Highways in Canada

[CanadianCentaur]

Originally Posted by Symz

But there's nothing but trees surrounding the highway in that picture! Are you some sort of bush man?!!

It's more like half bush, half farmland/ranchland along Hwy 666 once you get past a km or two west of Hwy 40, actually. I should know - I've been down there before. I took my first skiing lessons at a ski hill on the the south bank of the Wapiti River just off that highway and some friends of my dad own some land near that highway too.

That's Highway 40 in the picture in the Wikipedia article, not just Hwy 666 (only a very small part of Hwy 666 is shown in the bottom to the right of the river) crossing the Wapiti River immediately south of Grande Prairie. Unlike Hwy 666, there really *is* nothing but trees all the way down to Grande Cache and its coal mine a few km further north.

Highway 40 wasn't entirely paved all the way Grande Prairie to Grande Cache until as recently as around 1996, though they got started doing so in 1982. I know there are plans to twin a section of Highway 40 up to 10-15 km southwards from Grande Prairie.

[haljackey]

Recorded a timelapse winter drive on Highway 401 yesterday, from the 403 to the 402.

• Video Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw3Nq6R0raE&hd=1

Even though we're well into January, Southwest Ontario has very little snow, and what we do have is expected to melt over the next few days. It's the most pathetic winter I've ever experienced in all my life.

[vid]

I guess you didn't get this extreme cold snap that we've got out west then? It was the warmest January we'd had in years and now all of a sudden it is one of the coldest.

[Dwils01]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Recorded a timelapse winter drive on Highway 401 yesterday, from the 403 to the 402.

I was trying to look for my car but I didn't see it. I was driving from Sarnia to Hamilton yesterday and was on the 401 around 4:00pm. Maybe you recorded it at a different time.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Dwils01

I was trying to look for my car but I didn't see it. I was driving from Sarnia to Hamilton yesterday and was on the 401 around 4:00pm. Maybe you recorded it at a different time.

I drove this around 4:30 yesterday. Close, but no cigar.

This stretch has some rolling terrain and gentle curves, making it less boring than accident-prone "carnage alley" west of London.

It also has a concrete median which means none of that carnage could happen here anyway.

[FrAnKs]

very nice Haljackey ! ...those very long merge lanes in Ontario always amaze me !

I know how to post a picture, but not how to post a video with a direct view, could someone of you tell me how to do ? thanks.
Btw, it isnt a very tough winter here in Quebec city aswell, then we're supposed to get more snow than actually, even though we almost have over 40cm in the ground ( 1 meter in some places up north)

[sonysnob]

^ Nice camera work. It will be nice to see some videos when the world is colourfull again in the summer.

[ssiguy]

Great vid!
Have to say I hate all those damn medien barriers they have on all the Ontario freeways now.....they are so damn high that sometimes I felt like I was driving in a 200km tunnel.
Oxford county is quite hilly and has some lovely spots, it east of London where things really flatten out.

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Great vid!
Have to say I hate all those damn medien barriers they have on all the Ontario freeways now.....they are so damn high that sometimes I felt like I was driving in a 200km tunnel.

I don't mind the Ontario tall-walls. Every time I look over at them, I don't see an ugly concrete barrier, I see a potentially life-saving structure. Where a wide ditch is not possible, a concrete barrier has a much better chance of keeping errant transport trucks out of my lane than, oh, this thing does:



It might stop a motorcycle, but anything larger than a Ford Fiesta is going to crash through into the opposing lanes.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

very nice Haljackey ! ...those very long merge lanes in Ontario always amaze me !

I know how to post a picture, but not how to post a video with a direct view, could someone of you tell me how to do ? thanks.

I have yet to drive outside of Ontario, but I'm kind of scared due to the fact that I'm used to the long acceleration lanes on our freeways. Guess I just need to put my foot down and pray there's an opening for me lol.

To post a video on this forum, you need to hit the "post reply" button (you can't do it in quick reply) and click the Youtube icon. There you will enter the video codec between the brackets.
-So for this video you wouldn't enter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw3Nq6R0raE because that's the full link, just add Uw3Nq6R0raE and it will work.

Originally Posted by sonysnob

^ Nice camera work. It will be nice to see some videos when the world is colourfull again in the summer.

Actually I wanted to get some winter footage because it shows good contrast between the bright and colourful spring/summertime. I think autumn would be an awesome time to do timelapses in forested areas.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Great vid!
Have to say I hate all those damn medien barriers they have on all the Ontario freeways now.....they are so damn high that sometimes I felt like I was driving in a 200km tunnel.
Oxford county is quite hilly and has some lovely spots, it east of London where things really flatten out.

Actually I like the concrete medians. Not only do I feel much safer with them, but I think the 'tunnel' effect gives you the illusion you're going faster than you actually are.

Yeah I like the rolling hills and gentle curves in this stretch, one of the reasons I wanted to document it. It's much less boring than west of London (Carnage Alley) that's for sure, plus there's no median when you get past Highway 4.

