Highways in Canada

[Techman224]

Is the autoroute 30 bridge over the St. Lawrence and canal supposed to be completed later this year with the rest of the project?

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Are there any highways that are poised to pass the 401 as the busiest in the world? Although at a consistent 12-18 lanes across the city it'd be hard to imagine anyone going much bigger.

No. The 401 is in a league of it's own. Even massive highway projects in the US and China handle volumes far lower than the 401.

Check out this infographic comparing the busiest highways of selected countries: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/jul/11/cars-busiest-roads-i405-interactive

In addition, Highway 427 also sees insanely high volumes between the 401 and QEW/Gardiner.

[vid]

Some photos I took of the twinning project east of Thunder Bay from Friday afternoon:

Hodder/Copenhagen Parclo:



Terry Fox Lookout from West:



New Entrance from South:



Old Entrance:



McKenzie Bridges:



When the new highway opens, the old part will become an extension of Lakeshore Drive, and a new road will connect it to the highway. You can't really see it, but the twinned highway re-merges with the existing one near the top right of the photo.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by haljackey

No. The 401 is in a league of it's own. Even massive highway projects in the US and China handle volumes far lower than the 401.

Check out this infographic comparing the busiest highways of selected countries: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/jul/11/cars-busiest-roads-i405-interactive

In addition, Highway 427 also sees insanely high volumes between the 401 and QEW/Gardiner.

I always knew the 401 was extremely busy, but not that busy. Crazy. And to think some Canadians are "proud" of this fact. Our government doesn't build enough/efficient highways. It is not something to be proud of.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by toaster

I always knew the 401 was extremely busy, but not that busy. Crazy. And to think some Canadians are "proud" of this fact. Our government doesn't build enough/efficient highways. It is not something to be proud of.

Would people rather see, say, three or four 6-lane highways replacing all that traffic?

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by haljackey

No. The 401 is in a league of it's own. Even massive highway projects in the US and China handle volumes far lower than the 401.

Check out this infographic comparing the busiest highways of selected countries: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/jul/11/cars-busiest-roads-i405-interactive

In addition, Highway 427 also sees insanely high volumes between the 401 and QEW/Gardiner.

I think Highway 427's AADT around Rathburn Road is something like 355,000 vehicles per day, which beats the I-75. But the 401's usage stats are borderline ridiculous. Given how much the Brits whine and complain about the M25, I wonder how they felt upon seeing some of those other numbers.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Wharn

I think Highway 427's AADT around Rathburn Road is something like 355,000 vehicles per day, which beats the I-75. But the 401's usage stats are borderline ridiculous. Given how much the Brits whine and complain about the M25, I wonder how they felt upon seeing some of those other numbers.

Even if the biggest transit options (a heavy-rail subway directly in the 401 ROW) existed, I think it would still be one of the busiest highways. Even removing 100,000 cars would still make it extremely busy.

[haljackey]

The 401 is the only east-west freeway in the Greater Toronto Area: a place with 6 million people. Of course it's going to be crazy busy no matter what transit incentives you put in place. (QEW/Gardiner ends at DVP and 407 is tolled)

In addition, the 401 serves 3 types of traffic: commuter, recreational and business (trucks... just in time inventory).

I would much rather have one monster freeway opposed to 3 or 4 crosstown expressways... as long as the monster freeway is efficient and well maintained.

The 401 could really benefit from some stacked interchanges (4-5 level diamond stacks, currently only 1 exists in Canada at 400/407) to keep traffic flow more efficient and a few additional lanes in the most bottlenecked and congested sections. Some HOV lanes could also help.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by haljackey

No. The 401 is in a league of it's own. Even massive highway projects in the US and China handle volumes far lower than the 401.

There's definitely nothing in China that even comes close. The widest freeways in China are only about 4-5 lanes in each direction (most of Shanghai's are elevated, and only 2-4 lanes wide each way), so even with heavy traffic they wouldn't come close to the 401's volume.

[MolsonExport]

This bastard, if it ever gets built, will inevitably lead USA highway traffic counts"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor

Still, it is hard envisioning anything in this hemisphere that could compete with the 401 through Toronto. It was/is a singular project of the time.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Techman224

Is the autoroute 30 bridge over the St. Lawrence and canal supposed to be completed later this year with the rest of the project?

I am pretty sure the entire thing will be open by the end of the year.

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by toaster

I always knew the 401 was extremely busy, but not that busy. Crazy. And to think some Canadians are "proud" of this fact. Our government doesn't build enough/efficient highways. It is not something to be proud of.

What? Highway 401 is a major transportation/shipping route that goes from Detroit/Windsor into Quebec to Montreal, going through the largest city in the country. Of course it's going to be busy.. They even added the 403 and the 407 to take some of it's traffic and it's still the most efficient route to hit the 2 largest cities in Canada and the biggest manufacturing centres of the country, as well as the area with 1/5 of the country's population.

This isn't that the "government doesn't build enough/efficient highways", it's the sheer importance of the route that makes it busy.

Build more highways? Please. The only highway in Southern Ontario I'd say needs to be made is one between the 403/QEW in Hamilton to the 401 around KW.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by The_Architect

What? Highway 401 is a major transportation/shipping route that goes from Detroit/Windsor into Quebec to Montreal, going through the largest city in the country. Of course it's going to be busy.. They even added the 403 and the 407 to take some of it's traffic and it's still the most efficient route to hit the 2 largest cities in Canada and the biggest manufacturing centres of the country, as well as the area with 1/5 of the country's population.

