Highways in Canada

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

well worth the watch. Quebec has great topography and the video editing is great.

Any chance that Autoroute 40 gets extended eastward along the North Shore?

The 4-lane divided section as far as Casgrain would likely just require a south side service road and a few interchanges. From Casgrain to east of Beaupre, though, a new alignment well to the north would be required, most likely near the hydro corridor. East of there, most likely would be a mixture of twinning and adjacent new alignments.

[SignalHillHiker]

I had to drive to Terra Nova National Park today for an event. It's insane how St. John's has the worst weather even within Newfoundland.

The Trans Canada Highway is a two-lane, 90 km/hr highway through the entirety of the national park.



Closer to the city, it becomes a mostly three-lane highway with lots of bits where it's two or four lanes peppered in between. But NEVER divided except for the parts leading up to important exit ramps. So it might be divided for a KM in total, with exit ramps in the middle of that distance. And those are... might be two or three across the whole middle of the island (it's divided for an hour or two on both coasts).



The highway is divided from Whitbourne (former railway town turned truck stop) to St. John's. It's also about where the fog starts.

You can tell by the change in fauna that it's not just a fluke, despite the very short distance between those two pics.



These below on the sides aren't service roads like Manitoba has. Ours only exist where there's something there, so they're just normal roads. In the interior (where the TCH goes), that almost always means a pond with a significant number of cabins/tourist lodges.





Finally...

[FrAnKs]

You are really driving 126 ?
... I'm back from Ontario and I did Nova-Scotia last year and now this. I start to think that Quebec drivers are quite slow now...

[SignalHillHiker]

I was about to ask what you meant. I thought I cropped them all like the Mount Pearl sign one.

It generally flows 120-30 here and more, yeah. I only pass the people doing less. I'm usually in the right lane being passed.

[FrAnKs]

You guys are not afraid to get caught by cops? I mean doing 10 over the speed limit is a thing. But what about 20-30 ?

My max speed was 120 in Both Quebec & Ontario.

At 120, I am passing almost 95% of the drivers in Quebec while in Ontario I was in the average I would say.

IMO, the average speed in Quebec is around 115 and 120 in Ontario.

One of the thing I noticed when I was back in Quebec after 2 days in Ontario is we tend to have a bigger difference between slower & faster traffic.

In Quebec we have a bunch of drivers doing 100-105 aswell as peoples doing 120-125. I've rarely see that in Ontario though.

[SignalHillHiker]

I got stopped once doing 145+ with Ayreonaut and got a polite warning. On the highway, it's just fast. It's different near/in communities. You have to be unusual and disrespectful of norms to get in serious trouble.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I got stopped once doing 145+ with Ayreonaut and got a polite warning. On the highway, it's just fast. It's different near/in communities. You have to be unusual and disrespectful of norms to get in serious trouble.

Here they will tolerate 120. Not more. At 125 you're sure to get a ticket in Quebec.

[Innsertnamehere]

I do 120-130 on highways in Ontario most of the time, varying in that bracket depending on the context (if there are other fast drivers around me I'll go faster as there's a lower risk of being pulled over with 3-4 people doing 130 all together). I'm usually one of the fastest on the road, though. I do a lot of 407 driving for work too and the cops won't even blink unless you are doing over 140 on it.

[mattpa]

i usually do 115 in manitoba everywhere but ive been pulled over by rcmp going 106 i lost my shit and a city traffic quota cop pulled me over for going 63 in a 60 its a job and depends on the police. Then again once i hit the states i average 145 doesnt matter where as long as i got my radar detector bud

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I do 120-130 on highways in Ontario most of the time, varying in that bracket depending on the context (if there are other fast drivers around me I'll go faster as there's a lower risk of being pulled over with 3-4 people doing 130 all together). I'm usually one of the fastest on the road, though. I do a lot of 407 driving for work too and the cops won't even blink unless you are doing over 140 on it.

I didn't knew the context, so I did 120 from the QC border to Toronto.
This, and the fact that I was in vacation and didn't wanted any problems with ONT. cops especially with very basic english.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

You guys are not afraid to get caught by cops? I mean doing 10 over the speed limit is a thing. But what about 20-30 ?

My max speed was 120 in Both Quebec & Ontario.

At 120, I am passing almost 95% of the drivers in Quebec while in Ontario I was in the average I would say.

IMO, the average speed in Quebec is around 115 and 120 in Ontario.

One of the thing I noticed when I was back in Quebec after 2 days in Ontario is we tend to have a bigger difference between slower & faster traffic.

In Quebec we have a bunch of drivers doing 100-105 aswell as peoples doing 120-125. I've rarely see that in Ontario though.

Oh yeah? I drive 120-125 in Quebec all the time, and 130 or more if I am in a Tour de France type of pack (peloton) where we are all going the same speed.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oh yeah? I drive 120-125 in Quebec all the time, and 130 or more if I am in a Tour de France type of pack (peloton) where we are all going the same speed.

Mmmh, surprising.

Where do you drive 130 ?

