Highways in Canada

[Metro-One]

So it looks like in 2016 3 highway segments in BC will be given variable speed limits.

Hope this program goes well and is expanded.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/variable-speed-limit-signs-1.3347259

[AirGuitarChampion]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

So it looks like in 2016 3 highway segments in BC will be given variable speed limits.

Hope this program goes well and is expanded.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/variable-speed-limit-signs-1.3347259

Hmmm. In good conditions with high traffic - I could see this being used like an honor system (as much as a speed limit is) rolling slowdown. It could hopefully help clear out areas of clogged traffic. They really could use this westbound rogers pass several KM ahead of the snow sheds, to get traffic matched to volume there rather than gunning up the passing lane on the hill before only to jam on the brakes at the first shed. But I think it will probably result in more passing activity when it shows "low" and people don't get that it's really helping to slow down.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

So it looks like in 2016 3 highway segments in BC will be given variable speed limits.

Hope this program goes well and is expanded.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/variable-speed-limit-signs-1.3347259

This would be a good thing in Ontario on some of the more snow prone sections of the 400 series highways.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Take Inverness, a city comparable to North Bay in population and distance from big cities. There's no divided highway to get there, but it's served by 35 trains a day and even more frequent service planned. So there you have it, Scotland's version of North Bay has better intercity rail service than Toronto. Kind of puts things in perspective.

There will be a motorway to Inverness completed by 2025. That is a deadly highway in northern Scotland.

[ssiguy]

Variable highway speeds in BC make a lot of sense. Certainly not in the Lower Mainland or the Island but in the Interior due to the mountains, conditions can change very quickly. Roads can quickly go from dry to wet to icy to snow covered in every month from Nov to April.

Roads thru the mountains are by their very nature curvy so this makes them even more dangerous.

I most areas of the country, variable speeds make sense on freeway/four lanes but only for 2 speed limits........one for winter and the one for the rest of the year. France has a similar system where there is one general speed limit but a lower one when it's raining.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Variable highway speeds in BC make a lot of sense. Certainly not in the Lower Mainland or the Island but in the Interior due to the mountains, conditions can change very quickly. Roads can quickly go from dry to wet to icy to snow covered in every month from Nov to April.

Roads thru the mountains are by their very nature curvy so this makes them even more dangerous.

I most areas of the country, variable speeds make sense on freeway/four lanes but only for 2 speed limits........one for winter and the one for the rest of the year. France has a similar system where there is one general speed limit but a lower one when it's raining.

My driver ed teacher in high school told us that the posted "Maximum" refers to ideal conditions and that you can be speeding even if you're going well under that speed when the weather is inclement.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

It's very interresting to know the point of view of someone who experienced both sides

I am not an expert at all, but I noticed the ''Joie de vivre'' thing.
Not sure what are the right words to use, but many times I found Ontarians quite Serious and calm looking peoples. Peoples weren't talking too loud inside of say, a restaurant per example. Thats where I found a certain clash compared to Quebec.

I came back in Quebec, and right after the border, I saw peoples smilling alot, laughing, chatting with me about their personnal life etc.. lol ( I am not saying that it's impossible in Ontario, dont get me wrong )

About architecture, I think Ontario has nothing to be shameful compared to the province of Quebec. I especially like those Main Streets in Many ontarian villages/cities with some solid heritage buildings. But I think Quebec will certainly treat its street ambiance & will dress it differently like if aesthetics were seeing in a different angle here. I just don't know how to describe it.

Last question, do you believe food is better in Quebec ? Are peoples eating slightly better here ?

I am very biased, but I think that the food is better in Quebec; only because more people there care about great food. there are outstanding restaurants and local foods here, but the preponderance of chains (Esp. crap like Milestones, Moxie's, Turtle Jacks, Jack Astor's, Kelsey's, Boston Pizza, Swiss Chalet, etc.) is overwhelming.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I am very biased, but I think that the food is better in Quebec; only because more people there care about great food. there are outstanding restaurants and local foods here, but the preponderance of chains (Esp. crap like Milestones, Moxie's, Turtle Jacks, Jack Astor's, Kelsey's, Boston Pizza, Swiss Chalet, etc.) is overwhelming.

A great example is to compare my city of Timmins, ON with Rouyn-Noranda, QC. (Rouyn is actually the closest city to Timmins)

Both places are mining municipalities and have about the same population of around 43,000.

Timmins is really really crappy when it comes to dining out. There are only a couple of fancier independent restaurants but with not very exciting menus and very high prices. Here it is almost entirely chains. (Montana's, Casey's, East Side Mario's, Wacky Wings, Boston Pizza, etc.. And there are many fast food chain choices. I rarely get excited about dining out here. Most of the restaurants are in the shopping areas and on the outskirts.