[FrAnKs]

Thanks Haljackey, then I try it now with the A40 in QC. Between Montréal and Trois-Rivières.

• Video Link

Ok it works. This was made with my old camera. I bought a SONY HDR recently.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Wharn

Where a wide ditch is not possible, a concrete barrier has a much better chance of keeping errant transport trucks out of my lane than, oh, this thing does:



It might stop a motorcycle, but anything larger than a Ford Fiesta is going to crash through into the opposing lanes.

Dividing a highway with bollards? That's new. A motorcycle would probably just go between them. I can't imagine that time and money spent on installing something so stupid.

The concrete medians are necessary. I wish we had them up here. We just recently got an 12 inch wide painted line down the middle of our expressway.

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

Originally Posted by Wharn

here a wide ditch is not possible, a concrete barrier has a much better chance of keeping errant transport trucks out of my lane

Sometimes the tall walls are no match for transport trucks...

On Highway 401 near Guelph Line in Milton last winter.

• Video Link

[Blitz]

The concrete medians are life savers. So many accidents happen on Hwy 401 when a car crosses a grassy median and causes mayhem on the opposite side of the highway.

The only part of the highway from Windsor to Oshawa that doesn't have concrete medians is the stretch between Tilbury and London. Even though traffic volumes in that stretch are relatively low, the accident rate is higher.

Originally Posted by haljackey

I have yet to drive outside of Ontario, but I'm kind of scared due to the fact that I'm used to the long acceleration lanes on our freeways. Guess I just need to put my foot down and pray there's an opening for me lol.

It'll be a shock the first time you drive in Michigan (or most of the U.S. for that matter). The ramps in Metro Detroit basically dump you right onto the interstate and you better be ready for it!

[Symz]

Originally Posted by Wharn

I don't mind the Ontario tall-walls. Every time I look over at them, I don't see an ugly concrete barrier, I see a potentially life-saving structure. Where a wide ditch is not possible, a concrete barrier has a much better chance of keeping errant transport trucks out of my lane than, oh, this thing does:

Every time I look over at the Ontario tall walls I see dead raccoons, possums and whatever else tries to cross the road only to find that there's no way to cross for..., well, there's no way to cross. I understand they are much safer for us drivers, but I think they failed in terms of the wildlife.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by haljackey

I have yet to drive outside of Ontario, but I'm kind of scared due to the fact that I'm used to the long acceleration lanes on our freeways. Guess I just need to put my foot down and pray there's an opening for me lol.

If you want a hair raising driving experience just 2hrs down the 401 you could enjoy merging on one of E.C. Row's half a dozen or so dangerous on ramps!

Driving near Detroit is not much different than driving near Toronto, lots more cars and everyone goes damn near 50 over the speed limit.

Am I right about this in Toronto? Jeeze. Call it culture shock, or driving shock or whatever, but you'd figure with more cars and many more lanes, on-ramps and exits that traffic would be about the same, but instead everyone drives up there like it's the Autobahn, even with reduced lanes. It's about as crazy in Hamilton I found too.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by Duke-Of-Waterloo

Sometimes the tall walls are no match for transport trucks...

On Highway 401 near Guelph Line in Milton last winter.

• Video Link

Those are older "Tall-Walls" and are built a fair bit lower than what you see between Kitchener and London. Those were built in the 1970s-1980s. The newer ones I think are about 16" higher than those by Milton.

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

Those are older "Tall-Walls" and are built a fair bit lower than what you see between Kitchener and London. Those were built in the 1970s-1980s. The newer ones I think are about 16" higher than those by Milton.

This portion of Highway 401 by the Guelph Line actually has one of the newer Tall Walls, which I remember being constructed in the early 1990s when Highway 401 was widened from 4 to 6 lanes. The older tall wall you mention being lower than 16" begins just west of James Snow Parkway, seen here on Google Maps (note the change in height):

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=James+Snow+...JMcwht7oj2s0plLr8g&cbp=12,330.98,,0,5.32

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by Duke-Of-Waterloo

This portion of Highway 401 by the Guelph Line actually has one of the newer Tall Walls, which I remember being constructed in the early 1990s when Highway 401 was widened from 4 to 6 lanes. The older tall wall you mention being lower than 16" begins just west of James Snow Parkway, seen here on Google Maps (note the change in height):

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=James+Snow+...JMcwht7oj2s0plLr8g&cbp=12,330.98,,0,5.32

Yep you're right. Good job on the fact proving. My bad.

I must say, I'm shocked to say that. I was almost convinced the Ontario Tall-Wall was pretty much 100% efficient in ensuring vehicles weren't able to jump over it. Man, that video would freak me out big time.

[haljackey]

The concrete barriers still make me feel a lot safer.

In that video, the truck is hitting the barrier almost head-on, scary as hell, but super rare. If a truck is scraping the barrier or hitting it on an angle, it might hold.

Still, the barrier will slow down the momentum of vehicles that go through it, which is better than nothing!

Ya and those wire barriers just scare me. Even a guardrail would be better than that!