The 401

[sonysnob]

View looking easterly from the Progress Avenue overpass in Scarborough:


https://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_...ep24_42x28.jpg

[MolsonExport]

That's progress.

[Loco101]

Interesting to see how the Eastbound section is still the old style design. Those old guardrails and gutters are from at least the 1980s if not older. Maybe somebody on here knows. The Westbound side was obviously redone not very long ago

[sonysnob]

The bridge over Markham Road was constructed in 1972, so the steel beam barrier would date from around that time as well.

[Marshsparrow]

Oh good grief...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ford-1.7333341

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Marshsparrow

Oh good grief...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ford-1.7333341

Ya this is going to be a vision and nothing more like the previous Liberal Government's 350km/h HSR plan to London that vanished from the face of the Earth after the 2014 Ontario election.

Fixing bottlenecks on the 401 and rebuilding the major freeway interchanges to handle more capacity would cost a fraction of this tunnel proposal and give significant relief to the 401's traffic flow - which in turn will benefit the rest of the 400 series in the area.

If the issue is with logistics/freight trucking and transit, you could look into building HOV and truck only lanes. The HOV could be a 4 lane viaduct overtop of the centre of the highway while the innermost left express lane could be used for long-distance 18 wheelers only.

Basically throw money at what will give you the most benefit for the lowest cost.

If this tunnel thing happens, even just a portion of it would be baffling and take a decade or more to construct. I could see maybe something under Pearson or a double-deck connector between the 427 and 409 but that's really it.

[Loco101]

Ford has been sounding both ridiculous and desperate lately. He knows that if the Conservatives are elected federally then he is toast. So now he is looking into something that would be extremely expensive and cause chaos while under construction? Just wow...

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Ya this is going to be a vision and nothing more like the previous Liberal Government's 350km/h HSR plan to London that vanished from the face of the Earth after the 2014 Ontario election.

Fixing bottlenecks on the 401 and rebuilding the major freeway interchanges to handle more capacity would cost a fraction of this tunnel proposal and give significant relief to the 401's traffic flow - which in turn will benefit the rest of the 400 series in the area.

If the issue is with logistics/freight trucking and transit, you could look into building HOV and truck only lanes. The HOV could be a 4 lane viaduct overtop of the centre of the highway while the innermost left express lane could be used for long-distance 18 wheelers only.

Basically throw money at what will give you the most benefit for the lowest cost.

If this tunnel thing happens, even just a portion of it would be baffling and take a decade or more to construct. I could see maybe something under Pearson or a double-deck connector between the 427 and 409 but that's really it.

I totally agree with you. And I wonder what the cost of demolishing houses and buildings for more space along the 401 would be compared to a tunnel?

[harls]

Man is an oaf. Ford literally looks like a blue oval.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Ya this is going to be a vision and nothing more like the previous Liberal Government's 350km/h HSR plan to London that vanished from the face of the Earth after the 2014 Ontario election.

Fixing bottlenecks on the 401 and rebuilding the major freeway interchanges to handle more capacity would cost a fraction of this tunnel proposal and give significant relief to the 401's traffic flow - which in turn will benefit the rest of the 400 series in the area.

If the issue is with logistics/freight trucking and transit, you could look into building HOV and truck only lanes. The HOV could be a 4 lane viaduct overtop of the centre of the highway while the innermost left express lane could be used for long-distance 18 wheelers only.

Basically throw money at what will give you the most benefit for the lowest cost.

If this tunnel thing happens, even just a portion of it would be baffling and take a decade or more to construct. I could see maybe something under Pearson or a double-deck connector between the 427 and 409 but that's really it.

I know it seems like he has been around forever, but it was only 2018 when he won that HSR disappeared.

As you alluded to in your final line, that bottleneck at the 427 is probably the single biggest reason for how slow the 401 runs through Toronto. Figure that shit out, whether by tunnels, overpasses, massive land acquisition, whatever it takes, any solution there is going to be hugely expensive.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by harls

Man is an oaf. Ford literally looks like a blue oval.

From one oaf to another

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I know it seems like he has been around forever, but it was only 2018 when he won that HSR disappeared.