Rouyn-Noranda is quite different. It has many great and innovative independent restaurants and most of them are located in the downtowns. (there are two downtowns as Rouyn and Noranda were merged) They all have interesting and unique decor unlike what you would see in Timmins. The service is way better and the food quality even more so. And it generally costs 20% less to dine out as compared to Timmins.

Some of my favourites places (all independent) include a Greek restaurant, a great Thai place, a couple fancy breakfast places, a Mediterranean bistro, an amazing bakery, a cafe themed around chocolate and amazing pizza places. Basically just look at TripAdvisor and you'll see all of these places.

The only non-fast food chain restaurants in Rouyn are all Quebec based which are St-Hubert, La Cage aux Sports and Mikes. All of them are great. Rouyn has very few fast food chains unlike Timmins.

The only non-fast chain that both Rouyn-Noranda and Timmins have is Mikes. And the Rouyn location serves much better food and has better service than the Timmins Mikes location. I think Timmins has the only Mikes in Ontario.

Timmins is often the testing grounds for many Quebec-based companies by the way.

We need to have a new thread about this subject!

[MolsonExport]

Great post. You captured my thoughts to a "T".

Mikes is a good Quebec chain. Fabulous submarine sandwiches, served Quebec-style.

The best restaurants here are almost always ethnic. The chains have killed off most of the non-ethnic independent restaurants. Where I work (UWO) there are perhaps 80,000 Tim Horton's.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Loco101

A great example is to compare my city of Timmins, ON with Rouyn-Noranda, QC. (Rouyn is actually the closest city to Timmins)

Both places are mining municipalities and have about the same population of around 43,000.

Timmins is really really crappy when it comes to dining out. There are only a couple of fancier independent restaurants but with not very exciting menus and very high prices. Here it is almost entirely chains. (Montana's, Casey's, East Side Mario's, Wacky Wings, Boston Pizza, etc.. And there are many fast food chain choices. I rarely get excited about dining out here. Most of the restaurants are in the shopping areas and on the outskirts.

Rouyn-Noranda is quite different. It has many great and innovative independent restaurants and most of them are located in the downtowns. (there are two downtowns as Rouyn and Noranda were merged) They all have interesting and unique decor unlike what you would see in Timmins. The service is way better and the food quality even more so. And it generally costs 20% less to dine out as compared to Timmins.

Some of my favourites places (all independent) include a Greek restaurant, a great Thai place, a couple fancy breakfast places, a Mediterranean bistro, an amazing bakery, a cafe themed around chocolate and amazing pizza places. Basically just look at TripAdvisor and you'll see all of these places.

The only non-fast food chain restaurants in Rouyn are all Quebec based which are St-Hubert, La Cage aux Sports and Mikes. All of them are great. Rouyn has very few fast food chains unlike Timmins.

The only non-fast chain that both Rouyn-Noranda and Timmins have is Mikes. And the Rouyn location serves much better food and has better service than the Timmins Mikes location. I think Timmins has the only Mikes in Ontario.

Timmins is often the testing grounds for many Quebec-based companies by the way.

We need to have a new thread about this subject!

Hey, I've noticed the exact same thing! My wife is from northeastern Ontario and I've visited all of the cities up there many times (including Timmins) and it took quite some time into our relationship before we made it over the border to Rouyn-Noranda. We always take the 17-11 route from Ottawa, but one time we decided to take the 117 and then the 105 at Maniwaki down to Gatineau. Most of my wife's relatives and friends in Northern Ontario told us that Rouyn-Noranda was a tiny village and that it sucked and there was nothing to see there.

Anyway, we were both shocked (my wife hadn't been there in ages) to see a modest main street with a handful of cute little hipster restaurants and cafés filled with well-dressed locals, with works by local artists hanging on the walls, non-Muzak cool music playing in the background.

This is really, really hard to find anywhere in Northern Ontario. And to my knowledge it exists nowhere on this (albeit modest) scale. (Though I don't want to oversell what exists in Rouyn-Noranda. It's still a mining town of 45,000 people in the middle of the boreal forest of NW Quebec.)

Still, it's very surprising given that Rouyn-Noranda is much more homogenous in population than any of the Ontario cities across the border, most of which have a pretty good multicultural mix from which you could draw some cultural fineries (in terms of dining and art de vivre especially).

It's also worth noting that Rouyn-Noranda has a pretty big annual international film festival featuring foreign and art house films. They succeed in bringing a handful of French and European cinematic luminaries to their city every year.

Serge Gainsbourg once came, and famously said that the height of snobbery isn't to go to Cannes or Venise, but to *choose* to go to Rouyn-Noranda.

He died about three months later, and legend has it that he caught a cold in Abitibi that he never truly recovered from and that eventually did him in.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Anyway, we were both shocked (my wife hadn't been there in ages) to see a modest main street with a handful of cute little hipster restaurants and cafés filled with well-dressed locals, with works by local artists hanging on the walls, non-Muzak cool music playing in the background.

