Highways in Canada

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.7437236,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is a prime example. Oh, how I loath that interchange.

High volume interchanges should not be cloverleafs. Having a high volume of traffic merging as a high volume of traffic is exiting is a recipe for disaster.

Particularly when the weave lane is extremely short, as in this case.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Totally agree - overtaking lanes are set up wrong for the most part in Canada. The right lane should be the default, only enter the left lane if you have the intention of making it past someone. The person in the right lane might be going slow out of necessity, it shouldn't be on them to slow down further to accommodate the guy who can go faster.

Typically the responsibility for safely conducting any manoeuvre is laid on the party that is doing it. So, passing and merging are the responsibility of the driver doing that, instead of the person driving along with the right-of-way.

I don't know why most North American jurisdictions chose to reverse that when designing passing lanes.

[SignalHillHiker]

Well, in that case, I retract what I said and replace it with "The best thing about driving in Newfoundland is we do passing lines right, you backwoods hillbillies."

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Well, in that case, I retract what I said and replace it with "The best thing about driving in Newfoundland is we do passing lines right, you backwoods hillbillies."

Damn straight!

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by thewave46

High volume interchanges should not be cloverleafs. Having a high volume of traffic merging as a high volume of traffic is exiting is a recipe for disaster.

Particularly when the weave lane is extremely short, as in this case.

You are preaching to the choir. That mess is what they think is good.

Originally Posted by thewave46

Typically the responsibility for safely conducting any manoeuvre is laid on the party that is doing it. So, passing and merging are the responsibility of the driver doing that, instead of the person driving along with the right-of-way.

I don't know why most North American jurisdictions chose to reverse that when designing passing lanes.

Here is my theory...
1) If your lane ends, you need to merge, not me.
2) If my lane ends, I need to merge.
3) If the lines just end, but not at another line, wtf? (Nova Scotia)
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.6486202,-...Nr8I4awlUfKX6xFpfIyUA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Who does what? It is nothing but a game of chicken...

Can we just agree that NS doesn't know how to build roads that make sense?
(If you need convincing, I have many more different examples of wtf driving places...)

[ghYHZ]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Here is my theory...
1) If your lane ends, you need to merge, not me.
2) If my lane ends, I need to merge.
3) If the lines just end, but not at another line, wtf? (Nova Scotia)
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.6486202,-...Nr8I4awlUfKX6xFpfIyUA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Who does what? It is nothing but a game of chicken...

Can we just agree that NS doesn't know how to build roads that make sense?
(If you need convincing, I have many more different examples of wtf driving places...)

Here in Nova Scotia..... it's 'Keep Right Except to Pass'.....Not 'Slow Traffic Keep Right'



The right lane is the travel lane and has the right-of-way. The last 100 metres or so of the passing lane has a solid line and as far as I've always known.....indicates do-not-cross/pass. So if you're in the passing lane and unless you can complete your pass......you yield to the traffic on the right.

So many times and especially in the tourist season....I'm doing the speed limit in the travel lane and will have to brake to the car that hasn't completed his pass with no room left. And especially to the one towing a trailer just hanging in that lane.

Newfoundland even marks the pavement at the end of the passing lane with 'YIELD'

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by ghYHZ

Here in Nova Scotia..... it's 'Keep Right Except to Pass'.....Not 'Slow Traffic Keep Right'



The right lane is the travel lane and has the right-of-way. The last 100 metres or so of the passing lane has a solid line and as far as I've always known.....indicates do-not-cross/pass. So if you're in the passing lane and unless you can complete your pass......you yield to the traffic on the right.

So many times and especially in the tourist season....I'm doing the speed limit in the travel lane and will have to break to the car that hasn't completed his pass with no room left. And especially the one towing a trailer just hanging in that lane.

Newfoundland even marks the pavement at the end of the passing lane with 'YIELD'

Being a person with a disability, I do not drive, however, I have been in a car in every province except Manitoba and Sask This country is vast, but it is unfortunate that there were not national standard for rules of the road for things like lane merges/yields. I realize local rules may have to apply for unique areas, it is a shame the provinces/territories could not put something together for basic rules of the road.

[funcanuck]

Hey long time lurker on this forum here, just wanted to comment about passing lanes that in BC when the passing lane ends it's the right lane that goes away so I guess they would technically yield. I've never seen a yield sign at the end tho. For example this is typical for the end of a passing lane. So its the right lane that must merge over.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.4983286,...fhYDlF63w3Wnhpw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Another thing as Someone who lives on the North Shore of Vancouver is there are several yield signs going onto the freeway which is pretty dangerous.
I have to take the Capilano "on ramp" westbound every day and sometimes its hard to judge the speed of traffic. I have seen so many near misses there.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.3328168,...tH2xPvFkkPUZtsMt6D_0g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

or lynn valley,
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.3307385,...wX4GA3Zw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!9m2!1b1!2i48

Probably the busiest one that will soon be replaced which I actively avoid is the dollarton on ramp to the second narrows bridge.
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.3055248,...qZTFaRaA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!9m2!1b1!2i48
You can see its currently under construction fix it but there are so many accidents and trucks struggle to get up to speed there.

