Highways in Canada

[vid]

I once got into an argument on Wikipedia with a man from the UK who argued that Thunder Bay is in Southwestern Ontario, not Northwestern Ontario, because it is south of the half-way point between Ontario's northern and southern most points.

The east-west dividing line, Thunder Bay is the only major city west of it. 84' 41" W



The North-south dividing line. Kenora and Dryden are the only cities north of it. 49' 15" N



Almost all of Ontario's population is in the southeast quadrant.

[SignalHillHiker]

Baccalieu Trail - Highway 80 South - New Chelsea, NL





Veteran's Memorial Highway - Route 75 South - Spaniard's Bay, NL





On the drive home, I stopped again in Carbonear to pick up a burger for the road. It's a small town of about 4,800 people with a nice heritage core and a massive selection of big box stores and fast food restaurants on the outskirts.

I stopped in one drive-through and had to give up because it was taking so long. Passed two more and didn't even bother because there were dozens of cars wrapped around each building. Finally stopped at a fourth and there were probably about 15-20 cars in line in front of me. I've never seen the like in St. John's. I'm no better, but that doesn't mean I can't find the whole situation distressing.

And then these bypass highways and ring roads around every other community... there's no real justifiable reason for the Veteran's Memorial Highway to exist. We have so many highways that just replicate a slightly-longer, built-up coastal road. It's only necessary because of how car-dependent rural Newfoundland is. It was disappointing.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

[B]And then these bypass highways and ring roads around every other community... there's no real justifiable reason for the Veteran's Memorial Highway to exist. We have so many highways that just replicate a slightly-longer, built-up coastal road. It's only necessary because of how car-dependent rural Newfoundland is. It was disappointing.

It's no different in NB and NS. If you stick to the 100 series highways in NS or Highways 1-16 in NB, you would think nobody lived in the Maritimes. At least with the full freeways, you kinda expect no driveway access, but with the "super two's", it takes you a little aback. I mean, where are all the people?

If you want to really experience the Maritimes, please stick to the local coastal roads. I have told people in the past that it is actually possible to drive between Moncton and Saint John through nearly continuous farmland, and this is through scenic river valleys to boot (Petitcodiac & Kennebecasis valleys). You see none of this taking the freeway. Mosy people don't believe me.......

[FrAnKs]

My new Peggys Cove video following The Lighthouse Route.

• Video Link

[MonctonRad]

Good stuff Franks, it's nice to see some dash cams of scenic rural routes in addition to freeways.

[SignalHillHiker]

Great video, Franks! The vegetation and landscape looks so much more like here than I remember.

I just recall, in Nova Scotia, being amazed by the size of the trees - and they were deciduous. But the Peggy's Cove area looks just like here, only a little flatter.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Good stuff Franks, it's nice to see some dash cams of scenic rural routes in addition to freeways.

Thanks ! Yeah, I'm definitely going to make some diversity
With few exceptions, my goal is to go with 3 different type of road videos :

1) Freeways/Autoroute/Dual Carriageway
2) City/Downtown tours
3) Scenic drives/Rural/Wild/maritime landscapes

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by vid

I once got into an argument on Wikipedia with a man from the UK who argued that Thunder Bay is in Southwestern Ontario, not Northwestern Ontario, because it is south of the half-way point between Ontario's northern and southern most points.

The east-west dividing line, Thunder Bay is the only major city west of it. 84' 41" W



The North-south dividing line. Kenora and Dryden are the only cities north of it. 49' 15" N



Almost all of Ontario's population is in the southeast quadrant.

Interesting way to divide Ontario!

I live in Timmins, the most Northerly city. (T-Bay is a close second)

I love telling people down South how Timmins is geographically in the Southern half of the province. Toronto is considerably closer than Peawanuck and Hudson Bay.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Interesting way to divide Ontario!

I live in Timmins, the most Northerly city. (T-Bay is a close second)

I love telling people down South how Timmins is geographically in the Southern half of the province. Toronto is considerably closer than Peawanuck and Hudson Bay.

I remember going across Canada as a kid, I thought it was odd that Sault Ste. Marie was considered part of Northern Ontario even though it sat on the Canada/US border.

What would be considered Central Ontario?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I was born and raised in London. In London Goderich is considered up north and Barrie was considered the edge of the planet.

Sure, but I still stand by point. I am not talking about knowing exact geographic coordinates.

I am talking about knowing the difference between Timmins being 10 minutes from Mississauga... and vaguely knowing that it's a city way up there far away in the northern wasteland or something (even this, though a bit ignorant, would be more palatable to me...)