This is really, really hard to find anywhere in Northern Ontario. And to my knowledge it exists nowhere on this (albeit modest) scale. (Though I don't want to oversell what exists in Rouyn-Noranda. It's still a mining town of 45,000 people in the middle of the boreal forest of NW Quebec.)


It's also worth noting that Rouyn-Noranda has a pretty big annual international film festival featuring foreign and art house films. They succeed in bringing a handful of French and European cinematic luminaries to their city every year.

It is uncommon in Northern Ontario, but I've found it exists in Sudbury to a degree. Although the city has it's share of depressing strip malls (and is generally pretty ugly) the arts scene is surprisingly active. Similarly, there are more good bars and restaurants than you would expect, including a really decent craft brewery. I was surprised how much it had to offer.

This strip for instance had quite a few decent spots despite not looking like much: https://goo.gl/maps/5bHu22zydUL2


The Sudbury Arts Festival has also gotten quite large, and they put on multiple events this past summer including pop-up concerts and new murals by local / international artists. I spoke with some people on the board and it seems to be growing quite rapidly. They also have an international film festival: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9fest_Sudbury_International_Film_Festival

Here's the craft brewery: https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rc...F0lQW1eB6DrQ&sig2=C_q5Z1qTpm446APbcNLnEw


I'm not sure if Thunder Bay has much of a similar scene but it didn't seem to. Granted I didn't get to explore as much. It did seem that in Sudbury there were a disproportionate number of "Toronto ex-pats" involved in the arts, or at least people that have lived in central Toronto / gone to school there at one point.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by niwell

It is uncommon in Northern Ontario, but I've found it exists in Sudbury to a degree. Although the city has it's share of depressing strip malls (and is generally pretty ugly) the arts scene is surprisingly active. Similarly, there are more good bars and restaurants than you would expect, including a really decent craft brewery. I was surprised how much it had to offer.

This strip for instance had quite a few decent spots despite not looking like much: https://goo.gl/maps/5bHu22zydUL2


The Sudbury Arts Festival has also gotten quite large, and they put on multiple events this past summer including pop-up concerts and new murals by local / international artists. I spoke with some people on the board and it seems to be growing quite rapidly. They also have an international film festival: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9fest_Sudbury_International_Film_Festival

Here's the craft brewery: https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rc...F0lQW1eB6DrQ&sig2=C_q5Z1qTpm446APbcNLnEw


I'm not sure if Thunder Bay has much of a similar scene but it didn't seem to. Granted I didn't get to explore as much. It did seem that in Sudbury there were a disproportionate number of "Toronto ex-pats" involved in the arts, or at least people that have lived in central Toronto / gone to school there at one point.

I was going to add a "caveat nod" to Sudbury but then I forgot. Sorry. Keep in mind though that Sudbury is four times the size of Rouyn, and it's got a more diverse population and a much larger and more established university (Laurentian is three times the size of UQAT and offers way more programs).

Rouyn is actually slightly smaller than Timmins, and is half the size of the Soo and North Bay.

[vid]

Originally Posted by niwell

I'm not sure if Thunder Bay has much of a similar scene but it didn't seem to. Granted I didn't get to explore as much. It did seem that in Sudbury there were a disproportionate number of "Toronto ex-pats" involved in the arts, or at least people that have lived in central Toronto / gone to school there at one point.

We didn't a few years ago, but it's a lot more active now. Independent restaurants definitely pull their weight when compared to the local restaurants. Downtown Port Arthur especially, virtually every storefront there at this point is either a restaurant or a nightclub. The arts community is pretty vibrant too, we have numerous arts collectives. Fine dining has become pretty big here, probably around 10 fine dining restaurants have opened in the past 5 years.

As for ethnic restaurants, within a 15 minute walk of my house (and I live in the shitty part of town with "nowhere to eat", as we often complain) we have Greek, Lebanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, American, Italian, Indigenous, Korean, several pizza places, and a gastropub that is so busy the diners spill into the sidewalk in front of it. We may or may not have Northern Ontario's only East African food truck, which is also based in my neighbourhood. Food trucks have become very popular, we've probably got about 20 now. There is even a little restaurant that only sells pasta and a store just opened that sells nothing but desserts; it's located in a 110 year old building full of shops selling second-hand goods and hand-made crafts. The only downside in this neighbourhood is that almost everything closes early. You basically can't eat out after 9pm unless you go across town, and up there it's mostly pub food or fine dining. Now that I think about it, Fort William probably has more dining diversity than Port Arthur. Port Arthur is very alcohol-focused, the south end is more family/casual dining with a few fancy/unique places. We had a beer festival this summer for the first time, which will be repeated next year, and the north end holds an event called Ribfest in August that brings in people from all over the continent.

