Highways in Canada

[eemy]

The 407 and 427 are concrete as I recall, and the MTO has experimented with it elsewhere too.

[catkat]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

The 407 and 427 are concrete as I recall, and the MTO has experimented with it elsewhere too.

Which parts of the 407? and the 427 isn't concrete in any places

[sonysnob]

Virtually all of the 407 is surfaced in concrete. From the 403 in Mississauga to Markham Road in Markham.

The 427 is slowly being surfaced in asphalt, but both the northbound and southbound collector lanes are still surfaced in concrete.

This is the 427 from 2005:


Ontario has had a long history with concrete highways. These photos were taken in 1989 from the Vintage King's Highway website, and are of the 401 through Scarborough, while it was still surfaced in concrete:




Other highways outside of the GTA are surfaced in concrete as well. This is the 115:


I do agree, however, that there is more concrete in Windsor than there is in the rest of the province.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by catkat

Windsor is very much like Detroit in that they both use concrete as road surfaces more than the GTA. I rarely see driveways poured with concrete in the GTA, its always ashphalt or brick, but down in Windsor concrete driveways are the norm. Ontario's small portions of concrete highways are also in close proximity to Michigan (Windsor and Sarnia)

Asphalt doesn't last long, probably because of the freeze and thaw cycle. It's common to get thos periodic heaves in the road, stress cracks and eventually pot holes. The longevity of concrete is worth it in my opinion. Most of the arterial roads in Windsor are now concrete and once the WE-Parkway is finished most, if not all the 401 in the area surrounding Windsor will be concrete.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Driving westward, take the I-80 until, say, Salt Lake City, and then the I-84 up to British Columbia?

Exactly. Western Nebraska, Wyoming, and alot of Utah is desert in some ways, so they don't get much snow, and you avoid the wrath of the Dakotas through there.

Hit Salt Lake City and then angle up NW through Idaho, Oregon and Washington, meeting I-90 at Ellensburg, WA. (about 2 hrs east of Seattle)

[vid]

I didn't get any photos, but I was up at the Hodder Avenue parclo today. The two offramps on the east side of Hooder are being used as access to the expressway (which is very dangerous as a hill is causing a blind spot) and the supports for the Hodder Avenue viaduct over the expressway are in place. The bridge will be installed in spring. Copenhagen Road has been straightened. The divided four-lane right of way is ready for a final paving before being put to use, but the highway is still two lanes right now. At the other end of the project, near Highway 527, the right of way is nearly complete but still closed to traffic.

After the bridge is constructed, Hooder Avenue will likely have no access to the expressway for a period of time as the ramps are completed. The project is ahead of schedule and the interchange will be complete next spring, instead of next fall.

Further east, the new twin bridges over the Mackenzie River are complete and the right of way is flattened, but the approaches to the bridges have not been constructed and the right away needs to be paved. This will open in about a year. It ends at

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

Exactly. Western Nebraska, Wyoming, and alot of Utah is desert in some ways, so they don't get much snow, and you avoid the wrath of the Dakotas through there.

Hit Salt Lake City and then angle up NW through Idaho, Oregon and Washington, meeting I-90 at Ellensburg, WA. (about 2 hrs east of Seattle)

Just looking at it on the map it doesn't seem too bad. I've driven the I80 through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Are the Dakotas really that bad to drive through? I'm sure in winter they're not that fun.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Just looking at it on the map it doesn't seem too bad. I've driven the I80 through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Are the Dakotas really that bad to drive through? I'm sure in winter they're not that fun.

I haven't done I-94 through North Dakota, but I've done I-90 through South Dakota. It's more north, it's flatter, and extremely bland. In some ways, South Dakota, Southern Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois all blend in together.

Along I-80, the topography of Nebraska quicklyy changes as you head further west, and Wyoming is just another world of its own.

I was talking from a geographic standpoint more than a weather standpoint. I found I-90 to be pretty dull from South Dakota east. I-80 is only dull from about Omaha east. Iowa, what a boring state to drive through....

[BretttheRiderFan]

Blah highways

Blast them all away, those damn dirty apes

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

I-80 is only dull from about Omaha east. Iowa, what a boring state to drive through....

