Highways in Canada

[urbandreamer]

When crossing intersections like this along the TCH & Yellowhead, I always stopped in the median.

As for an easily implemented solution to prevent more mass deaths, pass a law that treats yield signs along major highways (there's a yield sign at 5&1 here) like a railway crossing: buses must stop and open their door to check before crossing.

Interchanges are a waste of money along most of TCH in the Prairies.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I frankly find the 90 kph speed limit on the divided portion of TCH in Ontario (despite the cross roads) problematic because divided highways are designed to 120 kph.

With at grade crossings, they are not designed for that speed. On the Prairies where everything is flat and straight, you could remove the speed limits....

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It already takes forever to drive across this country as is. A 90 km/hr TCH just makes things worse.

I understand the costs involved, but I think whenever a cross-traffic volume threshold (passing across a divided highway) is exceeded, then that intersection should be prioritized for interchange construction. This should probably included all major numbered provincial highways intersecting the TCH, regardless of traffic volumes.

Small farm roads can probably be left alone.

Yes.
My thinking is we may see federal government funding to do so. It will go nice with a election campaign where there are no sitting MPs.

[harls]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Interchanges are a waste of money along most of TCH in the Prairies.

I imagine the folks in Washington feel the same way about those diamond interchanges north of Grand Forks.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by harls

I imagine the folks in Washington feel the same way about those diamond interchanges north of Grand Forks.

We tend to think of US highways in terms of Interstates, but there are plenty of 4-lane divided state highways that have at-grade intersections. In countries this big, you can't have interchanges everywhere.

Here's one from ND that looks for all intents and purposes like the intersection at Carberry: https://goo.gl/maps/1ua649rwQvSPxuGz7

That said, it would be nice if at least the TCH were upgraded beyond the rather lowly standards it is currently designed to.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

We tend to think of US highways in terms of Interstates, but there are plenty of 4-lane divided state highways that have at-grade intersections. In countries this big, you can't have interchanges everywhere.

Here's one from ND that looks for all intents and purposes like the intersection at Carberry: https://goo.gl/maps/1ua649rwQvSPxuGz7

That said, it would be nice if at least the TCH were upgraded beyond the rather lowly standards it is currently designed to.

I’ve driven Highway 2 many a time and yes there are many at grade intersections. But our national highway should be better don’t you think?

[harls]

Originally Posted by esquire

We tend to think of US highways in terms of Interstates, but there are plenty of 4-lane divided state highways that have at-grade intersections. In countries this big, you can't have interchanges everywhere.

Here's one from ND that looks for all intents and purposes like the intersection at Carberry: https://goo.gl/maps/1ua649rwQvSPxuGz7

That said, it would be nice if at least the TCH were upgraded beyond the rather lowly standards it is currently designed to.

This is nice, but I-94 is right south of it.

It is the same thing to compare PTH 2 to the Trans Canada.

[Metro-One]

Just did a Google Earth cruise along Highway 1 through the prairies, and Manitoba is the worst. Saskatchewan and Alberta at least have some interchanges in their second tier and even third tier towns along the route.

In Manitoba, not even Brandon, the second largest city in the province, has an interchange.

[Innsertnamehere]

I mean even Winnipeg has basically no interchanges, and the few they do have are mostly recent additions in the last decade or two.

And yes, the US has lots of 4-lane dual carriageway roads which are not interstate standard, but as others have mentioned most of them are much smaller, less important roads which in Canada would likely have been just little two lane rural roads.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Just did a Google Earth cruise along Highway 1 through the prairies, and Manitoba is the worst. Saskatchewan and Alberta at least have some interchanges in their second tier and even third tier towns along the route.

In Manitoba, not even Brandon, the second largest city in the province, has an interchange.

Based on my own driving experiences plus some google streetviewing around the provinces I haven't traveled to, it seems like the state of dual carraigeways for the demand goes:

BC: Good standards, inadequate network
AB: Good standards, good network
SK: Good standards, OK network
MB: Bad standards, bad network
ON: Excellent standards, OK-to-inadequate network
QC: Bad standards, excellent network
NB: ??? standards, excellent network
NS: ??? standards, excellent network
NL: ??? standards, excellent network

[Dengler Avenue]

BC: Good standards, inadequate network

Are the standards really that good…
New Brunswick’s standards are similar to MTO’s.

