Highways in Canada

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I've driven there several times. There's quite a few very modern highways that have opened within the past decade that have bypassed some of the narrow roads that sometimes had standards comparable to Ontario Secondary highways. My main complaint with driving there is the tolls; it wasn't so bad (at least for a Canadian tourist) a decade ago when their gas prices were dirt cheap compared to Canada, but nowadays gas there is a lot more expensive so tolls compound the cost of driving. The other issue I've seen there is lack of clear wayfinding signage, route numbers are only sporadically posted (and sometimes are wrong), and GPS isn't always an option as there's no mobile reception in some rural areas.

Highway driving there is different, but you just have to be more defensive. Drivers go a lot faster (while some trucks go notoriously slow).

And there are some things I've seen there that I've never seen in Canada or the US, at least in rural areas: pedestrians running across the highway; a dead cow blocking a road; donkeys chilling in the middle of the road (often with a big grin on their face); chickens walking on the road. And in Mexico City, people selling things at intersections, sometimes very random things. I once saw someone selling head-mounted lights that miners use.

I've never been to Mexico, but from what I've seen on the interwebs, the wayfinding signage there is pretty atrocious.

It also seems that sometimes very important road end somewhat arbitrarily and traffic is just dumped into what would seem to be minor surface streets with speedbumps everywhere.

[ghYHZ]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It's not the time, it's just... the drive. The Trans Canada Highway across Newfoundland is like driving to the fucking moon. It passes through only the shittiest of towns that boomed as a direct result of its existence, dominated by motels and gas stations and bungalows. You can't see anything but woods until you're almost to the West Coast. It's torturous. It's hideous. It's unnecessary. And it's NINE FUCKING HOURS lol And then you have 7 hours relaxing on the ferry - comfortable seats, movies, entertainment, bars, whatever you like........

I on the other hand thoroughly enjoy my drives across the Island and have done it enough times!! I live in Antigonish and it's an easy 2 hr drive after supper to get the night crossing from North Sydney. (or in summer the longer overnight run to Argentia that's only about 1 1/2 hr from St. John's)

When arriving in Port-aux-Basques I usually hold up for a half hour or so at the local Tim's and let those 450 cars or 90 eighteen-wheelers (or combination of) jockey for position for that 900 km run to St. John's.....then you basically have a wide, straight TCH to yourself. Just watch out for the moose!

And a very scenic drive from the seascapes of the west coast, mountainous interior to the rock strewn Isthmus of Avalon.

[esquire]

Not a fan of long drives. The farthest I've driven is in the 12 hour range from Winnipeg to Calgary, Edmonton, Chicago. That's quite enough... anything beyond that and I'll happily take a plane, train, hell even a bus so I can at least snooze (although that said, the longest bus ride I've ever taken is between Calgary and Edmonton so nothing major).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Airboy

Yah, Kenora is closer to Edmonton than TO by highway. People that live in TO don't get that, ........ no let me change that. people need to get out and cross the country by car to get an appreciation to what the rest of the country needs to do to survive.

A lot of businesses with a national presence often lump NWO (or at least the Kenora/Dryden area) in with the prairie region. Mainly because of that distance from Southern Ontario that you mentioned.

[Innsertnamehere]

I grew up doing Toronto-Saint John and Toronto-Florida on a more or less annual or greater basis, so I'm used to it.

Drives longer than a day don't make a lot of sense financially though if you don't have a car full of people. Gas costs and flights usually end up in a bit of a wash, or at least the difference is so small that it's not otherwise worth the extra time it takes. *especially* if you don't need to rent a car at your destination.

I don't really plan on doing Florida myself, though I don't mind doing drives like Toronto-Quebec, Toronto-NYC, Toronto-Chicago, etc that a lot of other people would rather fly for.

[NS Bayman]

Originally Posted by ghYHZ

I on the other hand thoroughly enjoy my drives across the Island and have done it enough times!! I live in Antigonish and it's an easy 2 hr drive after supper to get the night crossing from North Sydney. (or in summer the longer overnight run to Argentia that's only about 1 1/2 hr from St. John's)

When arriving in Port-aux-Basques I usually hold up for a half hour or so at the local Tim's and let those 450 cars or 90 eighteen-wheelers (or combination of) jockey for position for that 900 km run to St. John's.....then you basically have a wide, straight TCH to yourself. Just watch out for the moose!

