Highways in Canada

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Prior to the early 2000s, I understand that all of Alberta's "secondary" highway network was owned and maintained by the municipalities, but the numbering was administered provincially

Something like this could be done in Ontario without too much trouble, all it would take is some leadership from the province. Right now we're stuck with an incoherent mess.

[vid]

I don't see how secondary highways could be given a logical numbering scheme. They all loop around randomly in the north, things don't follow grids up here, they follow the terrain. They best they could do is probably assign a number range to the region, which we kind of already have (most secondary highways around Thunder Bay range from 585 to 597, with a few exceptions) but it's not any easier to follow than if the highways were given random numbers.

All those roads in Southern Ontario do have concession numbers even if they're named (the roads in Thunder Bay are the same), they could just co-sign those, but then the numbers change with every township so it might still be confusing. And if you start with 0 on one side of the province and work your way up you'll probably be into the 10000s by the time you hit Rockford.

[eemy]

Originally Posted by vid

All those roads in Southern Ontario do have concession numbers even if they're named (the roads in Thunder Bay are the same), they could just co-sign those, but then the numbers change with every township so it might still be confusing. And if you start with 0 on one side of the province and work your way up you'll probably be into the 10000s by the time you hit Rockford.

Incidentally, the a concession is actually a row of surveyed lots; the road run alongside it was often named after the concession, although not always (the various Townlines and Baselines you find throughout Ontario, for example). This means that concession roads only run in one direction. In the other direction, you would get side roads or lines.

I'm not sure if they abandoned the numbered roads ultimately due to 911 service, so it was easier to provide an address, or with municipal amalgamations creating a swath of duplicated road names.

[Innsertnamehere]

Most concessions are still numbered. Concession 6, 7, 8, etc.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by vid

I don't see how secondary highways could be given a logical numbering scheme. They all loop around randomly in the north, things don't follow grids up here, they follow the terrain. They best they could do is probably assign a number range to the region, which we kind of already have (most secondary highways around Thunder Bay range from 585 to 597, with a few exceptions) but it's not any easier to follow than if the highways were given random numbers.

All those roads in Southern Ontario do have concession numbers even if they're named (the roads in Thunder Bay are the same), they could just co-sign those, but then the numbers change with every township so it might still be confusing. And if you start with 0 on one side of the province and work your way up you'll probably be into the 10000s by the time you hit Rockford.

It wouldn't have to based on the direction of the road. I don't think it really matters in an age when cars have compasses and GPS built in and signs show the cities that the roads lead to. The problem isn't the random numbering, it's the fact that the numbers change across county lines, are duplicated dozens of times, are discontinuous, etc. County Road 1 is duplicated again and again. Durham Region somehow manages to have two Regional Road 2s and they actually intersect with each other. Highway 7 intersects with at least one County Road 7. Highway 9 becomes County Road 109, then back to Highway 9 again. It's a mess.

I'm not talking about the concession roads, which are generally owned by lower tier municipalities (townships), usually gravel, and only used for very local travel. I'm talking about the numbered county and regional roads (upper tier municipalities) signed with the flowerpot shaped shields. They're basically highways, almost all are paved, and they're used for longer distance travel.

Eliminating the duplication and consolidating routes would simplify the network. A 3-digit numbering system like in Quebec could handle that easily.

[vid]

Up here, concession roads are the paved arterial routes for the most part. We don't have county roads up here because there are no counties.

Signage is probably the best way to go. Renaming and renumbering roads would cost too much.

[manny_santos]

There really is no need to organize a set of numbered roads according to location, as is done in Quebec and with the Interstates; it just seems to be a way of choosing the numbers and has nothing to do with navigation.

If anything were ever done with County/Regional roads in Ontario, I'd recommend using the existing numbers as a base (e.g. Perth Road 55/Huron Road 25 could be Highway 255). That said I also don't see a need to assign numbers to shorter urban routes, such as the regional roads that exist in K-W, Oshawa, and other cities, as urban streets are almost never referred to by numbers under any scheme.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

There really is no need to organize a set of numbered roads according to location, as is done in Quebec and with the Interstates; it just seems to be a way of choosing the numbers and has nothing to do with navigation.

.

I explained in post 3656 which it is a least a bit handy for navigation.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Most concessions are still numbered. Concession 6, 7, 8, etc.

In Eastern Ontario, the bulk are no longer numbered.

[middeljohn]

This is the last leg of the Henday (Edmonton's ring road) u/c right now to be completed by 2017.

• Video Link

[sonysnob]

Though it is hard to see through the salt encrusted landscape, the southbound beams are up for the extension of the Mavis Road structure:

[Innsertnamehere]

excited to see full construction for the widening to begin. Any word when that begins? Also, when MTO plans to bring the collectors express network past the Credit River?

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

excited to see full construction for the widening to begin. Any word when that begins? Also, when MTO plans to bring the collectors express network past the Credit River?

I don't know when the next contract will be called. A friend of mine who works for the MTO, but with no connection to the project didn't think it would be called until next year, but I am not sure that is reliable information. Certainly there is at least a year of construction remaining for the Mavis Road expansion project.

I don't know if anybody else has noticed this, but the five year plan from 2014 seems to have been mysteriously deleted from the internet.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

I don't know if anybody else has noticed this, but the five year plan from 2014 seems to have been mysteriously deleted from the internet.

Nope, news to me. Even the direct links don't work anymore: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=120669486&postcount=3174

Maybe they are reworking it to change projects? Or maybe cut back to balance budget?

Either that or someone messed up.

[BenTheGreat97]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

I don't know if anybody else has noticed this, but the five year plan from 2014 seems to have been mysteriously deleted from the internet.

Has anyone downloaded the PDF file? If anyone has, they could re-upload it somewhere.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by BenTheGreat97

Has anyone downloaded the PDF file? If anyone has, they could re-upload it somewhere.

It might still be in my cache at home. I'll check tonight.

[Innsertnamehere]

To be honest it wasn't exactly much different than the 2013 document..

[1overcosc]

Ya, the annual highway projects publications are incremental... they're always about the next 4 years, so each year only 1/4 of it is new.

[Innsertnamehere]

by nothing new I meant no new expansion projects on the list. There is usually some sort of announcement of a newly funded project of some sort. The rumours seem to be that the next big one will be the 417 extension to Renfrew, but there was nothing.

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Though it is hard to see through the salt encrusted landscape, the southbound beams are up for the extension of the Mavis Road structure:

Where and what highway is that? I assume it's in Ontario but I don't recognize it.