[Innsertnamehere]

Ontario has a large, well designed network but it's woefully underbuilt for it's current population. It needs a few new freeways on corridors which are now overloaded rural roads and a whole whack of widenings on corridors which are designed for half the population, plus a bunch of extra transit service over what exists currently too.

I wouldn't say BC has good highway standards either. It's poorly designed and undersized.

The Maritimes have the best roads in the country, generally well designed and way overbuilt for the real needs. Driving out there is a total breeze with no traffic, good roads, and high average speeds.

[1overcosc]

In Eastern Ontario we arguably need a southern freeway bypass of Ottawa (unfortunately there is no suitable corridors left without lots of expropriation), and Highway 7 between Carleton Place and Peterborough should be upgraded - perhaps not to a full freeway, but maybe a super 2 with more passing lanes and rumble strips.

[swimmer_spe]

BC has poor standards. They like removable centre median guardrails. They have inadequate drainage for the weather they get. They also like traffic lights on highways that shouldn't have any.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by harls

This is nice, but I-94 is right south of it.

It is the same thing to compare PTH 2 to the Trans Canada.

I take your point. But what I'm getting at is that in sparsely populated rural areas, I'm not sure that you'll ever get away from at-grade intersections, even on relatively busy four-lane highways. But I do agree that Manitoba could do a much better job in that department.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by esquire

I take your point. But what I'm getting at is that in sparsely populated rural areas, I'm not sure that you'll ever get away from at-grade intersections, even on relatively busy four-lane highways. But I do agree that Manitoba could do a much better job in that department.

If MB started by converting all at grade intersections of provincial highways to interchanges, that would be a good start. Once that happens, they could potentially close any other road, or just make an overpass/underpass for them

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Are the standards really that good…
New Brunswick’s standards are similar to MTO’s.

When I came up with that comparison, I was thinking of "standards" in terms of the safety and design of the roads that exist, rather than the coverage of these roads, which is the "network" part.

BC doesn't have many freeways, but where they exist they're built to a decent standard. The grades and curvatures are acceptable, given the topography of BC; they have proper merging lanes; they don't have cloverleaf interchanges without proper slip lanes; the lighting is good and the roads aren't riddled with potholes. It's not world class, but it's a step above some other provinces. They could do more, but I also feel like they upgrade existing highways and interchanges as safety standards improve, whereas some places seemingly haven't even done more than the bare minimum in routine maintenance since they built the freeway in 1964.

[someone123]

I'd probably rate NS standards as "OK". A lot of the infrastructure in NS is old and was built to the standards of the 50's or 60's. There is also a fairly big gap between urban and rural highways. Halifax has a lot of highways for the size of the city but the network is often incomplete, can be congested, and doesn't connect well, while the province is pushing twinned highways quite far out into some rural areas that aren't very developed. The Google Maps view looks pretty good, particularly zoomed out to the whole province, but then when you're actually plotting a route somebody would take you're often doing a lot of maneuvers and stuck in traffic.

The highway on Vancouver Island seems just OK, with a lot of fairly busy at-grade intersections.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by someone123

I'd probably rate NS standards as "OK". A lot of the infrastructure in NS is old and was built to the standards of the 50's or 60's. There is also a fairly big gap between urban and rural highways. Halifax has a lot of highways for the size of the city but the network is often incomplete, can be congested, and doesn't connect well, while the province is pushing twinned highways quite far out into some rural areas that aren't very developed. The Google Maps view looks pretty good, particularly zoomed out to the whole province, but then when you're actually plotting a route somebody would take you're often doing a lot of maneuvers and stuck in traffic.

The highway on Vancouver Island seems just OK, with a lot of fairly busy at-grade intersections.

NS is a bit of a oddball. The old stuff is definitely sub par, but it seems when they build new, they seem to have good standards. What really irks me is their exit numbering system. Most places, they number them according to mile/km markers. NS does it numerically. So, when they add another interchange, they end up adding letters to it.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

NS is a bit of a oddball. The old stuff is definitely sub par, but it seems when they build new, they seem to have good standards. What really irks me is their exit numbering system. Most places, they number them according to mile/km markers. NS does it numerically. So, when they add another interchange, they end up adding letters to it.

Sequentially*
It’s the same thing on the Island of Newfoundland.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Sequentially*
It’s the same thing on the Island of Newfoundland.

Yes, that is the word...

It is quite annoying.