And a very scenic drive from the seascapes of the west coast, mountainous interior to the rock strewn Isthmus of Avalon.

Agreed! Driving across NL is not awful. Port-Aux-Basques to Deer Lake is still one of the prettiest stretches of road I have ever driven. I would say that the central stretch from Deer Lake to Gambo is boring dogshit IMO.

Nothing will ever change the fact that you burn a day of your life just to get off the island.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

I had to get a tire replaced in Kenora a few years ago, and while sitting in the lobby at the Kal Tire location I overheard a staff member telling another customer that while they didn't have a particular tire in stock at the moment, it was in their warehouse in Edmonton and they could have it there later that week.

I obviously know that Kenora is a long way from Toronto (I had just driven to Kenora from Toronto), but it still made an impression on me that there are businesses in Ontario that are served by warehouses in Edmonton.

Originally Posted by esquire

A lot of businesses with a national presence often lump NWO (or at least the Kenora/Dryden area) in with the prairie region. Mainly because of that distance from Southern Ontario that you mentioned.

In general, NWO is lumped into western Canada.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by NS Bayman

Agreed! Driving across NL is not awful. Port-Aux-Basques to Deer Lake is still one of the prettiest stretches of road I have ever driven. I would say that the central stretch from Deer Lake to Gambo is boring dogshit IMO.

Nothing will ever change the fact that you burn a day of your life just to get off the island.

From how everyone talks of NL, it sounds like we should open immigration wide open to fill up the empty spots with people. But then we need jobs for them to do.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Drives longer than a day don't make a lot of sense financially though if you don't have a car full of people. Gas costs and flights usually end up in a bit of a wash, or at least the difference is so small that it's not otherwise worth the extra time it takes. *especially* if you don't need to rent a car at your destination.

Cheaper flights and ride sharing really change the calculus. A lot of American cities have bad transit and basically require cars but have had good ride sharing for years, and lately Canadian cities have gotten ride sharing too.

Halifax to St. John's is one of those trips that sounds impressively far but it is mostly due to the transportation infrastructure and geography, not distance. It is about 900 km while the BC-WA border is about 1,900 km from the Mexican border. But there is a long ferry trip between NS and NL and then the NL highway is "U" shaped rather than direct. I would guess that eventually the discount airlines will offer $100-200 flights for this route. Flight time is about 1h45.

I've mentioned this one before but Saint John, NB is about the same distance from Montreal as Hamilton.

[Innsertnamehere]

Oh I'm aware - my extended family coming from Saint John moved to either Montreal or Toronto, Toronto as it's the closest big english speaking area or Montreal as it's the closest big city.

Everyone in Saint John are big Boston Bruins fans too as it's "only" a 6 hour drive down the highway.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Everyone in Saint John are big Boston Bruins fans too as it's "only" a 5 hour drive down the highway.

You must drive very fast.

It's an hour from Saint John to St. Stephen, another 90 minutes on the Airline Route to Bangor ME, and, by my calculus, about 4 hours from there to Boston.

Most sane people would take 6.5 hours to get to Boston from Saint John.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

You must drive very fast.

It's an hour from Saint John to St. Stephen, another 90 minutes on the Airline Route to Bangor ME, and, by my calculus, about 4 hours from there to Boston.

Most sane people would take 6.5 hours to get to Boston from Saint John.

We see 110 kph speed limit and think 130 kph. That’s why.
Ps: Once @swimmer_spe said I must have been flying when I told him that it only took me 2 h 40 min to go from SSM to Sudbury.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

You must drive very fast.

It's an hour from Saint John to St. Stephen

You must drive pretty slow if Saint John-St. Stephen is an hour these days.

Originally Posted by someone123

I've mentioned this one before but Saint John, NB is about the same distance from Montreal as Hamilton.

Side note, but thanks to Maine being a black hole it's quicker from Hamilton to drive through the US via New York and New England than it is to trundle around Maine through Quebec to get to Southern NB. It begins to especially make more sense when the dollar is at par given how much cheaper gas is in the US.

I used to frequently do the Ottawa-New Brunswick drive through Quebec but now that i'm in Toronto i'll probably be giving the US route a bit more of a drive. At least the A30 bypass makes the drive through Quebec a bit easier.

