Highways in Canada

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Premier Wynne just promised to twin the entirety of highway 17..

Got a link? Can't find the story.

[Innsertnamehere]

http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2..._new_taxes_vows_pc_leader_tim_hudak.html

http://www.movingontarioforward.ca/

[1overcosc]

http://www.livestream.com/premierofontar...utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb. Skip ahead to 23:40. That's where Wynne gives all the big announcements including the Highway 17 one.

[Dwils01]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

if you built it to 400 series standards, yes. You could simply do it at prairie style standards with a dual carriageway and be fine, maybe $5 billion for it. The costs start to rack up very quickly when you have to build overpasses. Probably long term anyway, short term with money in this budget will probably be something like extending the 417 to Petawawa, twinning 17 between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, etc.

One of the first things the government has done that I would like. What should be first is the south Sudbury by-pass which I believe is part of the Hwy 69 project, then 417 going to Petawawa. As much as I would like 17 twinned between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury to North Bay needs it more. There is fewer chances to pass and traffic is more heavy on the stretch similar to Sudbury to Hwy 6 at Espanola.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

if you built it to 400 series standards, yes. You could simply do it at prairie style standards with a dual carriageway and be fine, maybe $5 billion for it. The costs start to rack up very quickly when you have to build overpasses.

Heretic! Don't you know the purpose of the MoTO is to cover the province with needless overpasses and its beloved A4 parclo interchanges, thus ensuring there's no money for anything else?

[eternallyme]

If there is a signal at the intersection, and you upgrade to 4 lanes, an interchange definitely should be built there immediately (any signals on the TCH in the Prairies need to be converted ASAP IMO). That pretty much on safety and traffic alone warrants a freeway from Arnprior to Petawawa, since all the intersections would require signals otherwise.

There are other considerations that may also warrant immediate interchange construction. First, staging issues that may come up, such as in tight settings. A good example would be on Highway 17 just west of North Bay (AADT there about 10,000), they pretty much have to build that out to freeway standards immediately since staging for future interchanges would be difficult, if not impossible, due to the presence of the nearby hillsides and railways. (The fact that it is all in First Nations land adds even more challenges there, so you have to do it all at once for political and treaty reasons as well with a single agreement rather than work in multiple challenging projects.)

Second, interchanges may be desirable for economic and safety perspectives, even where traffic volumes may not warrant such. That typically happens near small communities where several intersections would otherwise be replaced by one, in which closure there may cut the area off for emergency vehicles and an interchange is much less likely to produce an accident. Such was the rationale for several early interchanges on Highway 11 north of Huntsville. A possible example on Highway 17 would be in Thessalon (AADT there about 5,000), where there are currently a large number of intersections (with the major one being Highway 129), and I doubt any of them would warrant signals even when reduced to one (I could be wrong - it's a town of about 1,500 people so it might be signal-warranted, but regardless...there would likely need to be an interchange at 129).

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Dado

Heretic! Don't you know the purpose of the MoTO is to cover the province with needless overpasses and its beloved A4 parclo interchanges, thus ensuring there's no money for anything else?

? Ontario is littered with half measure highways where there probably should have been the full thing. The RIROs on 11 and 35 are horrible, and both of those should have been built to 400 series standards. There are also other half measures where they make kind of sense, such as highway 11 north of Gravenhurst, Highway 3 out by Essex, the planned improvements between Statford and Kitchener on highway 7, the twinning projects in Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, the Collingwood bypass, the Sudbury bypass... etc. etc. etc.

It sure as hell isn't 400 series highway or bust in Ontario.

[haljackey]

I just noticed that work on the West Durham Link is visible in Google Earth. It will be a toll highway that will connect Highway 401 to Highway 407E (also tolled).



Coordinates: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8666573,-78.9762609,1724m/data=!3m1!1e3

[middeljohn]

Tomorrow I embark on my journey across Canada. Looking forward to seeing the various highways across the country as well.

