Highways in Canada

[VIce]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Even if you wait an hour and a half for the ferry it is time neutral (eventually crossing at Sarnia). Plus you get to nap or grab a bite without eating into travel time.

We'll just be living off of Go-Gurt and Mountain Dew for three days to avoid eating into travel time.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VIce

We'll just be living off of Go-Gurt and Mountain Dew for three days to avoid eating into travel time.

Comin' thru!

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

Yes, but going 140+ will get you pulled over almost everywhere in Canada or the States if a cop sees you. You hear the argument that if everyone is going that speed no one will get pulled over, but from experience (at least in the States) going nearly 90 mph in a line of cars will result in at least one random car being pulled over. Generally it's the last or first car in the line if there is only one cop.

Also, apart from in the prairies and maybe the maritimes, there aren't a whole lot of places on the Trans Canada built to a high enough standard to safely drive more than 120 or 130. Through a fair bit of BC and Northern Ontario, you are doing well if you can manage about 100.

Most of Highway 17 through northern Ontario is manageable at 100 km/h in good weather. I think (from Google Earth and photographic recollection, since I haven't travelled beyond Sault Ste. Marie in a very long time) there are several tight corners that advise at 60 or 70 though. The big problem is the route is not direct at all (especially from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay), although that is necessitated by the locations of population and the presence of the lake.

Ideally, 17 would run in a straight line from Upsala to Nipigon - a route about 170 km in length instead of about 290-320 km via Thunder Bay. The problem is that most of the traffic is either heading for Thunder Bay or intending to stop there (i.e. for rest, visiting sights, deliveries, etc.) so that "17A" route would get very little traffic.

Twinned sections IMO call for a higher speed limit...I'd definitely raise it to 100 km/h at least on the new section from Balsam Street to Highway 587 (about 35 km now and about 50 km after the next contract is complete).

[sonysnob]

Some construction photos of Highway 406 in Ontario through Welland. Despite the 400-series designation, Highway 406 was initially built as a two lane at-grade highway through Welland, and is only now, decades after initial construction, being widened to four lanes.



Some photos:

Hwy 406 crossing over the Welland River and Old Welland Canal. It is interesting to note that despite being side by side, the Welland River and Old Canal have different water levels.


Northerly view towards the Merritt Road overpass. The Merritt Road overpass was constructed in 2011 in an advanced contract to expedite the twinning work.


Southerly view approaching Woodlawn Road. During construction, Highway 406 followed what will becoming the southbound on and off-ramps through the future interchange.


Southerly view between the twin Welland River bridges. The new bridge is at left.


The Merritt Road interchange was opened to traffic during 2013, two years in advance of the completion of the remainder of the highway.


One of the more noteworthy features of the 406 construction was the addition of a new three lane roundabout at East Main Street. This is the first three lane roundabout on a provincial highway in Ontario. (Though it is not the first three lane roundabout in Ontario -- that was constructed in K/W several years ago).


Overhead signage approaching the roundabout at East Main Street.


This view looks easterly along East Main Street towards the Main Street Tunnel. Highway 406 parallels the Welland Canal. Immediately east of the Highway 406 roundabout, East Main Street (Highway 7146) dives below the canal in the pictured tunnel.


Taken in January, 2015, this photo shows the southbound lanes of Highway 406 had just about been finished before construction was shut down over the winter.

The whole set of pictures (I took a lot), and larger versions of the photos are available here:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_404-406_images/Hwy406_cons.htm#2012

[1overcosc]

If I was to ever drive from Southern Ontario to the west I would stay within Canada. I mean it might be faster within the US, but is it really? Crossing the border takes time.

As for money, gas may be cheaper but there's one big difference. If you get into a car accident and require medical treatment... I'd rather be somewhere where I'm guaranteed free health care with my OHIP card.

[mattpa]

26h from winnipeg to toronto for me 20-21 through the states i choose state troops over sneaky opp

[esquire]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

If I was to ever drive from Southern Ontario to the west I would stay within Canada. I mean it might be faster within the US, but is it really? Crossing the border takes time.

As for money, gas may be cheaper but there's one big difference. If you get into a car accident and require medical treatment... I'd rather be somewhere where I'm guaranteed free health care with my OHIP card.