This isn't that the "government doesn't build enough/efficient highways", it's the sheer importance of the route that makes it busy.

Build more highways? Please. The only highway in Southern Ontario I'd say needs to be made is one between the 403/QEW in Hamilton to the 401 around KW.

I disagree. Highway 401 and 407 are the only true cross-town East/West highways in the GTA, and one you need to pay to use. I'd much rather 3/4 true cross-town east-west free highways than one mega-highway, with extremely high volumes. There's a reason Toronto has the longest commute to work in North America.

[Mininari]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

This bastard, if it ever gets built, will inevitably lead USA highway traffic counts"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor

Still, it is hard envisioning anything in this hemisphere that could compete with the 401 through Toronto. It was/is a singular project of the time.

"In 2011, the Texas Legislature formally canceled the Trans-Texas Corridor with the passage of HB 1201.[4]"

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by toaster

I disagree. Highway 401 and 407 are the only true cross-town East/West highways in the GTA, and one you need to pay to use. I'd much rather 3/4 true cross-town east-west free highways than one mega-highway, with extremely high volumes. There's a reason Toronto has the longest commute to work in North America.

A big reason why Toronto has the longest commute to work is because it is currently such a car-centric population, with the majority coming in from the surrounding boroughs into the city because of a lack of option.

IMO that is due to the lack of rapid transit leading out in every direction, causing people to drive for pure convenience.

[niwell]

It's worth mentioning that for how much it's mentioned the "longest commute" thing isn't entirely accurate. The report measures cities on a different rubric to make Toronto (and Montreal) look worse than they are in reality. Which makes sense as it was put out by the board of trade to justify increased funding for both transit and highways. And rightly so.

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by Techman224

Is the autoroute 30 bridge over the St. Lawrence and canal supposed to be completed later this year with the rest of the project?

It is supposed to be completed late this year. Here is a photo of the new bridge taken on Saturday:

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by toaster

I disagree. Highway 401 and 407 are the only true cross-town East/West highways in the GTA, and one you need to pay to use. I'd much rather 3/4 true cross-town east-west free highways than one mega-highway, with extremely high volumes. There's a reason Toronto has the longest commute to work in North America.

Not just North America. According to the CBC, Toronto's commutes are worse than London (England), New York, Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles- all massive cities with infamous congestion:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/05/08/commute-heart-health.html


(Interesting article, but scroll to the bottom for commute times) The average commute time for Toronto is 80 minutes, and Montreal is not far behind at 76 minutes. Even though the yardstick used in these measurements isn't always fairly fixed, as ballpark figures these are still pretty pathetic. I'm sure the two would fare well against third-world cities like Bangkok, Calcutta or Lagos, but not against the types of cities we're actually trying to compete with.

Originally Posted by The_Architect

A big reason why Toronto has the longest commute to work is because it is currently such a car-centric population, with the majority coming in from the surrounding boroughs into the city because of a lack of option.

IMO that is due to the lack of rapid transit leading out in every direction, causing people to drive for pure convenience.

Torontonians rely on public transportation more than just about anyone else on the continent. Something like 22% of all commuters use transit, which is a figure beaten only by... you guessed it, New York and Mexico City. Using your logic, Los Angeles ought to have the worst commute times, but it doesn't. Toronto's problem is that it lacks a cohesive, comprehensive regional transportation plan that considers all modes of transportation and doesn't purposely ignore private options (ie motor vehicles and bicycles).

[haljackey]

Cool video showcasing Canada's (and the world's?) first electronic toll highway:

• Video Link

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by haljackey

The 401 is the only east-west freeway in the Greater Toronto Area: a place with 6 million people. Of course it's going to be crazy busy no matter what transit incentives you put in place. (QEW/Gardiner ends at DVP and 407 is tolled)

In addition, the 401 serves 3 types of traffic: commuter, recreational and business (trucks... just in time inventory).

I would much rather have one monster freeway opposed to 3 or 4 crosstown expressways... as long as the monster freeway is efficient and well maintained.

The 401 could really benefit from some stacked interchanges (4-5 level diamond stacks, currently only 1 exists in Canada at 400/407) to keep traffic flow more efficient and a few additional lanes in the most bottlenecked and congested sections. Some HOV lanes could also help.

The worst bottlenecks are at 400/401, 427 to 409 (where it narrows to 10 lanes from 16, but since no ROW exists for any widening, a double-deck with express lanes over the collectors is the only feasible solution) and at the endpoints where the express lanes end. On the Mississauga side, expansion is planned. The ROW seems wide enough to extend the express-collector setup as far as Stevenson Road in Oshawa (just before entering the older part of that city) with minimal disruption, although some train tracks will need to be relocated.

Interchange upgrades could also be warranted at 400/401 (straighten and eliminate loop ramps plus add more ramp room), 403/410/401 (a 5th level ramp for 403 EB - 401 WB movements) and 404/DVP/401 (replace the loop ramps with 4th level ramps). HOV lanes should also be built along the entire 401 corridor, by converting 1 or 2 express lanes in each direction to such. Special HOV-only ramps should be built from the 401 to the other major freeways as well - namely the 407, 403/410, 427, 400 and 404/DVP.

Another thing with the 400: I think it should be extended downtown, roughly near the railway corridor. However, due to the minimal space available, it should only be built 4 lanes wide (2 in each direction), and should be RESTRICTED to HOV use (probably HOV-3 or HOV-4 in order to keep it moving). Commercial vehicles, except buses, would also be prohibited from it.