Highways in Canada

[hipster duck]

The highway system in Ontario is designed to funnel everyone to Toronto. There could be two cities of half a million barely 50 km apart from one another, but if they’re not on the way to Toronto then there’s no divided highway between them.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

A ring road around London would be useful.

The other year I stayed in a Stratford hotel for a couple of nights while exploring southwestern Ontario. When returning to Stratford from the west, the GPS guidance system took me on a succession of rural roads around the northwest of London to get back to Stratford. It was a pretty drive, but without GPS I would have gotten hopelessly lost. This was compounded by the fact that not many of the roadsigns actually said "Stratford, this-a-way."

I consider myself geographically literate and still would have gotten lost. I can imagine a poor tourist from Michigan (who is only dimly aware that Canada is a country) trying to find the Stratford Festival.

A ring road around London would certainly improve access to Stratford, and also perhaps would give a nascent alternate route between London and Kitchener-Waterloo.

Sounds more like you are talking about a London bypass, which I don't think is really needed, since 95% of the city lies north of the 401/402 corridor. The ring road, as being discussed, was simply for moving London traffic around the outer edges of London to the other side, rather than going through the city. It's not really about moving out of town traffic around the city to the other side and on their way, since the 401/402 already does that. There would be some benefit to the immediate bedroom communities to the north of the city having a quicker highway access to get down to the 401, but it wouldn't really have been more of a regional route, and certainly not an alternative to places like Stratford or K-W beyond.

Not sure where you were coming from on your way back to Stratford that the GPS sent you around the north end of London. I would think that most people from Michigan going to the Stratford Festival would take the Stratford exit off the 401, exit 222, about 30km east of London. There are signs out on the rural roads pointing to Stratford, but it's not like Stratford is a major metropolis either, so every little country road isn't going to have a sign at every intersection. There is a Stratford sign where you turn left onto Highway 7 at Parkhill, for example, and that's about 40 miles away. There's another sign at the main intersection of Ailsa Craig that says "Stratford 58km -->". But those 2 examples are on 7, which is also the road Stratford is on. So I imagine the GPS was moving you from wherever you were to 7 at some point.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

The highway system in Ontario is designed to funnel everyone to Toronto. There could be two cities of half a million barely 50 km apart from one another, but if they’re not on the way to Toronto then there’s no divided highway between them.

How many more people want to go to Hamilton from Kitchener than the current road allows for anyway? lol

[SaskScraper]

originally posted by SaskScraper
Regina's Bypass highway route priced at $2 billion and circles 3/4 of the city opens this next month. The Province announced today that the West portion of the route will be labelled part of Highway #11 that leads to Saskatoon and the Southern and Eastern portion will become part of the Highway #1 TransCanada highway.

Meanwhile this last week,
The Saskatoon Perimeter Freeway functional planning study released a press release showing first of three Phases showing northern portion of route including 3 of the 4 planned interchanges on that section of freeway.

Timelines
• Phase 1 – early 2020
• Completion of Functional Plan - 2021
• Completed ROW requirements

• Land Purchase
• Allows for advanced purchase if allocated budget
• Willing seller – willing buyer

• Construction
• No scheduled construction timelines
• Potential of 10 – 15 years in future
Anticipated need at a city population of 400k,
functioning to 750k.








https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6463590-SFFPS-Press-Briefing-1.html

Originally Posted by Spocket

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but that Wanuskewin Rd/Perimeter interchange seems way too overbuilt. Is there some reason it's so overbuilt?

You as much as answered your first question about the Saskatoon planned interchange in second part of your post talking about Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway...

Originally Posted by Spocket

It wasn't designed as a freeway when it was first built. I absolutely agree with you that the province (Manitoba) cheaped out and did it half assed but if there was a plan to make it a freeway from the beginning, nobody said as much until far less than a decade ago. I don't think the province ever thought they'd actually do much more than leave it as is.

The reason why planned Saskatoon Perimeter Freeway & Wanuskewin Rd intersection is planned as a spaghetti bowl interchange is because of need for grade separation for ease of free flow of traffic on loops because of railway near by & the fact that majority of traffic from Highway #11 North to Prince Albert & beyond etc is expected to switch to Perimeter Freeway upon entering Saskatoon, particularly when the city doubles in population in mid century to what Winnipeg's size is now.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Not sure where you were coming from on your way back to Stratford that the GPS sent you around the north end of London. I would think that most people from Michigan going to the Stratford Festival would take the Stratford exit off the 401, exit 222, about 30km east of London. There are signs out on the rural roads pointing to Stratford, but it's not like Stratford is a major metropolis either, so every little country road isn't going to have a sign at every intersection. There is a Stratford sign where you turn left onto Highway 7 at Parkhill, for example, and that's about 40 miles away. There's another sign at the main intersection of Ailsa Craig that says "Stratford 58km -->". But those 2 examples are on 7, which is also the road Stratford is on. So I imagine the GPS was moving you from wherever you were to 7 at some point.

I was coming back on the 402 from Sarnia. Looking on the map, I would say that I got off the 402 at Strathroy on the 81 northbound, then onto the 19 eastbound to Alisa Craig and then onto 7 for the rest of the way to Stratford. This is the route that the nav system on my car wanted me to take.

A closer in ring road around London would still be useful for eastbound traffic heading to Stratford. You would head north along the hypothetic ring road, to a hypothetic exit on Rte 4, then turn right onto Rte 7 and this would take you directly to Stratford.

