Highways in Canada

[vid]

Tunnel would be more expensive.

[nname]

Plus the cut is immediately followed by a bridge, so if they bore the tunnels, they'll probably need a two bridges since the two roadways would be too far apart for just a single bridge.

[haljackey]

Here's a cool video of that section of Kicking Horse shown on the last page:

• Video Link

Rock Cuts in Canada. Like a Baus.

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Lord almighty. Impressive. Why didn't they just tunnel instead?

That was one of the initial two options for that segment - esp. for the larger rock cut just east of the bridge. But it was decided that the material from the larger rock cut would be utilized as embankment fill just to the east of the photo. "Cut and Fill" so to speak.

But yeah, the short twin tunnel option for that locale would have been cool.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Here's a cool video of that section of Kicking Horse shown on the last page:

• Video Link

Rock Cuts in Canada. Like a Baus.

Love the video, not the music. Rocky-Mountain driving should always have the opening soundtrack for "The Shining"

• Video Link

[craner]

Originally Posted by nname

That's exactly the number for the mainland section.

What I've measured:

  1km	[2-lanes]		Victoria (to Belleville St)
  6km	[4-lanes]		Victoria (to Mackenzie Av)
  9km	[4-lanes freeway]	View Royal (to  Spencer Rd)
  2km	[Twinning in progress]	View Royal (to Gold Stream Av)
 20km	[2-lanes]		Mill Bay
 67km	[4-lanes divided]	South Wellington
  3km	[4-lanes freeway]	Nanaimo (to Cedar Rd)
  8km	[4-lanes]		Nanaimo (to Ferry)
 58km	[Ferry]			Horseshoe Bay
375km	[4-lanes freeway]	Kamloops (to Comazzetto Rd)
  7km	[4-lanes]		Kamloops (to Holman St)
 20km	[4-lanes freeway]	Monte Creek
 10km	[Twinning in progress]	Pritchard
  2km	[4-lanes]		3km east of Pritchard
  5km	[Twinning in progress]	Hoffman's Bluff
 34km	[2-lanes]		Blind Bay (to Hiltop Road)
 12km	[4-lanes]		Trappen (to Ford Road)
 15km	[2-lanes]		Salmon Arm
  6km	[4-lanes]		South Canoe
 38km	[2-lanes]		11km east of Sicamous
  9km	[4-lanes divided]	Malakwa
 36km	[2-lanes]		1km west of Clanwilliam Bridge
  2km	[Twinning in progress]	1km east of Clanwilliam Bridge
 12km	[2-lanes]		Revelstoke (to Columbia River Bridge)
  1km	[4-lanes divided]	Revelstoke (to Hwy 23)
 64km	[2-lanes]		Glacier (to West Gate)
  1km	[4-lanes divided]	West Gate
 56km	[2-lanes]		2km west of Donald Bridge
  3km	[Twinning in progress]	Donald
  1km	[4-lanes divided]	Donald Weight Complex
 21km	[2-lanes]		Golden (to 14 street)
  3km	[4-lanes divided]	Golden (to Golden Donald Upper Road)
  3km	[Twinning in progress]	West Portal
  5km	[2-lanes]		Yoho Bridge
 17km	[4-lanes divided]	Yoho NP Boundary
 46km	[2-lanes]		BC-AB Border

Van Island Total 116km:
 93km (80.2%) 4-lanes
 23km (19.8%) 2-lanes
 12km (10.3%) freeway
  2km ( 1.7%) under construction

Mainland Total 804km:
454km (56.5%) 4-lanes
350km (43.5%) 2-lanes
395km (49.1%) freeway
 23km ( 2.9%) under construction

BC Total 978km:
547km (56.0%) 4-lanes
373km (38.1%) 2-lanes
 58km ( 5.9%) ferry
407km (41.6%) freeway
 25km ( 2.6%) under construction

All segments rounded to the nearest km. To qualify as "freeway" requires the highway to be divided and have at least 2 interchanges in a row. This routing assume the use of Coquihalla instead of Fraser Canyon.