It's pretty amazing how far the city has gone since 2010, in terms of the diversity of restaurants and vibrancy of the local arts scene.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by vid

We didn't a few years ago, but it's a lot more active now. Independent restaurants definitely pull their weight when compared to the local restaurants. Downtown Port Arthur especially, virtually every storefront there at this point is either a restaurant or a nightclub. The arts community is pretty vibrant too, we have numerous arts collectives. Fine dining has become pretty big here, probably around 10 fine dining restaurants have opened in the past 5 years.

As for ethnic restaurants, within a 15 minute walk of my house (and I live in the shitty part of town with "nowhere to eat", as we often complain) we have Greek, Lebanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, American, Italian, Indigenous, Korean, several pizza places, and a gastropub that is so busy the diners spill into the sidewalk in front of it. We may or may not have Northern Ontario's only East African food truck, which is also based in my neighbourhood. Food trucks have become very popular, we've probably got about 20 now. There is even a little restaurant that only sells pasta and a store just opened that sells nothing but desserts; it's located in a 110 year old building full of shops selling second-hand goods and hand-made crafts. The only downside in this neighbourhood is that almost everything closes early. You basically can't eat out after 9pm unless you go across town, and up there it's mostly pub food or fine dining. Now that I think about it, Fort William probably has more dining diversity than Port Arthur. Port Arthur is very alcohol-focused, the south end is more family/casual dining with a few fancy/unique places. We had a beer festival this summer for the first time, which will be repeated next year, and the north end holds an event called Ribfest in August that brings in people from all over the continent.

It's pretty amazing how far the city has gone since 2010, in terms of the diversity of restaurants and vibrancy of the local arts scene.

Nice to hear!

[Loco101]

Interesting conversation! I really need to start a new thread to continue the conversation.

[sonysnob]

Additional preparatory work for the eventual upgrade of the 403/QEW interchange in Oakville will start next year:

9. Description of Project:
This project is located in the Town of Oakville and City of Mississauga. The overall project includes rehabilitation or replacement of several bridges within the QEW/403/Ford Drive Interchange, and at the 403/Dundas Street interchange. The scope of work also includes pavement rehabilitation on the QEW and provision of ultimate platform where feasible on the QEW

The work under this assignment includes the rehabilitation/replacement of six (6) structures and grading work associated with staging. The Scope of Work includes Grading, drainage, granular base, hot mix paving, illumination, and structure rehabilitation/replacement of the following:


• Joshua’s Creek Culvert (10-140/C) at QEW
• Dundas Street Underpass (10-281/1)
• Dundas Street Underpass (10-281/2)
• QEW WB over Hwy 403 W-N Ramp (10-284/1)
• Ford Drive Off-Ramp over Hwy 403 W-N Ramp (10-282/1)
• Grading for New mini-WB Collector connecting the Ford Drive S-W and N/S-W ramp, with QEW WB
• 403 E-W detour
• Grading for QEW WB detour and QEW WB new alignment
• Holding strategy for QEW EB structure over Ford Drive (10-286/2)

10. Assignment approximate start and completion dates:
Pre-contract engineering phase: N/A
Construction administration phase: (tentative timing) April 2016 to November 2017

[FrAnKs]

Hello guys !

This is my new video of Highway 401 between Napanee and Kingston. Enjoy.

• Video Link

[Metro-One]

Big announcement for highway 99 in Metro Vancouver.

Finally we have some more details about the project.

Originally Posted by officedweller

The good stuff is in the Technical Presentation.

Go to the Document Library:
http://engage.gov.bc.ca/masseytunnel/documentlibrary/

http://engage.gov.bc.ca/masseytunnel/fil...2-16_Technical-Briefing-Presentation.pdf

The following slides are from the Technical Presentation document.

I think some of you may be very happy about the Steveston Interchange configuration.









Note Bridgeport transit ramp from HOV to a new(?) road under the Oak St. Bridge
- Like the Government Road ramp (but could be elevated).







No Blundell Rd. interchange



Check out the weaving ramps at Steveston interchange!



Note ramps from the bridge approaches to Rice Mill Road (2 ramps?) and River Road.



Roundabouts at Highway 17A.



New ramp from northbound 99 to eastbound SFPR.
Note that they are still building direct access ramps to/from Hwy 17A, even though the main route is now Hwy 17.






http://engage.gov.bc.ca/masseytunnel/fil...2-16_Technical-Briefing-Presentation.pdf

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Additional preparatory work for the eventual upgrade of the 403/QEW interchange in Oakville will start next year:

Lighting there is long overdue.

[Klazu]

The new 3.5 billion dollar George Massey Bridge and expanded Highway 99. Those pylons will be 210 meters tall!







• Video Link