Highways in Canada

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Only Ontario and British Columbia's main Trans Canada routes are not fully divided. Parts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland's TCH are also not twinned.

They should twin Highway 17 to Sault St Marie's International crossing.

Highway 11 is the one that should be twinned to Thunder Bay and beyond.

Have you ever driven those routes?
http://globalnews.ca/news/1121806/watch-camera-captures-incredible-near-miss-on-ontario-road/
If you were this driver, you would change your mind. Just imagine this was able to happen on the 401?

Highway 11 west of Cochrane has very little car traffic, since it passes through very few communities and no large ones. From North Bay to the 11/101 split is quite busy though.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Somewhat, but they have been working on it for many years and also that area is less influential within Quebec being far from the main population centres. Ontario is much farther behind...and BC is also far behind as well...

Whereas the TCH is of pretty critical importance to NB. That and several successive NB premiers were quite chummy with Jean Chrétien and succeeded in getting lots of highway funding from Ottawa.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Highway 11 west of Cochrane has very little car traffic, since it passes through very few communities and no large ones. From North Bay to the 11/101 split is quite busy though.

AADT is not the only reason to upgrade a highway. If a road is particularly unsafe and dividing it will make it safer, then why not do it.

If you only use one singular reason to upgrade a highway then many divided highways outside of the cities would not have been done for a much longer time.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Regarding the Calgary SW Ring Road, I believe that will ultimately end up as TCH/Highway 1 as well once 22X/901 is upgraded. Quite a few highway numbers would change as a result.

I believe the ultimate route network in the area is greatly different than it is now:

1 would follow Stoney Trail SW and S, then 22X onto a new extension between Carseland and Strathmore, rejoining the existing route north of Gleichen.

The province has shown some documentation of the 22X/901 freeway; however, the issue would be that the TransCanada Highway would significantly bypass Calgary. Alberta Transportation has a study online that twins Hwy 560 (Glenmore Trail) between Stoney Trail and Langdon. My though has been that if this extended east and tied into the current TransCanada Hwy, TCH 1 could run along Glenmore Trail (the city is slowly making it freeflow) and then rejoin 16 Ave using either the west Stoney Trail or Sarcee Trail. This would result in TCH 1 still passing through (instead of around) Calgary. Dangerous Goods that are prohibited on the causeway could use Stoney Trail.

The orphaned TCH, including the 16th Avenue section, would likely become 1A, at least from Deerfoot Trail to Strathmore, including a new SW bypass and connector. Existing 1A along 17th Avenue SE would probably be decommissioned, although a secondary number might also be warranted.

Now that Chestermere and Calgary adjoin each other, the current Hwy 1A east is entirely under either City of Calgary (17 Ave SE) or City of Chestermere (Chestermere Blvd) jurisdiction. New signs at TCH 1/Chestermere Blvd no longer show Hwy 1A and I contacted Alberta Transportation and they indicated it’s no longer a provincial highway. In short, it sounds like Hwy 1A has been decommissioned and they just have to remove reference signs in Calgary.

21 would likely be extended south to Carseland via the SE Strathmore bypass, then along 817 to meet 24. One plan has 24 being used on that section, but that orphans a section to the west through Cheadle, so I wouldn't change 24 personally.

22X would only exist as far as the Stoney Trail SW bend. East of there, it would be 1 (and 201 on the Stoney Trail portions), with an extension to meet the 1A connector described above near Namaka.

I'm wondering if it could be renumbered to Hwy 66?

Most likely, 201 would run concurrent with 1 on Stoney Trail SW and S to keep things consistent for through traffic.

560 is important enough IMO that it should just take on the Highway 8 designation as a primary, and extend it to Highway 24 south of Cheadle.

567 (E-W portion) and 840 (N-S portion) are the most logical designations for the orphaned TCH between Strathmore and Gleichen. Given that traffic volumes would fall off a cliff as a result, two lanes could be graded out and the 567-840 intersection realigned so that they are local access highways and not looking like an expressway.

