News   Nov 25, 2024
 687     0 
News   Nov 25, 2024
 951     0 
News   Nov 25, 2024
 449     0 

Roads: GTA West Corridor—Highway 413

Bypass this and they'll complain. Cut off access via access roads and they'll complain a little less.
You know, its always made me chuckle at the fact it doesn't matter sort of project the government proposess. Be it transit or roads , even if it would benefit the people of the province, a group of people will still complain.
 
the 35/115 would need access to places like this gas station cleaned up first before becoming 400-series
Like I said, past the 35 split, where the speed limit increases to 100, it would need no upgrading. Past that point it's a different design and there are no businesses that directly access the highway.
 
Like I said, past the 35 split, where the speed limit increases to 100, it would need no upgrading. Past that point it's a different design and there are no businesses that directly access the highway.
115 is missing paved shoulders, so those would have to be added to be considered 400 series.
 
the 35/115 would need access to places like this gas station cleaned up first before becoming 400-series

Same with Highway 11 past the 400 split. Too many businesses border it. Bypass this and they'll complain. Cut off access via access roads and they'll complain a little less.
-There's also a lot of homes with driveways on this stretch. They would likely need to be expropriated, which means a bypass route may be the cheaper option.

Sorry this isn't super related to the GTA west highway. Just hope they don't build it like these examples.

Highway 11 is only close to 400-series standards on the Orillia bypass, the sections closest to Bracebridge and Huntsville, and in small sections where interchanges were built near Burks Falls, Powassan, Sundridge, and up near Callandar to Highway 17. Though the speed limit is 100 km/h, even in the sections with at-grade intersections in Parry Sound District.
 
115 is missing paved shoulders, so those would have to be added to be considered 400 series.
The 115 has paved shoulders. It has had updates to keep it up to standard just like other freeways. It's as much a full freeway as any 400 series highway.
 
The 115 has paved shoulders. It has had updates to keep it up to standard just like other freeways. It's as much a full freeway as any 400 series highway.
This ain’t a paved shoulder to me:


I drive the 400/11 regularly to just south of Huntsville and 11 north of Gravenhurst is one of my favourite stretches of highway to drive. While there are at grade intersections the geometry of the highway is great which makes for great driving, especially when combined with the relatively low traffic levels.

11 south of Gravenhurst is terrible in my opinion though. it’s slow and has terrible geometry which makes it a much higher “tension” drive than it needs to be.
 
You're right, I was mistakenly generalizing the entire route based on how the Orillia and more northern sections are built. The section between Barrie to Gravenhurst, with the exception of the Orillia section, would need some significant changes. However, the bulk of the route would be essentially ready to go, as it is fully twinned, and many of the at-grade intersections could simply be closed off.
Closing them off is easy but so of the roads would be isolated from the world. They would need to build collector/service roads to connect them to other roads. That's why they cheap out and decided to have at grade crossings for these low usage minor roads.
 
This ain’t a paved shoulder to me:

It's also almost two years old. Much of the shoulder paving has been done in that time.

The 115 (past the split) has the exact same design as any 400 series highway from the same era.
 
Be honest even if the speed limit is 90 on highway 11 far north like hearst you can easily drive 110 very safely,
 
Be honest even if the speed limit is 90 on highway 11 far north like hearst you can easily drive 110 very safely,
Always drive 110 most of the way on 11 North without an issue, except just south of New Liskeard where the OPP will pull you over even just doing 100.
 
I'd think 408 would saved, given that pieces of Highway 8 are already at 400-series standards. 413? 414? 415? 419?

413 is a possibility, though I thought that was the number people were considering for the bypass that's the subject of this thread. It should also be an odd number given that it would be E-W, so 414 is probably out. Highway 15 isn't likely getting upgraded to 400-series anytime soon, so that's a possibility. Same with Highway 19.

Though, there's plenty of short expressways that aren't numbered in the 400-series. They've been talking about this highway for decades. Perhaps it will be Regional Road 77 if it's built.

Most of those short expressways form parts of longer King's Highway routes though (Highway 7 to Carleton Place, 7/8 in Waterloo Region, etc). Off the top of my head I can't think of any short expressways that are Provincially owned that aren't part of a larger route that aren't designated as 400-series highways.
 
Off the top of my head I can't think of any short expressways that are Provincially owned that aren't part of a larger route that aren't designated as 400-series highways.
Highway 8 between 401 and the Conestoga Expressway is potentially an example. The longer Highway 8 route doesn't really exist anymore, and there are essentially two disconnected Highway 8's. The one from the 401 to Goderich and the other from the southern boundary of Cambridge to Highway 5.

They could easily number the piece of 8 that is 400-series standard to a 408, and simply have 8 run from Goderich to Stratford, rather than the bizarre 7/8 multiplex from Stratford to Kitchener.

And then the southern Highway 8 is kind of bizarre too, as it stops where 5 starts - it could easily be one number from Cambridge to Highway 6.

Though Ontario Highway numbers themselves are relatively meaningless since the changes in the 1990s ... not sure why they don't do in other jurisdictions, where the highway numbering can be independent of who actually pays and maintains the road.
 
Highway 8 between 401 and the Conestoga Expressway is potentially an example. The longer Highway 8 route doesn't really exist anymore, and there are essentially two disconnected Highway 8's. The one from the 401 to Goderich and the other from the southern boundary of Cambridge to Highway 5.

They could easily number the piece of 8 that is 400-series standard to a 408, and simply have 8 run from Goderich to Stratford, rather than the bizarre 7/8 multiplex from Stratford to Kitchener.

And then the southern Highway 8 is kind of bizarre too, as it stops where 5 starts - it could easily be one number from Cambridge to Highway 6.

Though Ontario Highway numbers themselves are relatively meaningless since the changes in the 1990s ... not sure why they don't do in other jurisdictions, where the highway numbering can be independent of who actually pays and maintains the road.

That's a good point. Highway 8 has been sliced and diced in a few different places to the point where it doesn't make sense to have it signed as though it's one continuous route. Personally though, I'd like to see 408 assigned to just the N-S connector between the 401 and Conestoga Expressway, and a different 400-series designation applied to the E-W portion and the future Highway 7 link between Kitchener and Guelph.
 
I'd be inclined to maintain 8 as a through route from Dundas to Goderich, with 408 applied as appropriate, with the Kitchener - Guelph and any southern extensions numbered as 406 with a new number applied to the 406 in Niagara if one didn't want to cosign sections of the QEW.
 

Back
Top