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Tomorrow I embark on my journey across Canada. Looking forward to seeing the various highways across the country as well.

What's your planned route?

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by NBNYer

What's your planned route?

Tonight I'm in Sault Ste Marie, then I plan on sleeping in Thunder Bay, Morden, and Swift Current. Mostly sticking to TCH.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Tomorrow I embark on my journey across Canada. Looking forward to seeing the various highways across the country as well.

Have a safe trip and enjoy the ride.

[middeljohn]

Jesus Christ it takes a long time to get around Lake Superior. If I never have to go on highway 17 again I don't think I'll regret it. Absolutely stunning scenery though. I had no idea Ontario has such steep geography. Right now I'm in a little village called Terrace Bay taking a break, then off to Thunder Bay.

[Dwils01]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Jesus Christ it takes a long time to get around Lake Superior. If I never have to go on highway 17 again I don't think I'll regret it. Absolutely stunning scenery though. I had no idea Ontario has such steep geography. Right now I'm in a little village called Terrace Bay taking a break, then off to Thunder Bay.

There is a lot of beautiful scenery up there. We just had almost 15cm of snow Thursday morning which made the roads pretty bad in the area.

There is a lot of steep terrain from Montreal River Harbour through Lake Superior Provincial Park and from Marathon to Nipigon. My mom's family grew up in Schreiber Ontario and we spent a lot of time up there. I will say that it does feel long sometimes especially the Sault to Wawa. I think the reason is so very few towns along the way. about one every hour. Another thing is if you are stuck behind slow moving traffic or transports there are very few passing lanes. Some hills don't have passing lanes on them and you are stuck behind transports going 30km/h.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Jesus Christ it takes a long time to get around Lake Superior. If I never have to go on highway 17 again I don't think I'll regret it. Absolutely stunning scenery though. I had no idea Ontario has such steep geography. Right now I'm in a little village called Terrace Bay taking a break, then off to Thunder Bay.

Terrace Bay. I spent 3 unplanned days in Terrace Bay and next-door Schrieber on account of my UHaul truck breaking down (1995, moving my stuff from Montreal to Vancouver, after I had already lived out west for a couple of years). They could not get it fixed. Eventually, I had to hitch-hike back to Marathon (closest UHaul dealer), go to the owner-operator's residence (this was the instructions I got from the helpful folk at UHaul), beg him to give me a truck, drive it back to Schreiber (we had moved there after two nights in Terrace Bay, as the insane mechanic refused to continue working on the burst radiator), transfer my worldly possessions in the late hours, then drive all night and much of the next day (made it past Brandon), then the same (Cranbrook), then the same (Home at last, Vancouver) to start my new job the very next day.

[ssiguy]

The drive around Lake Superior is long but beautiful with all kinds of interesting vistas.

Where it REALLY gets boring is between Thunder Bay and Kenora where there is nothing by hours and hours of trees right up against the road with no views...........parts of it are like driving in a tunnel.

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

The drive around Lake Superior is long but beautiful with all kinds of interesting vistas.

Where it REALLY gets boring is between Thunder Bay and Kenora where there is nothing by hours and hours of trees right up against the road with no views...........parts of it are like driving in a tunnel.

Northern Ontario Theme Song:
• Video Link

[haljackey]

Here is a video I made showing progress on the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway, which will connect to a new US/Canada border crossing when complete.

• Video Link

Compare to a year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7LSnG-1VCk

[eemy]

There used to be a restaurant I liked in Schreiber called Rosie's and Josie's, but I believe it closed down. It's probably too late too, but there is a really nice waterfall just outside of Terrace Bay that is only a short walk to see. That's true for Kakabeka Falls as well, come to think of it.

[Dwils01]

My Aunt worked at Rosie's and Josie's before it closed, was always a good place to eat.

The falls in Terrace Bay are the Aguasabon Falls, there is some great views there.