817 would be shortened to start in the southern edge of Strathmore at an interchange with 1A/21 as a result.

901 would likely take on a new secondary number (most logical would be 554?) as it would never be part of Highway 1 through Siksika so the temporary number would not be useful. Heck, I would just renumber it as 554 now.

A couple other things I would do, that are not planned at this time:

9 should be realigned to meet Stoney Trail NE at the bend north of Country Hills Boulevard, running on a new alignment to Kathryn/Keoma, for quicker and simpler access from the northeast (as far as Saskatoon). It probably only needs to be 2 lanes at this time, but protection for a wider corridor should be made.

797 would pick up the north-south section of 9, as it is a straight linear extension.

I'm wondering if Hwys 583/806/9/797 could form a new highway between Three Hills and Langdon? Maybe Hwy 30 (I think its unused).

Originally Posted by craner

Funny you mention this, I was recently looking at a map of Alberta and seeing how they could re-route highway 9 to connect with highway 7 in Sask to create a more major/direct link between Saskatoon and Calgary. Likely wont be required for a while yet but the way both cities are growing it's probably going to be required at some point.
Do you know if the province has done any studies of AB highway 9 ?

There are old documents that propose Hwy 9 following Hwy 564 (Country Hills Blvd) into Calgary. Too bad it never came into being.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by craner

Funny you mention this, I was recently looking at a map of Alberta and seeing how they could re-route highway 9 to connect with highway 7 in Sask to create a more major/direct link between Saskatoon and Calgary. Likely wont be required for a while yet but the way both cities are growing it's probably going to be required at some point.
Do you know if the province has done any studies of AB highway 9 ?

I believe the long term plans has routes from Stoney Trail going both north and east as well? An eastern route, meeting at the northeast corner of Stoney, could easily be Highway 9. Initially 2 lanes might be sufficient, but protection for a multi-lane freeway should certainly exist. In order to bypass a residential subdivision, it would have to move northward across TR 260 (144th Avenue) before reaching RR 284 (Conrich Road). From there, it is an easy straight line just north of TR 260 to meet up with existing Highway 9, which could be twinned and upgraded in that area in the longer term, although a new adjacent alignment might be more desirable.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by Tone

C'est ma passion aussi, quand j'étais jeune, je passais une bonne partie de mes étés en vélo à regarder les travaux des différentes phases de la 20 autour de Rimouski du Bic jusqu'à Mont-Joli en rêvant de pouvoir travailler un jour sur des futures phases de la 20 de Cacouna au Bic et sur la 85. Aujourd'hui, je me pince à chaque jour d'avoir la chance de vivre mon rêve et de participer à la construction de ma région, c'est un sentiment inexplicable...



C'est difficile pour moi de répondre parce que je n'ai pas travaillé sur d'autres projets dans d'autres provinces. Peut-être que les standards d'acceptation de matériaux, les pourcentages de compaction du sol ou la qualité de l'enrobé bitumineux ainsi que les épaisseurs et la quantité des couches sont différents par exemple. En voyant les plans et devis de d'autres projets ailleurs on pourrait comparer si les spécifications sont les mêmes ou non.



Effectivement on est extrêmement chanceux d'avoir deux autoroutes en développement en simultané! La 85 oui elle est en grande partie pour les maritimes mais la 20 est pour nous (et la Gaspésie)!



Merci mon ami! On a optenu deux tronçons soit Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!/Cabano et Cabano/Notre-Dame-Du-Lac et j'espère qu'on aura une autre part du gâteau restant.



Comme je te disais, le tronçon qui va ouvrir en novembre se rend pratiquement jusqu'à Trois-Pistoles mais effectivement il n'y a rien entre Trois-Pistoles et le Bic pour l'instant. J'espère une annonce dans un avenir pas trop lointain.

Merci pour les explications !

[Tone]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

Merci pour les explications !

