Highways in Canada

[sonysnob]

MTO is looking to start the detailed design process for Highway 7-New between Kitchener/Waterloo and Guelph. Actual construction should begin in September 2016:

9. Description of Project:
This Total Project Management (TPM) assignment is required to complete additional work for the new Highway 7 from Kitchener to Guelph as well as the provision of Owner’s Engineer (OE) services. Part A of this assignment involves the completion of additional pre-engineering work. This work is required to update/advance work that was completed during the individual environmental assessment, and the initial phase of design. The work completed under this assignment will be utilized to design the scope of work for the delivery model(s) that will be used to complete the detailed design and complete the construction of the project. Part B of this assignment is for the provision of OE services for any phases of this project that are completed using the design-build delivery model. The OE will be a technical advisor providing technical, management and coordinator assistance as well as assisting the ministry with its contractual obligations as it relates to a design-build contract.


10. Assignment approximate start and completion dates:
Pre-contract engineering phase: April 2014 to December 2016
Construction administration phase: (tentative timing) September 2016 to December 2020

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by haljackey

On drugs

Looks like Robert Moses designed Ontario.

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

What peoples outside of Québec ( Ontarian, NBers and others ) think of Quebec's Autoroutes in general ? I would like to hear you about that from personal experiences.

I've only (personally) driven as far as Montreal. I found the concrete highways in the winter a bit ridiculous, because white salt on light concrete with white stripes at night made it almost impossible to see the stripes. The potholes bothered me until I moved to Edmonton and learned to be on the lookout for them.

[middeljohn]

Delete

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

I've only (personally) driven as far as Montreal. I found the concrete highways in the winter a bit ridiculous, because white salt on light concrete with white stripes at night made it almost impossible to see the stripes. The potholes bothered me until I moved to Edmonton and learned to be on the lookout for them.

Looking at the ground rather than ahead is pretty dangerous we all know that unfortunately...

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Looking at the ground rather than ahead is pretty dangerous we all know that unfortunately...

Yep, eventually I figured that out. Of course in Edmonton they barely clean the streets after it snows, so a similar situation happens.

Ontario has the best quality roads in Canada, but they throw so much salt in the winter that after five years the bottom of the car is all chewed up.

There's just no winning for Canadian drivers

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Yep, eventually I figured that out. Of course in Edmonton they barely clean the streets after it snows, so a similar situation happens.

Ontario has the best quality roads in Canada, but they throw so much salt in the winter that after five years the bottom of the car is all chewed up.

There's just no winning for Canadian drivers

I'm still waiting for Turk & Caicos

[1overcosc]

Ontario cities love their salt. It's everywhere. It keeps the roads clean (from my observations Ontario has better snow clearing than Quebec) but it does shorten the life of cars and especially the life of buses. Ontario cities all have very young bus fleets, it's very rare to find a transit bus in Ontario from the 20th century, whereas many other provinces have cities that continue to drive buses from the 1980s/1990s. You see this right here in the capital. All Ottawa buses are from 2004 or later whereas the Gatineau bus fleet is filled with buses from late 1980s & early 1990s.

[GreaterMontréal]

Montréal is the best the world in snow clearing-removal. $155M budget , the largest in the world.

we don't need to call the army. This is Canada, you have to be prepared.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Ontario cities love their salt. It's everywhere. It keeps the roads clean (from my observations Ontario has better snow clearing than Quebec) but it does shorten the life of cars and especially the life of buses. Ontario cities all have very young bus fleets, it's very rare to find a transit bus in Ontario from the 20th century, whereas many other provinces have cities that continue to drive buses from the 1980s/1990s. You see this right here in the capital. All Ottawa buses are from 2004 or later whereas the Gatineau bus fleet is filled with buses from late 1980s & early 1990s.

Toronto is full of buses from the 1990's.

[GreaterMontréal]

Autoroute Ville Marie - Montréal by VdlMrc, on Flickr

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Toronto is full of buses from the 1990's.