The first version was made 2 years ago, and I've just updated it to include the latest twinning. Seems like we've got 12 more km of twinned highway from the past 2 years, which gives an annual rate of 0.6% of the remaining 2-lanes sections... At this rate, we can expect it to be fully twinned by the summer of 2075

Awesome summary - thanks

So 350kms:
At 17-18kms per year = 20 years.
At 7kms per year = 50 years.

50 years might be realistic then.

[Daguy]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

This is just my rough estimate. But since I have driven that route a thousand times, there are many sections that are carved into shear rock faces so the engineering problems are very numerous and expensive.

Agreed. I see 2030 as when most of it will be completed. Areas like Three Valley Gap and along the lake just west of Sorrento are going to be $$$$$. Other than Kicking Horse which is just down right dangerous (and Hoffman's Bluff) I think they should start working on as many of the cheaper sections as possible, to get the total number of kms completed faster and shorten the trip.

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by haljackey

This guy won't go down without a fight:


King's Highway 401 - Ontario by dougtone, on Flickr

You got your wish, this sign no longer stands.

[le calmar]

There are still 1 or 2 of those old signs along Highway 10 between Sherbrooke and Montreal, I don't know why they haven't been replaced yet.

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by le calmar

There are still 1 or 2 of those old signs along Highway 10 between Sherbrooke and Montreal, I don't know why they haven't been replaced yet.

I don't get it... M-C signs are exclusive to the 401. Are you talking about the Autoroute des Cantons de l'Est signs?

[haljackey]

You know it would be cool if both the 401 and Autoroute 20 were labeled as the M-C Freeway.

That kind of joint partnership could erect more signs on the route. Giving a route an actual name rather than a number makes it more symbolic, especially major routes like this one.

[sonysnob]

I snapped a few photos of Hwy 401 a few weekends ago and thought that I'd share. This is a project to add collector lanes to Hwy 401 through Mississauga. This project is the first phase of a series of projects that could potentially see Highway 401 twelve laned as far west as Milton. Anyways here goes:

To start, here are both before and during views looking East from the McLaughlin Road overpass in Mississauga:

2005:


December 2011





This series of views looks west from the Hurontario Overpass:

2005


December 2011



2011 view looking westerly towards the Hurontario Street overpass



December 2011 view looking easterly in the future Eastbound Collector Lanes



Westerly view from the Kennedy Road overpass in 2011



Easterly view from the Kenney Road overpass
Before construction in 2008:


December 2011

[haljackey]

Wow, great photos! I love the before-after contrast!

Do you really think the 401 will get 12 lanes to Milton? That would involve rebuilding the 407 overpasses. They are relatively new and it might violate the 407 contract, causing a huge expense for the province.

I can see the 401 10-lanes from Highway 8 to the 407, and 12-laned from the 407 to 410.

[sonysnob]

Thanks.

I can't see the MTO pushing a set of collector lanes through the 407 either. The real problem that I see with the collapse of the core/collector lanes at the 407 is that the sub-collector lanes from Trafalgar merge with the core lanes prior to the exit to Hwy 407 east. This problem could be mitigated by other means than just continuous collector lanes however. For example a new underpass could be built under both the mainline of Hwy 407 and through Ninth Line with relative ease. This would allow the ramp to Highway 401 east to diverge prior to the collapse of the collector lanes and the existing Hwy 407 structures. I haven't read the ETR's agreement with the province, so I can only speculate, however my guess is that the MTO would have to pay a penalty to the 407 consortium based on congestion caused by construction. If the MTO were to build a structure overtop of or underneath of the highway in such a way that there were no lane restrictions during construction, I'd bet that there would be no penalties incurred by the MTO.