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by dmuzika

I remember going across Canada as a kid, I thought it was odd that Sault Ste. Marie was considered part of Northern Ontario even though it sat on the Canada/US border.

What would be considered Central Ontario?

There may be some variation, but I'd consider Central Ontario to coincide generally with the Muskokas. Another term that I sometimes here is midwestern Ontario, which I'd generally consider to be the land in and around of Owen Sound.

Ontario's geographical nomenclature is very much skewed to the southern port of the province.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

There may be some variation, but I'd consider Central Ontario to coincide generally with the Muskokas. Another term that I sometimes here is midwestern Ontario, which I'd generally consider to be the land in and around of Owen Sound.

Ontario's geographical nomenclature is very much skewed to the southern port of the province.

Strictly speaking, GTA and the wider vicinity would be central Ontario for me. This includes Muskoka for sure.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

My new Peggys Cove video following The Lighthouse Route.

• Video Link

Another great video. very nice.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Sure, but I still stand by point. I am not talking about knowing exact geographic coordinates.

I am talking about knowing the difference between Timmins being 10 minutes from Mississauga... and vaguely knowing that it's a city way up there far away in the northern wasteland or something (even this, though a bit ignorant, would be more palatable to me...)

wasteland??? We have some of the largest gold mines in the world! LOL

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by dmuzika

I remember going across Canada as a kid, I thought it was odd that Sault Ste. Marie was considered part of Northern Ontario even though it sat on the Canada/US border.

What would be considered Central Ontario?

Northern Ontario is also called what it is because of cultural differences and history. It is definitely a region in Canada that can act like it's its own province.

Central Ontario in my opinion includes:

The following districts:

Parry Sound
Muskoka

The following counties:

Bruce
Grey
Simcoe (the Northern part but not Barrie)
Haliburton

Basically anywhere that is West or East of Georgian Bay but not Manitoulin Island which is part of Northern Ontario.

[SignalHillHiker]

Do you guys say "Central Ontario" commonly? I've not encountered that yet.

We use "Central Canada" for ON/QC, which I've learned through SSP isn't the dominant way of doing it in much of the other provinces. But I've not heard "Central Ontario" that I can recall.

[rousseau]

Interesting. I've never heard of "central Ontario" before, and don't know where it would refer to. But Toronto is definitely the GTA, or Toronto, or the Big Smoke, etc. Nobody ever refers to the GTA as "central Ontario."

Basically in Ontario you've got Toronto/the GTA, the Niagara Peninsula, southwestern Ontario, eastern Ontario and northern Ontario. Those are the larger demarcations that your average person in Ontario will know. Maybe the area of central Ontario (where is it?) might refer to itself as such, but people in the rest of the province won't really know what it means.

[Loco101]

Another interesting thing to note: "Northern Ontario" is ALWAYS spelled with a capital N by those in Northern Ontario.

Many in the South including the Government of Ontario will spell it "northern Ontario" which angers many here in Northern Ontario.

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Another interesting thing to note: "Northern Ontario" is ALWAYS spelled with a capital N by those in Northern Ontario.

Many in the South including the Government of Ontario will spell it "northern Ontario" which angers many here in Northern Ontario.

I work for the government, and there is specific guidance that when writing correspondence the 'n' in northern Ontario should not be capitalized in most situations.

Why does that anger people?

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Do you guys say "Central Ontario" commonly? I've not encountered that yet.

We use "Central Canada" for ON/QC, which I've learned through SSP isn't the dominant way of doing it in much of the other provinces. But I've not heard "Central Ontario" that I can recall.

You don't hear "Central Ontario" very often for a different reasons. Some of the things that come to mind are the fact that Central Ontario is part of Southern Ontario, the boundaries are not clearly defined, the region has maybe 5-8% of the province's total population, and that there are not very many larger municipalities within it. (by Ontario standards) The largest places I believe if you consider the broadest definition of the region would be Barrie, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Belleville, Orillia, Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, Owen Sound, Penetanguishene, Midland. And I don't really consider Barrie or Belleville to be part of Central Ontario. One last thing that comes to mind is that maybe not as many Ontarians are using "Central Ontario" anymore. Many will just use the district, county, body of water or municipality instead, for example, Muskoka, Georgian Bay, Parry Sound, etc..

But just Google "Central Ontario" and you will see many webpages of various types.

Here is the Wikipedia page for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Ontario