I suppose you haven't had the pleasure of driving I-95 through Maine

[BretttheRiderFan]

While driving through the great state of North Dakota last year I think the most exciting thing I saw was a wind farm.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by toaster

I read somewhere once that 17 is being slowly upgraded to freeway as far North/West as North Bay and Sudbury (from 417s current terminus in Arnprior), but no specific timeline or anything was given.

Ont. Hwy. 17 between the last town in the Pembroke/Petawawa region (I think it is Rolphton or Chalk River) and Mattawa is very lightly-travelled. It probably has lower AADTs than many sections of the 17 in northern Ontario, and would likely be in the last segments to be twinned if ever the whole thing got twinned.

The Mattawa-North Bay and North Bay-Sudbury segments are quite busy, though. Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie is reasonably trafficked as well. The towards Nipigon traffic drops off again quite a bit.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

I suppose you haven't had the pleasure of driving I-95 through Maine

I haven't. I can imagine however what that must be like. Doesn't it have like 1500 AADT in some segments of it too (the lowest traffic volumes on an interstate anywhere in the USA)

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

I haven't. I can imagine however what that must be like. Doesn't it have like 1500 AADT in some segments of it too (the lowest traffic volumes on an interstate anywhere in the USA)

Yep. It's all trees for the entire length, and there are occasional gas stations. Driving through/around Portland isn't too bad, but there's literally nothing until the very south of the state. It's very similar to driving the TCH in New Brunswick between Fredericton & Moncton. The rest of the I-95 is pretty nice to drive and I would recommend it, although detours around New York/Washington/Boston/Philadelphia would be suggested to avoid major traffic issues.

In terms of Canadian Highway news, the Route 1 Gateway Project is still ongoing here in Southern New Brunswick, which is twinning the highway from Saint John to St. Stephen at the American border. This is a great (although costly) project, and my only problem with it is that is connects to an untwinned highway that runs along the Atlantic in Maine, which they have shown little interest in twinning at all. Still, it makes the drive to the border from Southern New Brunswick quite a bit easier.

edit note* the Maine highway I was referring to is Highway 9, which I thought was more south than it actually is.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Yep. It's all trees for the entire length, and there are occasional gas stations. Driving through/around Portland isn't too bad, but there's literally nothing until the very south of the state. It's very similar to driving the TCH in New Brunswick between Fredericton & Moncton. The rest of the I-95 is pretty nice to drive and I would recommend it, although detours around New York/Washington/Boston would be suggested to avoid major traffic issues.

In terms of Canadian Highway news, the Route 1 Gateway Project is still ongoing here in Southern New Brunswick, which is twinning the highway from Saint John to St. Stephen at the American border. This is a great (although costly) project, and my only problem with it is that is connects to an untwinned highway that runs along the Atlantic in Maine, which they have shown little interest in twinning at all. Still, it makes the drive to the border from Southern New Brunswick quite a bit easier.

Really, looking at population and traffic patterns alone, I-95 north of Bangor should not have been built, and instead ran along the ME-9 corridor (almost certainly all new alignment).

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Really, looking at population and traffic patterns alone, I-95 north of Bangor should not have been built, and instead ran along the ME-9 corridor (almost certainly all new alignment).

Completely agree. Why they twinned I-95 to Houlton/Woodstock is probably something that someone older than me could elaborate on.

[go_leafs_go02]

Never really checked out Maine, but man, you're right. It goes north up into nowhere-land, while the southern route would have connected right into Saint John and Moncton

[bulliver]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

While driving through the great state of North Dakota last year I think the most exciting thing I saw was a wind farm.

I've been there. Driving I90 through ND is painfully boring. Much worse than anything in the Canadian prairies.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Completely agree. Why they twinned I-95 to Houlton/Woodstock is probably something that someone older than me could elaborate on.

The US interstate highway system was at least partially built as a military project. The US Army was impressed all to H-E-double hockey sticks with the Autobahn system that the Nazis built in Germany and wanted something similar for the homeland. I think that the northern allignment for the I-95 in Maine makes some sense when viewed for the purposes of homeland defense. Also, don't forget that Loring AFB used to be up by Presque Ile and they used to fly nuclear armed B-52's out of there. The terminus of the I-95 at Houlton is not too far from Presque Ile.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by bulliver

I've been there. Driving I90 through ND is painfully boring. Much worse than anything in the Canadian prairies.

I-94 through North Dakota?

Or

I-90 through South Dakota?

It's one or the other...