As you alluded to in your final line, that bottleneck at the 427 is probably the single biggest reason for how slow the 401 runs through Toronto. Figure that shit out, whether by tunnels, overpasses, massive land acquisition, whatever it takes, any solution there is going to be hugely expensive.

That is the section between the 409 and 427 that doesn't have collector lanes right? If land acquisition were ever to take place along that stretch the Ford family would benefit as DECO Labels is right next to the highway.

Here it is: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YBny7m1cmEXbV3e68

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Loco101

That is the section between the 409 and 427 that doesn't have collector lanes right? If land acquisition were ever to take place along that stretch the Ford family would benefit as DECO Labels is right next to the highway.

Here it is: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YBny7m1cmEXbV3e68

I'm not an engineer so I have no idea if they would have to take that entire street to do it, or if relieving the bottleneck under the 427 itself would allow enough of an improvement that another lane each way through to the 409 would work. But I know that the Ford family benefitting from the sale of their property (if they own it) shouldn't be a consideration against widening the highway through there.

[haljackey]

Maybe memes are low-brow here, but this one made me laugh



And now Douggie is talking about buying back the 407

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by harls

Man is an oaf. Ford literally looks like a blue oval.

He's reptilian. His grin is that of an alligator that has spotted a wounded old wildebeest crossing the river.
He's also Neanderthalian. He should be a tertiary character on The Flintstones, not running Canada's largest province. I would ask how we got here, but then I see Polyester about to slither and smarm and twang his way into the prime minister's office, and the question answers itself.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by haljackey

And now Douggie is talking about buying back the 407

That would be a much better idea than building the 413, but I suspect he would do that anyway.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Gresto

He's reptilian. His grin is that of an alligator that has spotted a wounded old wildebeest crossing the river.
He's also Neanderthalian. He should be a tertiary character on The Flintstones, not running Canada's largest province. I would ask how we got here, but then I see Polyester about to slither and smarm and twang his way into the prime minister's office, and the question answers itself.

yep. And I thought things were bad under Harper, perhaps the dullest man ever to hold office as PM. At least he was a policy wonk, not that I agreed with many of his policies.

Douggie (and his late Brother, Mr. "I'm a happily married man; I've got more than enough (pussy) to eat at home", aka Rob Ford) is completely inept. His entire platform seems geared towards his low-information base.

Did you know that Ontario ranks last in Canada in spending to both the health and education sectors? Does that make you angry?


And then there is Danielle Smith. And Maxime Bernier. Send in the clowns...


Don't get me started on Peevish Polyester. I am not at all a Trudeau fan, but I could never bring myself to vote for PP or the contemporary platform of the conservative party.

[Gresto]

^Blecch, the eight years of Harper, and he was somewhat less unlikable than Peevish, though no less dogmatic. I'm reminded of his successful circumvention, with Michaele Jean's abettance, of the Lib/NDP coalition after his minority election and refusal to do much during the 2008-'09 housing crisis. I don't know if I have ever been angrier in my life than at that moment.

As to DoFo, I always get the feeling he introduces proposals after personal experiences. He didn't get a bag at LCBO yesterday. Announcement: "Bags are returning to LCBO, folks." Very important! Thank you so much for your attention to the LCBO bag crisis, Premier.
He sat in congestion for two hours on the 401 yesterday. Announcement: "Folks, we're going to build a $50 billion tunnel under the 401, mark my words." Hark! Arguably a visionary, not-terrible idea from a government singularly lacking vision, but aren't there much more exigent destinations for that amount of dosh? Like, um, I dunno, healthcare, for starters?

[Innsertnamehere]

the 401 tunnel is not out of nowhere. It's been rumoured for years and has been identified as a "capacity expansion" in government documents for several years now.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

That would be a much better idea than building the 413, but I suspect he would do that anyway.

407 and 413 are different projects serving different corridors. The ownership of the 407 doesn't have any effect on the need for the 413.

And even if it was - why on earth would it be a better idea to spend $40 billion to get nothing, than to spend $10 billion on a new highway?