Highways in Canada

[CityTech]

Ottawa also has a very similar climate to Montreal and it's older highways are aging just as well as Toronto's.

The MTO in Ontario is very good at properly maintaining infrastructure. You can tell the difference between MTO owned infrastructure versus locally owned in Ontario - notice how in the GTA, the highways owned by the City of Toronto are in way worse shape, how the 174 in Ottawa is in much worse shape than the 417, etc.

[MolsonExport]

I concede that the Province of Ontario is certainly better at maintaining their highways than the Province of Quebec. This was always the joke when driving on Highway 401 (which becomes highway 20 in Quebec)...you could always tell when you were back in Quebec.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I concede that the Province of Ontario is certainly better at maintaining their highways than the Province of Quebec. This was always the joke when driving on Highway 401 (which becomes highway 20 in Quebec)...you could always tell when you were back in Quebec.

Oh yea, whenever I go to MTL, I can feel that.

On another note, traffic on A20 from MTL to the provincial boundary also seems heavier than that on 401 between 416 and provincial boundary for some reason.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I concede that the Province of Ontario is certainly better at maintaining their highways than the Province of Quebec. This was always the joke when driving on Highway 401 (which becomes highway 20 in Quebec)...you could always tell when you were back in Quebec.

Not so true anymore though. The Quebec government has invested a lot in road maintenance in the past decade, I find the difference much less striking than it once was.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Oh yea, whenever I go to MTL, I can feel that.

On another note, traffic on A20 from MTL to the provincial boundary also seems heavier than that on 401 between 416 and provincial boundary for some reason.

The traffic volume is probably because you're getting into the commuter belt of Montreal at that point, exacerbated by the politics of which side of that border people live on.

You don't see that as much on the Ontario side because there isn't the same commuter belt there. I'd venture that more of the traffic on that section of the 401 would be the long-distance type.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by begratto

Not so true anymore though. The Quebec government has invested a lot in road maintenance in the past decade, I find the difference much less striking than it once was.

I'd disagree. Quebec may have invested more into road maintenance but the standard is certainly lower than the provinces it borders. QC highways are notoriously rough and continue to be.

[GreaterMontréal]

Quebec has more km of roads than Ontario, we should have less. We do more with less, quality will always suffer one way or another.

What people don't understand is that our roads are getting destroyed by the heavy equipment that we're using during the winter to clear our roads-highways. The more snow we get, the more destruction of our roads. I work in snow removal and I can easily see it.

Nonetheless, the overpasses are being replaced at a face pace and most are modern now. Turcot and the Champlain bridge were the worst, now they are new and of a great quality.

[MolsonExport]

yes, I have to give credit to Quebec with its newer construction. The New Pont Champlain is first rate.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yes, I have to give credit to Quebec with its newer construction. The New Pont Champlain is first rate.

Quebec had nothing to do with it - that was the feds.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yes, I have to give credit to Quebec with its newer construction. The New Pont Champlain is first rate.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Quebec had nothing to do with it - that was the feds.

We shall see how pleasant the new A85 will be~

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by CityTech

Ottawa also has a very similar climate to Montreal and it's older highways are aging just as well as Toronto's.

The MTO in Ontario is very good at properly maintaining infrastructure. You can tell the difference between MTO owned infrastructure versus locally owned in Ontario - notice how in the GTA, the highways owned by the City of Toronto are in way worse shape, how the 174 in Ottawa is in much worse shape than the 417, etc.

5 years ago, the MTO repaved a road.... in WINTER!!!!

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by CityTech

Ottawa also has a very similar climate to Montreal and it's older highways are aging just as well as Toronto's.

The MTO in Ontario is very good at properly maintaining infrastructure. You can tell the difference between MTO owned infrastructure versus locally owned in Ontario - notice how in the GTA, the highways owned by the City of Toronto are in way worse shape, how the 174 in Ottawa is in much worse shape than the 417, etc.

Ottawa’s streets on the other hand ...

[Calgarian]

Wasn't there a mafia element in Montreal and Quebec as well? Using unions to siphon off money from infrastructure projects resulting in sub standard work? No evidence for this, just what I heard...

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Wasn't there a mafia element in Montreal and Quebec as well? Using unions to siphon off money from infrastructure projects resulting in sub standard work? No evidence for this, just what I heard...

That was probably the case 20-30 years ago.

[YOWflier]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Ottawa’s streets on the other hand ...

Still eons ahead of Montreal streets.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Ottawa’s streets on the other hand ...

Originally Posted by ac888yow

Still eons ahead of Montreal streets.

... and then there is Halifax's, which were literal cow paths.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Wasn't there a mafia element in Montreal and Quebec as well? Using unions to siphon off money from infrastructure projects resulting in sub standard work? No evidence for this, just what I heard...

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

That was probably the case 20-30 years ago.

20-30 years ago and then some, which is the time period much of this infrastructure was built. I have a cousin who moved west in the 70's from Montreal. He was in construction and that was one of the reasons he left, he couldn't operate in good conscience with the level of corruption he was asked to condone. Th Olympics were a literal gold mine for the mob from what I hear from him.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I'd disagree. Quebec may have invested more into road maintenance but the standard is certainly lower than the provinces it borders. QC highways are notoriously rough and continue to be.

I will say this about my experience with Quebec highways - back in 2015 I drove from Toronto to Montreal during a winter storm, where there was freezing rain from about Gananoque to almost Montreal, and then snow on the island. The 401 was extremely treacherous and slippery, and it was so bad I ended up driving part of the way on a parallel county road that was in better shape. I got back on the 401 before Cornwall, but when I crossed the boundary into Quebec, the highway suddenly turned from slippery to clear, despite freezing rain and snow getting heavier. The drive on A-20 was a nice break. Despite the storm in the Montreal area, area highways including A-20, A-40 and others were kept very well.

Although this is an anecdotal experience and I know there have been some notable blunders around snow removal in Quebec, this was back at a time when Ontario had outsourced highway winter maintenance and there were some major problems on the 401 and 416 in Eastern Ontario, and there had been several major pileups along various stretches of the 401 between Belleville and Cornwall. I don’t know what the situation has been since the 2018 election but I know that was a major issue in Eastern Ontario during the Wynne years.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

That was probably the case 20-30 years ago.

That’s not that long ago lol.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I will say this about my experience with Quebec highways - back in 2015 I drove from Toronto to Montreal during a winter storm, where there was freezing rain from about Gananoque to almost Montreal, and then snow on the island. The 401 was extremely treacherous and slippery, and it was so bad I ended up driving part of the way on a parallel county road that was in better shape. I got back on the 401 before Cornwall, but when I crossed the boundary into Quebec, the highway suddenly turned from slippery to clear, despite freezing rain and snow getting heavier. The drive on A-20 was a nice break. Despite the storm in the Montreal area, area highways including A-20, A-40 and others were kept very well.

Although this is an anecdotal experience and I know there have been some notable blunders around snow removal in Quebec, this was back at a time when Ontario had outsourced highway winter maintenance and there were some major problems on the 401 and 416 in Eastern Ontario, and there had been several major pileups along various stretches of the 401 between Belleville and Cornwall. I don’t know what the situation has been since the 2018 election but I know that was a major issue in Eastern Ontario during the Wynne years.

According to Wikipedia, it was Al Palladini (M.T.O. under Mike Harris) who outsourced winter maintenance of provincial highways...