the 401:

See any cops? Chatham is notoriously bad for OPP, especially where that power corridor runs parallel.

Any updates to the 401 widening in Chatham? It just randomly ends now east of Tilbury and there hasn't been any work since the first phase completed which seems like a few years ago now?

I would have assumed once one segment was completed, they'd just move on to the next. I guess not so.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by haljackey

See any cops? Chatham is notoriously bad for OPP, especially where that power corridor runs parallel.

Any updates to the 401 widening in Chatham? It just randomly ends now east of Tilbury and there hasn't been any work since the first phase completed which seems like a few years ago now?

I would have assumed once one segment was completed, they'd just move on to the next. I guess not so.

The next phase is going to be on the London end, extending 6-lanes down about 20kms to Union Road. It's waiting for the Highway 4 work to approach completion before starting, IIRC.

Ultimately the 6-laning of the 401 between London and Tilbury isn't really needed from a capacity standpoint and is more politically driven, so I'm not particularly upset by it's slow moving.