Toronto is the outlier. I suspect it's because of the TTC's financial mess (which, as other cities do not suffer it, is obviously not the province's fault as so many say it is).

I imagine even then they would still be late 1990s otherwise the TTC would be almost certainly be in violation of AODA (did they even make AODA-compliant buses in the early 1990s)? That's another thing that contributes to Ontario's relatively young fleets, the province's AODA standards which for the most part ban high-floor buses.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

Montréal is the best the world in snow clearing-removal. $155M budget , the largest in the world.

we don't need to call the army. This is Canada, you have to be prepared.

Montreal's pretty good but from my experiences it sucks elsewhere in La Belle Province. Especially the MTQ-owned roads. Crossing between Ottawa & Gatineau the day after a storm is a giant shock.

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Montreal's pretty good but from my experiences it sucks elsewhere in La Belle Province. Especially the MTQ-owned roads.

each small city has its own snow clearing-removal team. Small cities have less sidewalks, they don't remove the snow with a snowblower as often.

[le calmar]

Snow clearing in Sherbrooke can be terrible sometimes. It probably has to do with the low density of the city, extensive road network but low population which sometimes makes it hard to get a good service.

[Taeolas]

BrunWay just got their wrists slapped here in NB and told to smarten up for how badly they were maintaining hte highway between Nackawic and Quebec here in NB. Granted the storms we got in November were unexpected; but there was no real reason why the highway was barely 1-lane passable on their stretch, while the Fredericton stretch (cleared/maintained by a different company) was bone dry. Mom came down a day after a big storm, and she was stressed out over how bad the highway was until she got to Longs Creek.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

BrunWay just got their wrists slapped here in NB and told to smarten up for how badly they were maintaining hte highway between Nackawic and Quebec here in NB. Granted the storms we got in November were unexpected; but there was no real reason why the highway was barely 1-lane passable on their stretch, while the Fredericton stretch (cleared/maintained by a different company) was bone dry. Mom came down a day after a big storm, and she was stressed out over how bad the highway was until she got to Longs Creek.

It's always that way. That section should be tolled (as the Fredericton stretch once was until Lord got scraping for votes) so they can actually do a half-decent job maintaining it. Whenever I drive down to St. Stephen I can see the horrible conditions just ahead of me since I take the last exit before MRDC territory runs out. They should have arranged some sort of deal with MRDC to do the rest of it.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Toronto is the outlier. I suspect it's because of the TTC's financial mess (which, as other cities do not suffer it, is obviously not the province's fault as so many say it is).

I imagine even then they would still be late 1990s otherwise the TTC would be almost certainly be in violation of AODA (did they even make AODA-compliant buses in the early 1990s)? That's another thing that contributes to Ontario's relatively young fleets, the province's AODA standards which for the most part ban high-floor buses.

Toronto's oldest buses are from 1996 I believe, and yes they are AODA compliant. The main reason for the longevity of buses in Toronto is actually the standard of maintenance for the fleet. Buses are essentially rebuilt from the ground up near the end of their normal service life. Not many places do this, and I've heard that other transit systems are actually a bit envious of the capability. I'd imagine it takes a lot of time and effort in start-up to do this but once you have a system would save money in the long run. And their is greater certainty as the procurement process can be affected by political will.

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/12/30/ttc_rebuilds_its_fleet_one_bus_at_a_time.html

[1overcosc]

I imagine it's only worthwhile if you have a big enough fleet to begin with.

Ottawa seems to be doing this now, too. Many of Ottawa's 2003-2004 buses are now being rebuilt.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

I imagine it's only worthwhile if you have a big enough fleet to begin with.

Ottawa seems to be doing this now, too. Many of Ottawa's 2003-2004 buses are now being rebuilt.

Most cities did such for many years as well in the 1990s when money to purchase new equipment was scarce.