De rien! Deux autres photos récentes pour toi:

Pose de l'enrobé bitumineux couche de base (85mm épais.)

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

These projects are not because of various politicians. The 4 laning is occuring because the people who travel these highways pressured the government to make them safer. When you have idiot drivers trying to get to their cottage to see the sunset http://windsor.ctvnews.ca/windsor-driver...s-speeding-to-catch-the-sunset-1.2494846 Or other stupid things, we want to keep them on their side. If they left it 2 laned and just put a median, that may have been better.

It would be nice to see Highways 11 and 17 twinned to Thunder Bay and 17 twinned to the MB border.

Mike Harris and Ernie Eves were the MPPs for the ridings those projects were located in. I always thought Ernie Eves was a very vocal proponent of at least the Hwy 69 twinning. I don't think the twinnings would have gone as far north as they have without Harris and Eves.

As I recall in the late 90s and early 2000s from family that lived close to Highway 11, a lot of people between Huntsville and North Bay did not want the new highway. When construction of the 4 lane bypass of South River/Sundridge was announced, about half of the houses there went up for sale. Some family of mine owned a house up there and were among the sellers, and it took them 5 years to sell.

I still think that money could have been better used on improving the North Bay bypass, and the stretch of RIRO Highway 11 between Barrie and Gravenhurst.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by Tone

De rien! Deux autres photos récentes pour toi:

Pose de l'enrobé bitumineux couche de base (85mm épais.)

À ce que je vois, t'es pas le seul geek a prendre des photos
Photos prises à la hauteur de quelle route?

[Tone]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

À ce que je vois, t'es pas le seul geek a prendre des photos
Photos prises à la hauteur de quelle route?

En fait, le gars a une caméra thermique, sa job est de prendre des lectures de la température de pose de l'enrobé, je suis le plus geek du chantier.

La deuxième photo regarde vers l'ouest avec le viaduc Chemin du Coteau du Tuf en avant plan et le viaduc Route du Coteau des Érables en arrière plan. (l'endroit où l'A20 s'arrête présentement)

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Mike Harris and Ernie Eves were the MPPs for the ridings those projects were located in. I always thought Ernie Eves was a very vocal proponent of at least the Hwy 69 twinning. I don't think the twinnings would have gone as far north as they have without Harris and Eves.

As I recall in the late 90s and early 2000s from family that lived close to Highway 11, a lot of people between Huntsville and North Bay did not want the new highway. When construction of the 4 lane bypass of South River/Sundridge was announced, about half of the houses there went up for sale. Some family of mine owned a house up there and were among the sellers, and it took them 5 years to sell.

I still think that money could have been better used on improving the North Bay bypass, and the stretch of RIRO Highway 11 between Barrie and Gravenhurst.

The people in the small towns were upset that traffic would be diverted from their small towns.

As far as I understand it, "Route 6" will be built when they divide 17.

The only way to fix the RIRO really is to get rid of all those businesses and houses along it. They are planning on bypassing that area eventually.

[Innsertnamehere]

MTO has Documents on how 11 wil be upgraded from a RIRO, but they are waiting until the highway needs to be widened to 6 lanes to do it. I woudn't be surprised if it gets done south of orillia Soonish, but north of there is a long ways off from upgrading.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

MTO has Documents on how 11 wil be upgraded from a RIRO, but they are waiting until the highway needs to be widened to 6 lanes to do it. I woudn't be surprised if it gets done south of orillia Soonish, but north of there is a long ways off from upgrading.

If I were to place my bets on the order of upgrades, Here is the order I think they will do it:

1) 4 lane Highway 69 from Parry Sound to Sudbury, then relabel as Highway 400.

2) 6 lane Barrie to Orillia.

3) 6 lane Orillia to Gravenhurst

4) 6 lane Barrie to Parry Sound

5) 4 lane Sault St Marie to Arnprior.