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Once @swimmer_spe said I must have been flying when I told him that it only took me 2 h 40 min to go from SSM to Sudbury.

Have a buddy from the Kap who doesn't drive slower than 140.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

We see 110 kph speed limit and think 130 kph. That’s why.
Ps: Once @swimmer_spe said I must have been flying when I told him that it only took me 2 h 40 min to go from SSM to Sudbury.

I'm not a nervous Nelly when it comes to driving. My default speed on the divided highway is 120 km/hr.

[Acajack]

In terms of time I think only the western GTA and Niagara to Saint John NB is truly worth using the American route.

Canadian cops are generally more indulgent when it comes to speeding and you can pretty much do most of the drive at 125-130 kmh without being bothered.

Whereas if you go through the US the highest speed allowed in NY and Mass is 65 mph so you don't want to go faster than 120 kmh there because the risk of getting pulled over is too high.

Maine allows you to drive as fast as 75 mph so that's pretty good, though there are also two-lane roads on your route where the limit IIRC is only 55 mph.

And we're not counting border wait times either.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

You must drive very fast.

It's an hour from Saint John to St. Stephen, another 90 minutes on the Airline Route to Bangor ME, and, by my calculus, about 4 hours from there to Boston.

Most sane people would take 6.5 hours to get to Boston from Saint John.

I don't drive that fast, nor have I ever done that drive! I was just misremembering the distance haha. Never been south of Lewiston on I-95, at least in New England (I've been on I-95 in Georgia and Florida). 6 hours is a better descriptor.

[Dengler Avenue]

The 75 mph stretch of I-95 can look like a trap though as none of the interchanges have merge lanes. (Yes, cars go straight into the right lane from the on ramp and straight from the right lane onto the off ramp.)

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In terms of time I think only the western GTA and Niagara to Saint John NB is truly worth using the American route.

Canadian cops are generally more indulgent when it comes to speeding and you can pretty much do most of the drive at 125-130 kmh without being bothered.

Whereas if you go through the US the highest speed allowed in NY and Mass is 65 mph so you don't want to go faster than 120 kmh there because the risk of getting pulled over is too high.

Maine allows you to drive as fast as 75 mph so that's pretty good, though there are also two-lane roads on your route where the limit IIRC is only 55 mph.

And we're not counting border wait times either.

Cutting through Maine via Sherbrooke is about 1 hour (and 200km!) shorter than staying in Canada for Saint Johns so it's worth it. You do have to be a bit more careful in the US but I've never gone wrong with setting cruise to 8-10mph over the speed limit (compared to closer to 15mph above the limit in Canada).

Border crossings for that route are little backwater crossings with literally 0 wait time too. This is the crossing I use, it's never had more than a car or two in front of me.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3786211,-70.8083779,157m/data=!3m1!1e3

Coming from Niagara or the west GTA you would be crossing in upstate New York though which gets you the busy crossings. You get all freeway driving that route, which results in a better travel time, but you have to deal with suburban Boston traffic too if you time the drive wrong.

A few years ago a private company proposed a tolled interstate across upstate Maine more or less along that route, would have been nice. Doubt it would ever have had the traffic levels needed to sustain itself though.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by Acajack

If we're allowed to say it on SSP (), Quebec has the most "European" or "international" approach to highway signage in North America.

As you say, the use of pictograms for almost everything (and they continue to replace any remaining words with pictograms when possible) probably makes it the place in North America that's the easiest to drive in if you don't speak the local language.

Pretty soon only proper nouns (Chemin du Lac-Vert, Manoir des Érables) and maybe cardinal directions (EST-OUEST-NORD-SUD) will be close to the only things not pictogrammed.

The language issue is probably why Quebec is so aggressive about using pictograms: it's an effective compromise between the political/symbolic importance of having French-only signage while still being understandable to drivers from the rest of the continent who mostly don't speak French.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by thewave46

Ah, ok. I can see that. Bring a tablet with movies, snooze if you want to, having a few drinks is far preferable to driving across wasteland. I've done chunks of driving across Northern Ontario - it's not far different from what you describe.

Maybe there needs to be a ferry between Toronto and Thunder Bay