I personally often do it on A40 between Trois-Rivières and Ste-Anne de la Pérade. Right lanes surrounded by deep forests.

But honestly, from what I said above, that was really my ''fresh'' impression of driving in both provinces between Toronto and Quebec city in 48 hours.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Mmmh, surprising.

Where do you drive 130 ?

I personally often do it on A40 between Trois-Rivières and Ste-Anne de la Pérade. Right lanes surrounded by deep forests.

A-50 between Hull and Buckingham

A-15 between Mirabel and Laval

A-40 anywhere except the Métropolitaine.

A-20 between Montreal and Rivière-du-Loup

Those are the ones I use the most.

I will be driving the A-10 to Sherbrooke this weekend too.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Mmmh, surprising.

Where do you drive 130 ?

I personally often do it on A40 between Trois-Rivières and Ste-Anne de la Pérade. Right lanes surrounded by deep forests.

But honestly, from what I said above, that was really my ''fresh'' impression of driving in both provinces between Toronto and Quebec city in 48 hours.

I do agree that the days when Ontario drivers were slower and less crazy than Quebec drivers are over. It was true in the 70s and 80s but no more.

[leftimage]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Here they will tolerate 120. Not more. At 125 you're sure to get a ticket in Quebec.

Drivers in Quebec are slow, I agree. It's unusual because despite the fact that even at 122-123km you're getting a ticket, I find SQ in Quebec incredibly easy to detect on most roads. There is literally no greenery all along the 20... I usually drive 125-130 without too much worry. I am blazing past everyone though. The middle lane in Quebec is easily 110-115 on average. Very family-friendly and safe driving.

Thankfully for drivers like myself, Quebecers have the best 'left lane etiquette' in all the provinces I've driven. Ontario drivers the WORST. They just don't care, both at home and when visiting la belle province. I'm thinking for some it might that western driving culture is a fairly new experience...

When I drive in Ontario I don't dare go over 120 unless I can tail someone going way over the limit. There are some terrifying road signs when you enter Ontario from Quebec, showing km/s over the limit and the equivalent fines. I think 30 over is like 600$ and a bunch of demerit points. And the OPP is US-style sneaky, hiding behind cedars and whatnot.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by leftimage

Drivers in Quebec are slow, I agree. It's unusual because despite the fact that even at 122-123km you're getting a ticket, I find SQ in Quebec incredibly easy to detect on most roads. There is literally no greenery all along the 20... I usually drive 125-130 without too much worry. I am blazing past everyone though. The middle lane in Quebec is easily 110-115 on average. Very family-friendly and safe driving.

.

Oddly enough that's not the reputation we have.

Just the other week I was in the southern US and our waiter was a transplanted New Yorker. When he asked where we were from relative to Montreal, I said ''Gatineau which is two hours west of Montreal'' and he said ''OK, so that's one hour for you guys since you drive so fast!".

[haljackey]

My fuel economy turns to crap if I do more than 115.

The one thing I like about the lower speed limits in Ontario/Quebec is that they are closer to what speed your car will optimally perform at. Most cars get their best fuel economy around 60 MPH, or 95km/h.

My driving habbits have evolved from doing 119 on the 400 series to roughly 110. I go faster down hills and slower up hills to keep my RPM relatively stable.

[leftimage]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oddly enough that's not the reputation we have.

Just the other week I was in the southern US and our waiter was a transplanted New Yorker. When he asked where we were from relative to Montreal, I said ''Gatineau which is two hours west of Montreal'' and he said ''OK, so that's one hour for you guys since you drive so fast!".

I take it most visitors base themselves off their personal driving experiences in Montreal and that's how Quebec earns the 'Jacques Villeneuve' reputation. Many Montreal drivers are seemingly crazy, but I feel this is a common perception in big cities filled with 'technical' highway infrastructure. Navigating the roads become second-nature to locals such that they drive faster and take way more liberties.

I'll wager that New York State has a similar reputation with its neighbors solely because of NYC drivers.

One notable exception to the 'big city = crazy driver' rule, in my experience, has been the GTA. I find drivers there more courteous, prudent and patient than one would expect for a big metropolitan road system. I still feel like a wolf on their roads ! Not a sheep like in NYC or, um, most of Europe.

[PhilippeMtl]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

I didn't knew the context, so I did 120 from the QC border to Toronto.
This, and the fact that I was in vacation and didn't wanted any problems with ONT. cops especially with very basic english.

Got caught at 168km/hr on HWY 20 when I was younger and the policeman only told me to go slower.. Today, it will have probably cost me more than 5000$ with my driving licence.

Now,I drive between 110 and 118 except if the traffic goes faster.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by leftimage

One notable exception to the 'big city = crazy driver' rule, in my experience, has been the GTA. I find drivers there more courteous, prudent and patient than one would expect for a big metropolitan road system. I still feel like a wolf on their roads ! Not a sheep like in NYC or, um, most of Europe.

I think this is the result of Ontario's road design principles, which are set up to hold drivers hand and thus create a more patient/calm driving environment. Look at the long merge lanes for onramps, for example.