[FrAnKs]

The Hartland covered bridge filmed 1 year ago by me :

• Video Link

[TownGuy]

^ Neat. Why is it covered?

401
The end of a busy day by Alexander Zhukau, on Flickr

[FrAnKs]

^

Thanks !

Part of the answer here :

''The bridge was covered in 1921-22, to considerable opposition and concern, and sermons were even preached in the area, cautioning how a “covered” bride would destroy the morals of the young people. However, the bridge was covered anyway. For some years after, snow had to be hauled each winter and placed on the bridge floor to allow horses and sleds to travel across it.''

http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Products/H/Hartland-Covered-Bridge-National-Historic-Site.aspx

And / or

''The bridge was covered and in the early years snow had to be hauled and placed on the floor so the sleds could easily travel on it in the winter.''


------------

By the way, wonderful picture of the 401 ! I've been driving it at sundown last month and filmed it. It was the most epic drive of my life !

I am actually working on a video of the 401 east between Bowmanville and Colborne.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

The people in the small towns were upset that traffic would be diverted from their small towns.

As far as I understand it, "Route 6" will be built when they divide 17.

The only way to fix the RIRO really is to get rid of all those businesses and houses along it. They are planning on bypassing that area eventually.

That is exactly true, residents didn't want traffic bypassing their towns. But not everyone wants to live in Toronto or even North Bay. Many people retire in these smaller communities, but a freeway bypass destroys already low property values. The family I had that sold their house were lucky to do it before the Highway 11 bypass was built, but they got less money than they would have if they sold 20 years earlier when the idea of a four lane Highway 11 wasn't even on the radar north of Novar.

I also believe Ontario Northland Railway would still be in service had Highway 11 not been twinned.

What is Route 6?

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

That is exactly true, residents didn't want traffic bypassing their towns. But not everyone wants to live in Toronto or even North Bay. Many people retire in these smaller communities, but a freeway bypass destroys already low property values. The family I had that sold their house were lucky to do it before the Highway 11 bypass was built, but they got less money than they would have if they sold 20 years earlier when the idea of a four lane Highway 11 wasn't even on the radar north of Novar.

I also believe Ontario Northland Railway would still be in service had Highway 11 not been twinned.

What is Route 6?

http://www.nugget.ca/2012/07/27/north-bay-expressway-footprint-updated That is route 6. Basically, a bypass off the North Bay Bypass.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

^ Neat. Why is it covered?

Covered bridges were popular 100 years ago because the "roof" helped to protect the wooden deck from the elements hence increasing the lifespan of the bridge.

Bridges nowadays of course are made of steel therefore covering modern bridges is unnecessary. With time, the number of aging wooden covered bridges continues to decline. Back in their heyday, there were literally hundreds of these bridges in NB. I believe now there are fewer than 25 left in the province. Usually at least one is lost every year, either to old age and collapse or arson.

Most Maritimers have a nostalgic attachment to covered bridges. It will be sad to see the last ones go.......

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Mike Harris and Ernie Eves were the MPPs for the ridings those projects were located in. I always thought Ernie Eves was a very vocal proponent of at least the Hwy 69 twinning. I don't think the twinnings would have gone as far north as they have without Harris and Eves.

As I recall in the late 90s and early 2000s from family that lived close to Highway 11, a lot of people between Huntsville and North Bay did not want the new highway. When construction of the 4 lane bypass of South River/Sundridge was announced, about half of the houses there went up for sale. Some family of mine owned a house up there and were among the sellers, and it took them 5 years to sell.

I still think that money could have been better used on improving the North Bay bypass, and the stretch of RIRO Highway 11 between Barrie and Gravenhurst.

You feel that Hwy 11 between Huntsville and North Bay would be okay if it was only 2 lanes??? I was always annoyed at having to go through the towns. Sundridge was probably the worst. It really shows how backwards some of the people in those places could be by not wanting a better highway. I can see if affecting businesses but I don't understand how the value of homes would take a hit.