I don't know how long it takes in your neck of the woods, but Pembina/Emerson is one of the busier ports of entry in Western Canada and it generally doesn't take much more than about 10 minutes either way unless you're attempting to cross at peak hours (southbound on Friday evening, northbound Sunday evening). Quite often you literally just pull up with maybe one car ahead of you, answer some questions and go.

And as for health care (a very real concern in the US), you can get $100K of travel insurance coverage for $25 through Blue Cross, I'm sure there might be other insurers who provide even more coverage for the money. Many people have travel insurance as part of their workplace benefits, so they don't even have to shell out extra for the coverage.

[Innsertnamehere]

Ontario border crossings are notorious for their wait times. There are only 6 crossing locations west of Kingston, and only 3 are freeway - freeway connections. This often results in huge wait times.

Mind you the crossing facilities are also huge to handle the traffic, but the wait times can still be horrible. The Peace Bridge at the end of the QEW is probably the worst, regularly 1+ hour waits on it..

[le calmar]

In Quebec it rarely takes more than 2 to 5 min at Stanstead/Derby Line. It can take a little longer at Lacolle/Champlain but not so much. During holidays the wait can be much longer though, often up to an hour.

[sonysnob]

The worst border crossing in Ontario I think is the Bluewater Bridge. While the line-ups are probably generally not too bad, I have seen lineups to get into the US that stretch beyond the toll booths still in Sarnia.

I've been stuck on the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge for hours before in Niagara as well. That's another bridge that I tend to avoid.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Ontario border crossings are notorious for their wait times. There are only 6 crossing locations west of Kingston, and only 3 are freeway - freeway connections. This often results in huge wait times.

Mind you the crossing facilities are also huge to handle the traffic, but the wait times can still be horrible. The Peace Bridge at the end of the QEW is probably the worst, regularly 1+ hour waits on it..

Geography's fault. The lakes are a big barrier. There are no road crossings at all between the Thousands Islands Bridge near Brockville and Niagara Falls.

There is a crossing at Kingston but it's a very inefficient crossing as it requires two ferries. There was some musing last year from the former Minister of Transportation (Glen Murray) that the province might look into replacing this with a fixed link that would essentially extend Highway 15 straight into the USA, but this talk died very quickly after it started.

[Taeolas]

The Woodstock/Houlton crossing can be annoying. It's on 4-lane highway, but neither country seems to want to staff their buildings (or in Canada's case upgrade the buildings) at the levels they need. I believe it is NB's second busiest crossing, after St Stephen/Calais.

So going to the States can backup bad (Dad says on the weekends it can be hours at the border; not as bad as other places but still bad for the area), mainly because they usually only have 2 lanes open at most. (Rarely you'll see 3 lanes open). The US border there has at least 6-8 lanes available, but in all the years I've lived near there, I've never seen more than 4 open.

The Canadian side is even worse. It was built before the US offices, and they only built 3 lanes + 1 truck lane. So they clog up and have no option to open more lanes at all. I think that crossing was built in the mid 80's, and other than some tech updates, they haven't done any changes to the buildings since then.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by esquire

The same can be said for the TCH between Kenora and the Manitoba border. There's a lot of action there, from nasty smash-ups to all kinds of law enforcement action. There's no way around it without crossing the border into the US.

I'm wondering if it would be benificial to establish a secondary border crossing on the Manitoba/Ontario border? Even if the Trans-Canada Hwy is twinned, it's still not ideal for it to be the only highway. What about extending MB 44 into Ontario running along the CP line to Kenora (via Ingolf). There could some existing roads that could potentially be converted to a two lane highway.