Looking at this forum it surprises me just all the different standards between provinces for highway design, you'd think they would make some type of national standard.

[craner]

^
^^
You would think - Right ??

[SignalHillHiker]

It really is one of the glaring areas where a federal jurisdiction would make sense - especially now that we've passed the era when that would've meant bulldozing downtown cores.

[ConundrumNL]

I think Canada is an oddity when it comes to roads and highways. One of the few (if the only) developed countries without a national highway system (ie Interstate, or Autobahn), rules and signage can differ between provinces, etc...

[Dengler Avenue]

The Scandinavian countries aren’t great in terms of freeways either.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

I think Canada is an oddity when it comes to roads and highways. One of the few (if the only) developed countries without a national highway system (ie Interstate, or Autobahn), rules and signage can differ between provinces, etc...

Freeway standards in BC are terrible. Ontario's are much closer to the US Interstates.

Aside from the North Shore examples already posted, one of the most dangerous interchanges I've ever seen is on Highway 1 at Highway 13 near Aldergrove.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0992952,...pwsElFFpKc8d1cRHlJggA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

The first time I drove here, I almost hit a transport truck that was coming onto the freeway. Being from Ontario, I did not anticipate coming across an onramp with absolutely no acceleration lane. The only other place I've driven with freeway onramps like this was in Mexico.

Regardless of my speed, I always drive in the passing lane when passing through this interchange, just to protect myself. A lot of trucks use this interchange as Highway 13 leads to a US border crossing a short distance to the south.

Some of the more recently rebuilt sections of Highway 1 are built to a much higher standard. Basically anything from 216 St in Langley west to the Cassiar Tunnel is built to a good standard, but other sections are not.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

The first time I drove here, I almost hit a transport truck that was coming onto the freeway. Being from Ontario, I did not anticipate coming across an onramp with absolutely no acceleration lane. The only other place I've driven with freeway onramps like this was in Mexico.

Expect it in Manitoba, that's a standard design here!

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by esquire

Expect it in Manitoba, that's a standard design here!

Now that you mention it, I remember the Perimeter Highway being pretty lousy when I drove across Canada.

[Dengler Avenue]

Actually, in Orillia, ON, the loop-ramp from Highway 12 West to Highway 11 South is also fairly short. Then there’s 400 @ Canal Road, a RIRO on a 6-lane freeway. It’s bad news for everyone in lane 3 (from the left) when an 18-wheeler tries to get in: Its wide turning angle means that it goes straight into lane 3 (instead of the acceleration lane) at ~ 5 kph.

[Djeffery]

I'm not a fan of this onramp to the 401 on the west side of London. It's also a full cloverleaf with those short off-on ramps under the bridge. It's supposed to be replaced sometime in the next few years.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@42.856476,-8...zdd9bFS0IyU0w-IDwF-ZQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Freeway standards in BC are terrible. Ontario's are much closer to the US Interstates.

Aside from the North Shore examples already posted, one of the most dangerous interchanges I've ever seen is on Highway 1 at Highway 13 near Aldergrove.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0992952,...pwsElFFpKc8d1cRHlJggA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

The first time I drove here, I almost hit a transport truck that was coming onto the freeway. Being from Ontario, I did not anticipate coming across an onramp with absolutely no acceleration lane. The only other place I've driven with freeway onramps like this was in Mexico.

Regardless of my speed, I always drive in the passing lane when passing through this interchange, just to protect myself. A lot of trucks use this interchange as Highway 13 leads to a US border crossing a short distance to the south.

Some of the more recently rebuilt sections of Highway 1 are built to a much higher standard. Basically anything from 216 St in Langley west to the Cassiar Tunnel is built to a good standard, but other sections are not.

As bad as their highways are, they have the highest posted speed in all of Canada - 120 km/hr.

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Actually, in Orillia, ON, the loop-ramp from Highway 12 West to Highway 11 South is also fairly short. Then there’s 400 @ Canal Road, a RIRO on a 6-lane freeway. It’s bad news for everyone in lane 3 (from the left) when an 18-wheeler tries to get in: Its wide turning angle means that it goes straight into lane 3 (instead of the acceleration lane) at ~ 5 kph.

Good thing that Canal Rd exit will be changing when they widen that section.

[sonysnob]

The Highway 11/12 interchanges in Orillia are set to be upgraded in the not to distant future:

https://www.highway11-12orillia.com/

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

The Highway 11/12 interchanges in Orillia are set to be upgraded in the not to distant future:

https://www.highway11-12orillia.com/

So MTO’s doing something with {12} around Orillia after all.