I wrote the design consultant regarding the collapse of the collector lanes back in the spring. This was there response:

The Highway 401 widening alternative that includes a collapse of the core-collector system through the 407ETR and Winston Churchill Boulevard interchanges (Alternative 1) was developed as it inherently results in fewer impacts through the study area. Opportunities to optimize the weave distances associated with this alternative (Alternative 1) will be sought as part of the study process. The alternative with continuous core-collector through the 407ETR interchange (Alternative 2), also being considered as part of the study, eliminates these weave sections. Predicted operations of all proposed Highway 401/407ETR interchange alternatives are currently being analyzed with a micro-simulation model, which includes all potential weaving areas (including those outlined in your comment). Once all analyses are completed, the scenario with most benefits (based on all evaluation criteria) will be selected as the preferred scenario.

[eternallyme]

IMO, what the 401 most badly needs are two things:

* Filling the collector-express gap. Since no room to widen it exists without major expropriation between 427 and 409, it would likely require stacked express lanes - perhaps 6 lanes elevated over 8 lanes, or 6 over 10.

* Conversion of the express lanes to HOT lanes. It might require median reworking, but the express lanes should become either high-occupancy lanes or charge 407-level tolls for single occupant vehicles. Such should also be built on other GTA freeways that gain collector-express setups. No all-toll freeways should be added though.

* In addition, the 400 should be extended from the 401 to the Gardiner. Due to the VERY limited ROW, it should be only 4 lanes wide, and restricted to HOV use, perhaps HOV-3 or HOV-4, at least during rush hour. Trucks would be banned from the 400 south of the 401 at all times of day. It would use an upgraded Black Creek Drive plus an extended narrow freeway.

[sonysnob]

Traffic is actually using the westbound collector lanes for a short distance now:

[eemy]

I'm not really sure there's much point in extending the collector/express configuration past the 407. The density of interchanges drops down significantly and so there would be very little benefit in separate traffic like that.

[haljackey]

Interesting... Do you know if the road will remain concrete or will it receive a top coat of asphalt once the project nears completion?

I've always hated concrete, mostly because I've been scarred for life driving on Michigan highways. ca-junk, ca-junk, ca-junk... Old/badly maintained concrete is noisy and can take a toll on your car too through wear and tear.

I'm assuming once the 407 is fully widened it too will get coated with asphalt.

[eemy]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Interesting... Do you know if the road will remain concrete or will it receive a top coat of asphalt once the project nears completion?

I've always hated concrete, mostly because I've been scarred for life driving on Michigan highways. ca-junk, ca-junk, ca-junk... Old/badly maintained concrete is noisy and can take a toll on your car too through wear and tear.

I'm assuming once the 407 is fully widened it too will get coated with asphalt.

The MTO seems to be adopting concrete road surfaces more often now. They continue to cover bridge decks with asphalt, but other surfaces are bare.

[sonysnob]

I think that the 401 will remain in concrete. From the looks of the concrete itself, it looks as if it has been finished as a driving surface. Further, the paved asphalt shoulders appear flush to the concrete barriers. I don't think the shoulders would be like that if they were going to pave the concrete immediately.

Michigan has vastly, vastly improved its concrete highway network. They use this technique where the concrete is grooved transversely as apposed to the longitudinal way that Ontario typically does it. It creates a way, way better driving surface. Quebec does this now too, and Ontario has experimented with it. You can see transverse groves on the concrete section of the 402 on the video through Sarnia that you posted a while back.

This is transverse grooving (Whisper grooving) on a highway in Michigan:


This is how Ontario normally finish its concrete (I am looking perpendicular to traffic flow):

(This is actually from the new lanes of the 401)

I would expect that the 407 will be surfaced within the next decade, with the section between the 427 and 404 probably paved sooner than that. The concrete was probably designed to get paved between the 20 to 30 year mark similar to the work ongoing on the 427 right now. I am guessing it will be the same for the new section of the 401 through Mississauga.

@ Jeremy, I don't think that the express/collector (complex) setup works well with an HOV lane. In a complex freeway, the HOV lane is coming at the cost of the passing lane. That isn't the case in a simple freeway.