[eternallyme]

Speaking of the twinning in northern Ontario, I saw the study regarding the Thunder Bay section and how to upgrade it to a full freeway. What I would personally do:

* Widen corridor slightly towards the west, with a concrete median barrier (protect for 6 lanes even though such shouldn't be necessary in the foreseeable future) to minimize the footprint

* At each intersection:

** Balsam Street: Modified Parclo-A2, with ramps lined up to Huron Avenue and Wardrope Avenue and Balsam Street crossing via overpass

** Highway 102/Red River Road: Parclo-A4, loop ramps NW and SE quads

** John Street: Overpass (spacing too close to NW Arterial and 102)

** Northwest Arterial/Golf Links Road: Parclo-A4, although the NE quad ramp placement might be an issue

** Oliver Road: Overpass (spacing too close to Shabaqua systems interchange, access from Golf Links)

** Shabaqua Highway/Harbour Expressway: Parclo-A with E->N flyover replacing SE loop ramp aligned over the interchange

** Arthur Street: SPUI (no longer Highway 11/17 so a less intrusive design warranted)

** Neebing Avenue/Airport: Parclo-A4 with modified access in NE quad (also requires a grade separation - likely underpass - of Neebing with the railway)

[esquire]

Originally Posted by dmuzika

I'm wondering if it would be benificial to establish a secondary border crossing on the Manitoba/Ontario border? Even if the Trans-Canada Hwy is twinned, it's still not ideal for it to be the only highway. What about extending MB 44 into Ontario running along the CP line to Kenora (via Ingolf). There could some existing roads that could potentially be converted to a two lane highway.

Unlikely at best given that there are parks and sensitive ecosystems aplenty around there, not to mention extremely challenging topography that would make any such endeavour very expensive. Add to this mix the reality that the TCH is simply not that busy. It gets clogged on summer long weekends, but apart from that it handles traffic reasonably well. So for all that hassle, you're left with the question of what problem such a new alternate route would be solving? None that I can think of.

It would make much more sense to upgrade the existing route, i.e. twin the highway from West Hawk Lake MB to Kenora ON, and improve the road as needed (geometry, an interchange or two, that sort of thing).

[VIce]

Originally Posted by esquire

Comin' thru!

I had to look this movie up. I still don't get the reference, but I hope that's exactly how it turns out.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

The Woodstock/Houlton crossing can be annoying. It's on 4-lane highway, but neither country seems to want to staff their buildings (or in Canada's case upgrade the buildings) at the levels they need. I believe it is NB's second busiest crossing, after St Stephen/Calais.

So going to the States can backup bad (Dad says on the weekends it can be hours at the border; not as bad as other places but still bad for the area), mainly because they usually only have 2 lanes open at most. (Rarely you'll see 3 lanes open). The US border there has at least 6-8 lanes available, but in all the years I've lived near there, I've never seen more than 4 open.

The Canadian side is even worse. It was built before the US offices, and they only built 3 lanes + 1 truck lane. So they clog up and have no option to open more lanes at all. I think that crossing was built in the mid 80's, and other than some tech updates, they haven't done any changes to the buildings since then.

To add to this i've never spent more than 20 minutes at the St. Stephen/Calais crossing in NB/ME. I don't typically cross on busy weekends which, i've heard, are of course busier. Normal, middle of the weekday, might take you 10-15 minutes tops. Pretty quick.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by JHikka

To add to this i've never spent more than 20 minutes at the St. Stephen/Calais crossing in NB/ME. I don't typically cross on busy weekends which, i've heard, are of course busier. Normal, middle of the weekday, might take you 10-15 minutes tops. Pretty quick.

Don't count on that forever. If Maine goes through with the East-West (Interstate 92) Project traffic will skyrocket at that facility. Currently it just has ME-9 and US-1 feeding it, and the new freeway section of Route 1 there is hardly bust enough to justify the twinning that took place.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

There is a crossing at Kingston but it's a very inefficient crossing as it requires two ferries. There was some musing last year from the former Minister of Transportation (Glen Murray) that the province might look into replacing this with a fixed link that would essentially extend Highway 15 straight into the USA, but this talk died very quickly after it started.

That ferry crossing (to Cape Vincent) is also only open about 6 months out of the year. I've used it once coming back into Canada, and unlike at the Thousand Islands Bridge, the border officers here are very thorough as they've got nobody else to worry about. That was the only time I've ever had my trunk searched. Still, it's pretty neat to enter Canada by water.

[FrAnKs]

I'm starting to work on a video of Highway 102 in Halifax...
Here's my first Road sign ever in Nova-Scotia.