The reason why I mentioned an alternate route to KW is because route 8 between KW and Stratford is already divided about halfway. Extending this divided highway all the way the Stratford, and then following route 7 down to London could provide a feasible right of way.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

A closer in ring road around London would still be useful for eastbound traffic heading to Stratford. You would head north along the hypothetic ring road, to a hypothetic exit on Rte 4, then turn right onto Rte 7 and this would take you directly to Stratford.

But the ring road as proposed, being a London project, would have been in London, just to the west of the highway 4 exit from the 402, about 30km east of where you exited the 402. You would now be at the south end of London and have about a 20km drive to the north side of the city before the highway would swing east. I think you might be (and I think Dengler in the earlier conversation earlier in the week as well) envisioning the London ring road exiting off the 402 near Strathroy and joining up with or running near highway 22, which runs along the north side of London. Which is what the 402 originally was supposed to do when it was being built until London city council 50 or so years ago screwed it up.

The route you took is just about the same way I would go as a local, although you would also be just as fast to take the 402 to the 401 and north on county rd 6 at exit 222. Farther distance of course, but higher speeds would make up for that. What you are essentially describing would be the same as if you had gone one exit further to country rd 39, gone north a mile, turned right onto 22 and turned left at 4 in London.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

The highway system in Ontario is designed to funnel everyone to Toronto. There could be two cities of half a million barely 50 km apart from one another, but if they’re not on the way to Toronto then there’s no divided highway between them.

Lol at first I thought you were referring to Kitchener and Guelph. I mean, their populations are a far cry from 0.5 M but they’re still pretty sizable.

Originally Posted by Djeffery

How many more people want to go to Hamilton from Kitchener than the current road allows for anyway? lol

Apparently enough that we’ve got designs for Highway 6 Morriston-Puslinch Bypass and interchange at Highway 5

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Lol at first I thought you were referring to Kitchener and Guelph. I mean, their populations are a far cry from 0.5 M but they’re still pretty sizable.


Apparently enough that we’ve got designs for Highway 6 Morriston-Puslinch Bypass and interchange at Highway 5

Still not a divided highway, nor does it go from Kitchener.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Still not a divided highway, nor does it go from Kitchener.

Just come down by the 401 lol. Nobody’s forcing you to go on Highway 8~~~

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Just come down by the 401 lol. Nobody’s forcing you to go on Highway 8~~~

I'll just take the 403. I'm not the one complaining about the highway system being directed at Toronto. And really, Kitchener to Hamilton is the only example in Ontario I could think of to satisfy that criteria.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I'll just take the 403. I'm not the one complaining about the highway system being directed at Toronto. And really, Kitchener to Hamilton is the only example in Ontario I could think of to satisfy that criteria.

Some say Owen Sound to Barrie too. There’s actually long term planning for Highway 26 too.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Some say Owen Sound to Barrie too. There’s actually long term planning for Highway 26 too.

There are lots of plans to twin many highways, but unless it pleases Torontonians, it'll never get done.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

There are lots of plans to twin many highways, but unless it pleases Torontonians, it'll never get done.

Then 26 should make sense because that’s the route for summer weekend getaway.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Some say Owen Sound to Barrie too. There’s actually long term planning for Highway 26 too.

He did say half million population areas. Does Owen Sound to Barrie justify a 400-series? Maybe sometimes, probably not often though. I imagine there's many city pairs it would be a "nice to have". But it seems to make sense to me that most of the 400's would point to Toronto. Look at where everybody is. Perhaps if London was where Owen Sound is, and Kitchener was where North Bay is, the highway system would be much more interesting. But people settled where they did for a reason over the last 150 years and here we are.

[haljackey]

From the Ontario Highway thread

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Ontario's most recent twelve-lane highway, the 401 through Cambridge. Construction has nearly been completed on this segment of highway:


http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_281_west_WB_w_Oct19_24x16.jpg


http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_401_images/401_cl_281_east_EB_w_Oct19_24x16.jpg

These were taken last week.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=209059&page=32

[someone123]

One thing I've always noticed about urban Ontario highways is they tend to have those central lights with a circle of lamps up top. There are a few different kinds, probably built over many decades, and a lot of them have interesting designs. The highway lighting itself is generally better than what I'm used to.

Around Vancouver and in Halifax (I can't really remember what it's like around other parts of BC or NS) there tend to be taller versions of the standard streetlights, with a single lamp. Nova Scotia is very stingy with the highway lighting. The 10-lane stretch of highway 111 has them and it looks like they built a few around the new 102 overpass. Parts of the 102 are quite busy and 6 lanes running through the middle of the city but have no lighting. The highway is a weird dark zone.

In Halifax there's a new stretch of highway under construction, the Burnside Expressway. I wonder if it will have lighting from the start.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by someone123

One thing I've always noticed about urban Ontario highways is they tend to have those central lights with a circle of lamps up top. There are a few different kinds, probably built over many decades, and a lot of them have interesting designs. The highway lighting itself is generally better than what I'm used to.

I'm pretty sure those high mast lights with the ring are designed so the ring can be lowered to the ground for maintenance rather than requiring workers to go up the tower.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by haljackey

From the Ontario Highway thread





http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=209059&page=32

Six lanes plus two full shoulders--a concept completely foreign to the City of Calgary.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Six lanes plus two full shoulders--a concept completely foreign to the City of Calgary.

Don’t forget: the ones coned off are HOV lanes too.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Don’t forget: the ones coned off are HOV lanes too.

Did they or are they going to build HOV only ramps?